1 Thessalonians 4: Group Study Handout

How to use: read 1 Thessalonians 4 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Paul urges the Thessalonians to walk in holiness and please God more and more (vv. 1-2). He emphasizes that God's will is their sanctification and outlines that they should abstain from sexual immorality (vv.

Key verse

“For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,”
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (WEB)

Outline

1 Thessalonians 4:1–2 Exhortation to Walk in Holiness
1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 Call to Sanctification
1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 Encouragement in Brotherly Love
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Hope in the Resurrection

Discussion questions

In v3, what does Paul say is the will of God for the believers' lives?
What does Paul emphasize about 'brotherly love' in v9?
In v8, why does Paul state that rejecting these instructions isn't rejecting man, but God?
In v15, what tension arises regarding those who are 'asleep' and the return of the Lord?
When have you struggled to 'abstain from sexual immorality' as mentioned in v3?

Go deeper

Passages that echo 1 Thessalonians 4: 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 12, 1 Thessalonians 5.

Before next time: read 1 Thessalonians 5.