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§ 11. 1Th 5:16-24. Directions for Holy Living
In § 7 (1Th 4:1-12) the saintship of the Thessalonians supplied the basis and the nerve of the Apostles’ charge. The virtues of chastity, brotherly affection, and diligence in labour were enforced on the readers under the sense of their consecration to God; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit supplied the most powerful motive for the leading of a pure life (see 1Th 4:3; 1Th 4:7 f.). The closing exhortations of the Epistle rest on the same principle. The appeal to “quench not the Spirit” forms their centre; and this leads up to an impressive prayer for the complete sanctification of those addressed (1Th 5:23 f.).
The last section was occupied with social and comparatively external duties; this deals with personal obligations and exercises of internal piety, which may be distinguished, (1) as they are of a general religious character (1Th 5:16-18), and (2) as they arise specifically from the new endowments of the Spirit enjoyed by the Church (1Th 5:19-22). In Rom 8:6-21 there is found a similar but much longer train of hortatory epigrams.