The text says that believers must abstain from fornication (1Thessalonians 4:3). If Paul was referring to literal ‘fornication’ (porneia; G4202), how would this be different from the Jewish worldview, as is understood in the Law of Moses? Whatever Paul meant by fornication had to point to something that separated believers from the rest of the world, including Judaism, and placed them squarely in the hands of God. This separation was their ‘sanctification’ (hagiasmos; G38), meaning, it was what set them apart from all other religious groups, whether Jews or gentile.
Paul wrote his Epistle to the Hebrews years later, and in it he claimed Esau was a fornicator (pronos;[1] G4205), because he sold his birthright for a piece of bread and a bowl of lentil soup (Hebrews 12:16). In this case the fornicator must be understood spiritually, not literally. Moreover, when the Lord accused the Jewish authorities of not being the (spiritual) sons of Abraham, they claimed they were not born of fornication but were the children of God (John 8:41). In John 8:39-40 Jesus accused the Jewish authorities of not being the children of Abraham, because they spoke against the truth, which Abraham never did. So, to know the truth but speak against it is to commit spiritual fornication. The Lord claimed to be married to Israel / Jerusalem (Jeremiah 3:14; 31:32), so they were bound to obey his word. Therefore, if they taught something different from the word of God, they were committing spiritual fornication.
When the Jewish authorities questioned Jesus why he permitted his disciples to act against the tradition of the fathers (i.e. the Oral Law), Jesus told them by obeying the Oral Law they nullified the Law of God (Matthew 15:1-9). Therefore, adhering to the Oral Law was committing spiritual fornication. So, when Paul preached the Gospel in Thessalonica and the gentile God-fearers went over to his side, because they were treated equally with the Jews, as far as their inheritance from God was concerned, the Jewish authorities rebelled and spoke against the truth, saying it was the cause of disrupting the whole world (Acts 17:1-6) and had Paul cast out of the city, as long as the present governors of Thessalonica were in office (Acts 17:7-10). In other words, preaching that gentiles and Jews were equal in the eyes of God was what separated believers from the rest of the world, and preaching or teaching against such a thing was to commit spiritual fornication, because it sought to nullify the word of God. This is how Paul behaved from the moment he stepped foot in Thessalonica, and this was how he expected believers to act, if they truly believed Christ died for all men.
To behave in such a manner was to hold his vessel in sanctification and honor (1Thessalonians 4:4). When Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup, he showed he had no control over his body (his vessel). He was hungry and his body demanded food. He seems to have always satisfied the longings of his flesh, and this is what allowed Jacob to take advantage of him and steal his birthright. Esau was not an honorable man, because he didn’t keep his flesh under his control. Rather, he was controlled by his flesh. In this light we are able to see what Paul meant by possessing “his vessel in sanctification and honor.” By enduring the trouble one was destined to receive by their acceptance of all men as equals, they were expressing their trust in Christ, and they showed everyone that they held their own vessel in sanctification and honor. That is, believers who did these things permitted themselves to be mistreated in the flesh in order that they might embrace their birthright in Christ.
On the other hand, gentiles who lived in ignorance of God hadn’t even the slightest reluctance to engage in anything that was immoral (1Thessalonians 4:5; cp. Hebrews 12:16). They never placed any check on their desires. Nevertheless, the Jews, who separated themselves from such sinful matters, rejected those gentiles who did those things and they did this in order to embrace their God. Thus, only believers received all as equals, while still keeping the flesh in check.
Nevertheless, Paul, probably speaking especially to the Jews who were more knowledgeable in the word of God, warned believers not to take advantage of the weaker brethren (1Thessalonians 4:6), who had yet to learn the word of God proficiently. Brethren were not to be oppressed by other believers. Weaker brethren were not to demand more knowledgeable brethren to act as they would, and the more knowledgeable brethren were not to make undo demands upon the weaker brethren to grow into maturity more quickly than they were able. Paul’s words in 1Thessalonians 4:6, in my opinion should be understood in the light of his words in Romans 14:1-12. Each believer has a responsibility to God, to act according to his own understanding, and all need to trust God to bring every believer to maturity.
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[1] Both Greek words are nouns; porneia (G4202) is the act, while pornos (G4205) is the actor
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