Bible Strands
1 Thessalonians 4:8
Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers to reinforce his immediate instruction on sexual holiness and moral purity. He addresses them as recipients of apostolic authority during a period of early church instruction.
The words — ἀθετῶν (athetōn) and ἀθετεῖ (athetei) both mean to set aside, disregard, or treat as invalid. The text uses them to describe the active dismissal of the preceding command.
The thread — The equation of rejecting divine authority with rejecting God appears in Luke 10:16 and 1 Samuel 8:7. The link between keeping commands, remaining in God, and receiving the Spirit is paralleled in 1 John 3:24.
Why it lands — The text states that dismissing the preceding command is not a rejection of human instruction but of God Himself. It requires the reader to treat the command as binding divine authority rather than optional advice.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Cross-references
- 1 John 3:24 Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.
- Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
- 1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.
- John 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not receive My words: The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Proverbs 23:9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
- 2 Peter 1:21 For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Samuel 10:19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
- Nehemiah 9:30 You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.