1 Thessalonians 4:4
That every one of you should know how to fpossess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ τιμῇ,
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1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
This is added as a means to prevent that sin. By vessel some understand the married wife, who is called the weaker vessel, 1Pe 3:7; and her husband is to possess her in sanctification, in chastity, as the Greek word may signify here.
for as marriage is honourable to all men, Heb 3:4, so to live chastely in a married estate is honourable also. For by whoredom man gets dishonour, and his reproach shall not be wiped away, Pro 6:33. Others by vessel understand the body, which is the vessel of the soul; the soul carries it up and down, useth it in the several functions of the vegetative, sensitive, and intellectual life. And so some understand the words of David to the priest, 1Sa 21:5: The vessels of the young men are holy, being kept from women; that is, their bodies.
Fornication is said above all other sins to be a sin against the body, 1Co 6:18, and he that keeps his body chaste possesseth his vessel, keeps it under government; whereas by fornication we give it to a harlot, and that which is a member of Christ we make it the member of a harlot, 1Co 6:15; and though the words are directed properly to the masculine sex, the word εκαστον being masculine, yet under that the female is comprehended. And because the practice of this duty requires care, skill, and much watchfulness against temptations, therefore saith the apostle that every man may know
To which is added,
in honour; for acts of uncleanness dishonour the body; Rom 1:24: God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies, & c. God hath bestowed much curious workmanship upon the body, it is part of Christ’s purchase, and, with the soul, is a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost, in all true saints, alld therefore should be possessed with honour. Or it is to be kept to the honour and glory of God, as 1Co 6:20, and to be offered up a holy sacrifice to him, Rom 12:1.