1 Thessalonians 4:2-3a – Your Holiness

2 for you are aware what charges we give to you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God: your holiness.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians of the charges he had previously given them. These were not Paul’s personal instructions. He had given them “through the Lord Jesus.” In doing so, he emphasizes the authority of his teaching. The Thessalonians knew what they had been taught. After all, it had already been made known to them when Paul was staying with them.

Paul then summarizes the content of those charges: “For this is the will of God: your holiness.” Holiness literally means separation, being set apart for God. So it is not about moral improvement, as though a person must continually make himself holier. Believers are hallowed in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:2). Their holiness is not an achievement of their own but rests on what God wills and what He has done. They belong to Him!

That naturally has consequences for how they walk. Whoever has been hallowed by God no longer lives for himself but for Him. After all, God’s word determines how he walks and what pleases Him. That is why Paul will also give specific instructions in the following verses. Not so that the Thessalonians would become holy, for they already were. But so that their walk would correspond to the position God has given them.

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