1 Thessalonians 4:15 Commentary and Bible Study

Paul is going to be arguing here that there is no disadvantage to believers who have died and gone ahead to the Paradise of Christ. Why does he tell the Thessalonian converts this? Are they beginning to think that Christians who die, and who go to Paradise, will miss out on having resurrection bodies? Yes, they acknowledge, when Christ comes we shall be raised and receive resurrection bodies, if we are still alive on earth, but what about those who have gone ahead? Will they be disembodied souls for ever? No, the apostle is going to say, they are not disadvantaged in any way. They will receive resurrection bodies also. In fact they will receive them first. Far from being disadvantaged they will receive their resurrection bodies momentarily before you do.‘This we say unto you by the word of the Lord.’ What does he mean by that? Is he going to quote a statement of Christ, that Christ said this? Well if he is, we do not know of it. It is not recorded in the gospels that Christ himself ever said this. Nevertheless, it is the word of the Lord; it is the word of Christ, which means it has been revealed to the apostle Paul by special revelation.And the detail is this – ‘That we which are alive’. He could be understood to speak as though he is going to be among them. Well, maybe he hoped he would be. Maybe the apostle hoped that the coming of Christ would be in his lifetime, because we should all regard the coming of Christ as imminent, but no man knows when the Lord will return, not even the apostle Paul. He could equally be identifying with those believers who will be alive on that great day. ‘Shall not prevent them which are asleep’ – let us say, shall not precede them which are asleep. That is what the word prevent meant in the days of the King James translators. Precede is the word we strictly want today. So those who remain until the Lord comes will not receive their resurrection bodies before those who have already died and gone to be with Christ. We will not disadvantage them in any way.