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1 Thessalonians 4:5
DailyBibleStudy.Org
5 Not [me] in [en] the lust [pathos] of concupiscence, [epithumia] even [kai] as [kathaper] the Gentiles [ethnos] which [ho] know [eido] not [me] God: [theos] KJV-Interlinear
5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; NASB
Typically the term, Gentile, is used to refer to people who are not Jewish, or to people who are not believers. It is used as a synonym for unbelievers.
The term, Gentile, is used to categorize all people into two groups. Namely those who are Jewish and those who are not Jewish.
But in order to fully understand the term, we have to go back a little further in history, back to Abraham.
After the flood of Noah, this was a time known as the period of the Patriarchs. Simply stated, the patriarch was the man who was the head of the family, or tribe, or group.
Among his duties, was to forward the scripture of instruction from his fathers, down to his children. He was the pastor, the priest, the teacher, the chief person for administering the sacred sacrifices, as well as the head of the household. The book of Job gives us an in depth insight of this principle.
However, after Noahs time, the world again turned against God and attempted to construct the Tower of Babel. It failed of course, because all of mans plans fail. But the world was turned around spiritually and had gone negative toward God.
Along comes Abram, who believed in God, had his name changed to Abraham, and followed Gods instructions. Abraham crossed out of the Arabia region and into the region then called Canaan. A region named after the people who lived there, the descendants of Ham, and against whom the curse of Ham was issued.
With this crossing over, Abraham became known as a Hebrew, or one who has crossed over. In this case the spiritual connotation is the crossing over from unbelief into faith. And thus a new species (believers) was formally represented by this change.
Hebrew simply means one who has crossed over – from unbelief into belief.
Abraham had descendants Isaac, and Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacobs name was changed to Israel. And he had twelve sons, which became known as the sons of Israel. And these sons developed into a nation called by that name as well, Israel. This represents the compilation and ongoing formation of the nation of believers in the Savior, the Messiah, who we call today, Jesus Christ.
Israel was a spiritual term used to distinguish those who were believers, out from those who were not (gentiles). Of course it is also the temporal term to describe the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc.
Hundreds of years passed and after Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom adopted the name of Israel and later Samaria. The Southern Kingdom adopted the name of Judah, and later became known as Judea. The residents of Judah or Judea became known as Jews.
The residents of Judea adopted the Mosaic Laws and continued the Levitical Priesthood, and along with its rules and regulations developed their religion known as Judaism. This was a formal separation away from the true scriptural teaching of Jesus Christ, and an adoption of religious works looking for a savior of their own choosing, rather than of Gods choosing.
So, the lustful passion of the gentiles, is the same as the works of the sin nature. It is absent truth, and pro human viewpoint. It follows the pattern of life represented by the rejection of God, of Christ, of doctrine, and of the spiritual life.
Unbelievers follow this pattern by default. They have no other choice.
Believers who are negative toward God and doctrine, etc. are said to ‘imitate’ the unbelievers in their lifestyle and thought patterns. Even though saved, they still act and behave as the unbelievers do.
And Gods command is for you to not act as the gentiles, but act as you are expected to act, by honoring the sanctification (setting apart from the world), which God provided for you, by means of living if fellowship, by means of studying daily, your scriptures, and utilizing what you learn in your daily life, and advancing in your spiritual life, so that you will be completed, established, prepared for the next increment of your life, namely standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
That is where you will ultimately stand one day. And there is no uncertainty regarding that. So this life is one of preparation and readiness for that next great event of your life.
This life is your training period. Your physical death is simply the termination of your training period. Your evaluation before Christ is your next great and most important event of your life.
Therefore, you are to follow the pattern of faith, and not the pattern of the sin nature.
