In verse 3, Paul wrote that God’s will is our holiness and that we are therefore to abstain from prostitution. In contrast, in verse 4, he spoke of acquiring one’s own wife, “in holiness and honor.” The contrast is clear: casual sexual relations versus acquiring one’s own, permanent marriage partner.

Paul now speaks of “lustful passion.” This is how he characterizes the prostitution he mentioned earlier. Sexual desire is, of course, not wrong in itself. After all, God created man and woman for each other. But in prostitution, desire becomes the ruling principle, and people seek sexual relations without a lifelong commitment. That is literally living without bonds.

Remarkably, Paul connects this “lustful passion” with the nations “who are not acquainted with the God.” Paul thus assumes a logical relationship between having one’s own wife (marriage) and knowing God. We already read earlier (1:9) that the Thessalonians themselves had come from the nations but had since come to know the one God (1:9)! And with that, they had also come to know the One whose love is neither cheap nor interchangeable, but enduring. Marriage is a unique expression of that love. After all, it is God Himself who joins man and woman together for life. An institution as old as humanity itself (Gen. 2:24)!