“Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:”
My Notes
What Does 1 Thessalonians 4:5 Mean?
Paul warns the Thessalonians not to live "in the lust of concupiscence" — passionate, uncontrolled desire — "even as the Gentiles which know not God." The contrast is between those who know God and those who don't, and the difference should be visible in how you handle desire.
The phrase "lust of concupiscence" (pathei epithymias) literally means the passion of desire — desire that has become a controlling force. It's not about desire itself (which is natural) but about desire that's become pathological — consuming, defining, dominating.
The comparison to the Gentiles isn't ethnic superiority. It's moral distinction. The Gentiles live this way because they don't know God. You know God. Your behavior should reflect that knowledge. The knowledge of God isn't just information. It's a new operating system that changes how desire functions in your life.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where are your desires controlling you rather than serving you — where has wanting become consuming?
- 2.How does knowing God change the way desire functions — not eliminating it, but redirecting it?
- 3.What's the difference between desire as natural and desire as pathological?
- 4.Does the comparison to 'Gentiles who know not God' motivate you toward different behavior — and should it?
Devotional
The Gentiles live this way because they don't know God. You know God. Live like it.
Paul's contrast is simple: the people who don't know God are controlled by their desires. Their appetites run the show. Their passions define their decisions. And the reason isn't that they're worse people. It's that they don't have the knowledge that changes how desire works.
You do. You know God. And that knowledge — not just information about God, but experiential relationship with God — is supposed to change the equation. When you know God, desire doesn't disappear. It gets redirected. Regulated. Given a framework that prevents it from becoming the controlling force of your life.
"Lust of concupiscence" — passion of desire — describes what happens when desire becomes pathological. When wanting becomes consuming. When appetite becomes identity. When the desire isn't something you have but something that has you.
The Gentiles don't have an alternative. They don't know God. Their desires are their only compass. But you have a different compass. You know the God who created desire, who designed it for specific purposes, who wired it to function within boundaries that protect rather than imprison.
Knowing God doesn't eliminate desire. It transforms it. The same energy that the Gentiles pour into consuming passion, you can direct toward purposeful love. The fire is the same. The fireplace is different.
You know God. Let that knowledge change how your desires operate.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Not in the lust of concupiscence,.... Or "passion of lust"; for the mere gratifying and indulging of that; for a man so…
Not in the lust of concupiscence - In gross gratifications. Even as the Gentiles - This was, and is, a common vice among…
Not in the lust of concupiscence - Having no rational object, aim, nor end. Some say, "not like beasts;" but this does…
Here we have,
I. An exhortation to abound in holiness, to abound more and more in that which is good, Th1 4:1, Th1 4:2.…
not in the lust of concupiscence Far better, not in the passion of lust (R. V.). The sense of the last verb (to possess)…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture