A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 4:6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

Ok – lets get this straight. Paul is talking to believers, and he is bringing up the subject of the Lord being an avenger.

An avenger!

Before we dig into this verse, let’s remember the context. It has been a week since I have considered this passage, and the old memory glands (or whatever holds my memories these days), is kinda leaky.

So let’s review.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-6a For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter…

Ok so we have reestablished that Paul is addressing believers, that his concern is their sanctification, and this consecration/being set apart for God includes staying away from sexual immorality.

Now when Paul brings up the topic of sexual immorality (πορνεία porneía), he uses the broadest term available. This term is used when describing illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, fornication, incest, harlotry, bestiality and more. In my mind, any sexual activity outside of the bond of marriage would fall under this description.

This restriction was a massive challenge for the Greeks, as the culture they were saved out of reveled in this debauchery. Another example of this behavior was in the Corinthian church, a church which Paul continually expressed his amazement by their immoral sexual “freedoms”

For the Thessalonians, Paul had addresses this concern early on, warning them of the consequences, and that the Lord is the avenger.

Now it is important for the believer that all sexual immorality is to be abstained from. This is the base, or a foundational truth Paul has taught them, and that believers know is true. But in this passage, Paul adds a wrinkle we should take note of.

He speaks of transgressing and wronging his brother in this matter.

What? It is bad enough if there is a believer that is involved in sexual immorality, but Paul is speaking of a brother sleeping with another brother’s wife. Sexual immorality with a brother’s wife, a brother that he worships God with.

Consider the brother who is wronged.

Is it not incumbent on the Lord to deliver that brother justice for the wrongdoing? The betrayal this man felt must have been deep, and the Lord’s message to love his enemy placed him in an even deeper challenge.

Sometimes being a Christian is exceptionally difficult.

Consider the brother who sinned.

Now he has the hound of Heaven chasing him down, the Lord Himself being the wronged brothers avenger. The term used when Paul describes the Lord as an avenger is describing the one who exacts a penalty from the wrongdoer. The term also includes the concept of punishment.

Consider the only other time this Greek term is used in the New Testament.

Romans 13:4 ……But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

The avenger in this case is the government, the civil authorities that use punishment as their management tool of the masses. When describing this avenger, the wrath of God is linked to the avenger. This is heavy stuff!

And what a mess! This one act, (if it was only one act by the sinful parties), has the capacity of completely destroying the work of the apostle, of decimating the church and of providing offence to so many in and out of the church,

The damage is great, and the Lord Himself is the avenger. This isn’t going to turn out well! The best possible solution is the complete repentance of the sinning party and full reconciliation of the damaged marriages. If this is possible, through the Lord’s mercy, there may be some recovery of church body.

But I surely would not want to be in the sinning brother’s boots. He has some hard times coming to visit him!

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