Verse 8
To reject these exhortations amounted to rejecting God, not just the Apostle Paul. Lest someone think that this standard is impossibly high, Paul reminded his readers that God has given His Holy Spirit to all believers to enable us to do God’s will (cf. Galatians 5:22-23).
"While Paul deals with sexual immorality in other letters, most notably 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, nowhere does he employ such coercive language to enforce proper Christian conduct. The serious and even threatening tone of 1 Thessalonians 4:6-8 suggests very strongly that Paul was dealing with a problem that had actually emerged in the community at Thessalonica and that he viewed with considerable concern." [Note: Wanamaker, pp. 158-59.]
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