1 Thessalonians 4:9

But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. BROTHERLY LOVE (Romans 12:10; Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 3:8; 2 Peter 1:7) - shown in relieving distressed brethren. A C support 'YE have.' 'Aleph (') B Delta G f g, Vulgate, read 'WE have.' We need not write, as ye yourselves are taught, and that by God, in the heart, by the Ho...

9_As to brotherly love_. Having previously, in lofty terms, commended their love, he now speaks by way of _anticipation_, saying, _ye need not that I write to you_. He assigns a reason — _because they had been divinely taught _— by which he means that love was engraven upon their hearts, so that there was no need of letters written on paper. For he does not mean simply what John says in his first Canonical (571) Epistle, _the anointing will teach you_, (1 John 2:27) but that their hearts were framed for love; so that it appears that the Holy Spirit inwardly dictates efficaciously what is to be done, so that there is no need to give injunctions in writing. He subjoins an argument from the greater to the less; for as their love diffuses itself through the whole of Macedonia, he infers that it is not to be doubted that they love

9-12 We should notice in others what is good, to their praise, that we may engage them to abound therein more and more. All who are savingly taught of God, are taught to love one another. The teaching of the Spirit exceeds the teachings of men; and men's teaching is vain and useless, unless God teach. Those remarkable for this or any other grace, need to increase therein, as well as to persevere to the end. It is very desirable to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behaviour. Satan is busy to trouble us; and we have in our hearts what disposes us to be unquiet; therefore let us study to be quiet. Those who are busy-bodies, meddling in other men's matters, have little quiet in their own minds, and cause great disturbances among their neighbours. They seldom mind the other exhortation, to be diligent in their own calling, to work with their own hands. Christi...

Verse 9. _TOUCHING BROTHERLY LOVE_] They were remarkable for this; and though the apostle appears to have had this as a topic on which he intended to write to them, yet, from the account which he received of their prosperous state by Timothy, he finds that it is unnecessary to spend any time in inculcating a doctrine which they fully understood and practised. See 1 Thessalonians 3:6....

BUT AS TOUCHING BROTHERLY LOVE - The “peculiar charity and affection which one Christian owes to another.” Doddridge; see the notes on John 13:34. YE NEED NOT THAT I WRITE UNTO YOU - That is, “as I have done on the other points.” They were so taught of God in regard to this duty, that they did not need any special instruction. FOR YE YOURSELVES ARE TAUGHT OF GOD - The word here rendered “taught of God” - θεοδίδακτοί theodidaktoi - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is correctly translated, and must refer here to some direct teaching of God on their own hearts, for Paul speaks of their being so taught by him as to need no special precepts in the case. He probably refers to that influence exerted on them when, they

EXPOSITION CONTENTS.—With this chapter the second portion of the Epistle—its practical application-commences. The apostle exhorts and entreats the Thessalonians to make progress in the Christian life, and to practice those commandments which, when he was with them, he gave them by the authority of Jesus Christ. God had called them to holiness and to the renunciation of their heathen practices. They must especially be on their guard against impurity, to which as Gentiles they were formerly so prone. He who rejected his injunctions rejected, not man, but God, whose commands they were. As they were already taught of God in the active practice of Christian love, so they must abound therein. They must not allow themselves to be led away by excitement, as if the day of Christ were at hand, but with quietness and honesty perform the duties of their earthly calling, and so commend the gospel to...

BUT AS TOUCHING BROTHERLY LOVE,.... Another branch of sanctification; which is distinct from love to God and Christ, though it always accompanies it, and from love to all mankind; and is what is peculiar to brethren in a spiritual relation, and ought to be universal, fervent, and sincere, and as Christ has loved them: concerning which the following things are said, YE NEED NOT THAT I WRITE UNTO YOU. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "we have no need to write unto you"; and so some copies. It seems that it was needful to write unto them about other things, as to refresh their memories with the instructions they had given them, when with them, how they should walk and please God; and to put them in mind of the commandments given them by Christ, and that their sanctification was the will of God; and particularly it was necessary to write unto them about chastity, and purity of life, whether...

1 THESSALONIANS 4:9 e;cete Although the construction is harsh (literally, “You have no need to write to you”) the reading e;cete is not only well supported (a* A Dc K L most minuscules syrp copbo eth Origen John-Damascus Theodoret Euthalius) but accounts for the rise of the other readings as scribal alleviations of the irregularity: e;comen (ac D* F G Y 88 104 142 216 424c 927 1311 1611 1739 2005 itd, g vg syrh goth); ei;comen (B vgmss); and e;cete gra,fesqai (H 81 257 424* 1319 1518 1837 2127)....

IV. THE SEPARATED WALK AND THE BLESSED HOPE CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The separated walk 1 Thessalonians 4:1)_ 2. The coming of the Lord for His saints 1 Thessalonians 4:13) 1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Furthermore, then, brethren, we beg you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as ye received from us, how ye ought to walk and please God, even as ye also do walk, that ye would abound still more. For ye know what charges we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor (not in passionate desire, eve

PRACTICAL EXHORTATIONS TO PURITY OF LIFE AND BROTHERLY LOVE. The Church at Thessalonica has begun well and is encouraged to go forward. 1 THESSALONIANS 4:1. ABOUND: 1 THESSALONIANS 3:12 *. 1 Thessalonians 4:3. abstain, etc.: the inculcation of such an elementary principle of conduct seems strange, but we need to remember that certain heathen cults regarded immorality as part of the ritual of worship, and religion and immorality were to them almost convertible terms. This consecration of vice in paganism made it absolutely necessary for Paul to insist upon moral purity....