1 Thessalonians 4:5

5 not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

1 Thessalonians 4:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Thessalonians 4:5

Not in the lust of concupiscence
Or "passion of lust"; for the mere gratifying and indulging of that; for a man so to possess his vessel, is to cherish the sin of concupiscence, the first motions of sin in the heart, by which a man is drawn away, and enticed; to blow up the flame of lust, and to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof:

even as the Gentiles which know not God;
for, though they knew him, or might know him with a natural knowledge, by the light and works of nature, yet they knew him not savingly and spiritually, as he is revealed in the word, of which they were destitute; or as the God of all grace, and the God and Father of Christ, or as he is in Christ: and though by the light of nature they might know there was a God, yet they knew not who that God was; nor did they act up to that light and knowledge they had; they did not glorify him as God, by ascribing to him what was his due; nor were they thankful for the mercies they received from him; nor did they fear, love, worship, and serve him; nor did they like to retain him in their knowledge, and therefore were given up to judicial blindness and hardness, to a reprobate mind, and to vile affections, and so did things very inconvenient, unnatural, and dishonourable. Wherefore, for a man to use either his wife or his body in any unchaste and dishonourable manner, for the gratifying of his lusts, is to act an Heathenish part; a like argument, dissuading from things unlawful, is used in ( Matthew 6:32 ) ( Matthew 20:25 Matthew 20:26 ) ( Galatians 4:8 Galatians 4:9 ) .

1 Thessalonians 4:5 In-Context

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication;
4 that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor,
5 not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.
7 For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.