others – Ministry of Grace Church

But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that you not grieve as others who have no hope.

Truth to Learn

For Christians, physical death is not the end of existence.

Behind the Words

“We … want” is translated from the Greek verb thelō, which means “to want” or “to desire.” But it carries more weight than simply a wish, because it involves volition and purpose, seeing one’s desire to its completion. It could be translated as “I am determined.” In some manuscripts it is expressed in the first person singular (I), but the best manuscripts have it as first person plural (we).

The word translated “ignorant” is agnoeō, which is made up of a, meaning “not” and noeō, meaning “to know, to recognize, or to understand.” Thus, agnoeō means “to not know.”

The words “have fallen asleep” is from a form of koimaō, which literally means “to cause to lie down to sleep.” It is used metaphorically as a reference to those who have died physically. It is expressed in the perfect tense indicating past action completed at a point in time with an ongoing effect, the emphasis being on the ongoing effect.

“Grieve” is translated from the verb lupeō, which means “to grieve” or “to be sorrowful.” It is expressed as a present tense, subjunctive verb, indicating the possibility of something happening.

The word translated “others” is loipoi. This noun is derived from the verb leipō, meaning “to leave behind, to lack, or something remaining. Thus, loipoi literally means “the remaining ones.”

This word “hope” is from a Greek word that we have looked at before. It is the word elpida, which is a form of elpis, meaning “the desire of obtaining something good with the full expectation of obtaining it.” It is the type of hope that Christians have of being resurrected to eternal life. We certainly desire it and we have full expectation that it will happen because God has promised it to us.

Meaning Explained

In this fourth chapter of his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul has switched from comforting and encouraging the saints, to teaching doctrine to them (us). He started by teaching that we are to avoid fornication (sexual activity outside of marriage). Then he taught the importance of increasing our demonstration of brotherly love.

For the remainder of this chapter and the first half of the next chapter, Paul is teaching about events that will occur at the end times. First he will teach us about the rapture of the church. Then he will teach about the day (time period) of the Lord, when God will judge the world and its ungodly inhabitants. He makes it very clear that the rapture, which is referred to as “the day of Christ” or “the day of Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 1:6, 10; Philippians 2:16; and 2 Thessalonians 2:2) and “the day of the Lord” are not the same.

He says that he is determined that the Christians in Thessalonica not be ignorant. That’s Paul’s polite way of saying “you are ignorant about something and I want to inform you.” He tells them, and us, something interesting about Christians who have died physically (those who have fallen asleep). He says, “Don’t be overly filled with sorrow like unbelievers who have no hope.” The reason we are not to grieve too much is because we have a hope that the unsaved don’t have. He will explain this hope in the next few verses.

Application

When loved ones pass through the door of physical death, it is natural for us to grieve. We grieve because they are no longer in our presence physically and we will greatly miss them. But, if they were believers in Jesus Christ, they are not gone from existence, they have simply moved from the physical world to paradise, where they are in the presence of God. We who are Christians will see them again someday and together we will be in God’s presence, eternally.

In God's service, for His glory,

among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Truth to Learn

Before we were saved we were destined for God’s wrath.

Behind the Words

The word “among” is translated from the Greek preposition en, meaning “in” or “among.”

“Conducted” is from the verb anastrephō. This is made up of ana, meaning “again” and strephō, meaning “to turn.” So, literally it means “to turn again.” When used of a person it is a metaphor meaning “to live one’s life.”

Epithumia is the Greek word translated “lusts.” It is made up of epi, meaning “over” or “above” and a form of thumos, which refers to “a passion or desire of the mind.” Thus, epithumia refers to “overly strong desires.”

The word “doing” is from the Greek verb poieō, meaning “to make” or “to do.” It is expressed here as a present participle, so it means “doing.”

“Desires” is translated from thelēma which refers to “an act of determination.” So, it really means more than “desires.” It means “those things which we decided to do.”

“Flesh” is from sarx, which literally refers to “the meat or flesh of a living creature.” This word is commonly used to refer to the physical part of our existence as opposed to the spiritual part.

The word “mind” is translated from dianoia which refers to “deep thought” or “imagination.”

“Nature” is from the Greek word phusis, which is derived from the noun phuō, meaning “to bring forth in birth.” It is used here as a metonym in reference to our natural inclination.

The word “wrath” is translated from orgē, which means “desire, strong emotion, anger, or wrath.”

“Others” is from the Greek word loipos, which is from the verb leipō, meaning “to lack” or “to leave something where it is.” In other words, it refers to “that which is left.” So, it could be translated as “the remainder” or “the others.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verse Paul told us that before we became Christians we lived according to the ways of the world system in which we live. Our behavior was influenced by Satan who controls those who don’t believe in Christ.

What he tells us in today’s verse is that we used to live our lives controlled by the lusts of our flesh. Another way of saying this is that we used to be controlled by our sin nature. In the book of Romans, Paul calls it our “old man,” and he tells us that we used to be the slaves of sin:

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be nullified, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:6)

Because we were controlled by our fleshly desires and our imagination, Paul says we were children of wrath just like the rest of unsaved humanity. What he means is that before we were saved, we were God’s enemies and subject to his wrath. Some Christians think of God as a vengeful God, waiting for us to slip up so He can punish us. Other Christians don’t like to think of God as vengeful and exhibiting wrath; they like to think of God as a God of love. He is both. Those who receive Jesus Christ will one day experience God’s love completely, whereas those who reject Jesus Christ will one day experience the full fury of God’s wrath.

… And He treads the winepress of the wine of the anger and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:15c)

Application

As a Christian you still have a sin nature, but you don’t have to be controlled by it. Instead, you can submit your will to God and allow the Holy Spirit to control your life.

In God's service, for His glory,

Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: others

1 Thessalonians 4:13 – Dead, But Still Alive

Ephesians 2:3 – Wrath Avoidance