1 Thessalonians 4:8
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Study Note
Study Note
The warning that 'he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit' grounds the ethical commands about sexual purity (verses 3-7) in pneumatological theology: to reject Paul's teaching is to reject the divine Spirit who gave it. The logic connects to 1 Corinthians 6:19 ('your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you') — the indwelling Spirit makes the body a sacred space whose misuse is simultaneously an offence against God and a desecration of the divine dwelling. The insertion of 'his holy Spirit' at the conclusion of an ethical argument about bodily conduct is characteristic of Paul's pneumatological ethics: moral transformation is possible and obligatory because the Spirit has been given as both power and standard. Ezekiel 36:27's 'I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes' provides the OT covenant background for Spirit-enabled ethical obedience.
Other Translations
Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.
he, therefore, who is despising--doth not despise man, but God, who also did give His Holy Spirit to us.
Whoever, then, goes against this word, goes against not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Cross References
And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; …
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: …
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul …
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom …
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him …
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall …
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? …
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back …