5
The Day of the Lord
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you do not need to be written to, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord comes just like a thief in the night. 3 For whenever they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction is standing near them, like labor pains to a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.*
Live as sons of light
4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should come upon you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of day; we are not of night, nor of darkness. 6 So then, let us not sleep,† like the rest, but let us stay alert and sober;‡ 7 because those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night; 8 but we being of day, let us be sober, putting on a breastplate of faith and love, and a helmet of hope of salvation.§ 9 For God did not appoint us to undergo wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,* 10 who died for us so that whether awake or asleep we may live together with Him.† 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, as in fact you do.
Concluding instructions
Esteem spiritual leaders
12 Now we urge you, brothers, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
A variety of instructions
14 Now we exhort you, brothers: admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, be supportive of the weak, be patient toward all.‡ 15 See that no one pays back bad for bad to anyone,§ but always pursue the good, both for one another and for all.* 16 Rejoice always! 17 Pray continually! 18 Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.† 19 Do not quench the Spirit!‡ 20 Do not disdain prophesies, 21 but test everything;§ hold on to the good. 22 Keep away from every form of evil!*
Complete sanctification
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body† be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
Farewell
25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I adjure you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the holy brothers.‡ 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
* 5:3 The destruction will not necessarily strike when they speak. Just as a pregnant woman knows she will have labor pains (no Caesarean section)—the only uncertainty is when, not if—so the destruction will be inescapable. † 5:6 Here the reference is to physical sleep or mental lethargy, not death. ‡ 5:6 If the Rapture is ‘partial’ (Matthew 25:1-13), only the ‘alert’ will escape. § 5:8 Faith and love for the heart, hope for the head. * 5:9 I suppose this refers to both manifestations of the Wrath: the Tribulation and the Lake. † 5:10 Here is the bottom line: to be with the Creator throughout eternity. ‡ 5:14 Notice that the response is appropriate to the occasion, or the need. § 5:15 The term ‘bad’ is less strong than the term for malignant evil, so the reference is not to malignant activity. * 5:15 The verb ‘pursue’ does not suggest a passive attitude; we should be actively promoting the good for the society at large wherever we live. The result will be a better place to live. † 5:18 There are those who say we should give thanks for everything, as distinct from in everything. I doubt that our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane gave thanks for the suffering He was facing and already enduring. To give thanks in a distressful situation is a declaration of confidence in God and His disposition of our affairs. ‡ 5:19 When you quench a lighted candle, you put out its light. To quench the Spirit is presumably to ‘put out’ or refuse His light, to suppress or ignore His voice when He speaks to us—this would include any rejection of the revealed will of God. § 5:21 All prophesy should be tested, but not disdained or rejected. * 5:22 The evil here is aggressive, or malignant. † 5:23 I take it that the grammatical structure of this phrase, “the spirit and the soul and the body” (in Greek), demands a tripartite/trichotomous view of the human being. I confess that I have trouble imagining complete sanctification for the body, in this life. ‡ 5:27 To adjure by the Lord that the letter be read is tantamount to claiming inspiration for it. By extension, does not “all the holy brothers” include us?