What Does 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Mean?

IV. (1) We now approach the practical portion of the Epistle. The first point on which the Thessalonians need instruction is in the matter of social purity (1Thessalonians 4:1-8). **Furthermore** hardly expresses the original. St. Paul is not adding a further injunction, for he has as yet given none. It is literally, *For the rest, then; *and serves to introduce the conclusion of the letter. **Beseech.**—The marginal *request* is better, the word being one of calm and friendly asking, implying that the person so addressed will recognise the propriety of complying. **Exhort** is correct, though “encourage” suits the context a little better, as assuming that they are already so acting, but not with enough heart. **By the Lord.**—Better, *in the Lord.* It is not an adjuration, as in Romans 12:1, but states the authoritative ground of his request. “We encourage you, on the strength of our union in the Lord Jesus.” (Comp. 1Thessalonians 1:1.) **How ye ought to walk.**—Literally, *the how.* It indicates that part of the apostolic tradition was a systematic moral code, almost as if it were the title of a well-known book. “We gave you the ‘How ye ought to walk, so as to please God.’“ The best texts add immediately after, “even as also ye walk.” **Abound more and more.**—Or, *still more.* “You *did* receive of us the rules of a holy life; you *are* living by them, and that to a very large degree; but we beg you and encourage you, on the faith of Christians, to be still more lavish in your self-denial.”