<p>4:5 <i>Not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who do not know God</i>- As noted on :4, Paul was aware that the church as a whole, and not just some of them, needed warning about not living &quot;in the passion of list&quot;. We would probably have praised the faithful amongst them, and then singled out the weaker members and made it clear that we are addressing them, and not the faithful. But we see no such division in Paul's writing here. The Gentile Thessalonians had turned from idols to the one true God (1:9); but by 'knowing God' Paul refers to relationship with Him. If we &quot;know God&quot; we will not live &quot;in the passion of lust&quot;. To know God is not therefore a question of academic knowledge of theology alone.</p><p>We noted on :4 that the context here could be regarding how a man takes a wife, or how he possesses his body. If the reference is to taking a wife, then marriage is not to be entered on the sole basis of wanting to legitimize sex, for that would be taking a wife &quot;in the passion of lust&quot;. If the context is as AV of 'possessing his vessel' or body, then the idea would be that our body should be possessed by the outcome of knowing God, i.e. His Spirit, and not in the spirit of the passion of carnal lusts. It is walking by the Spirit which empowers us to not obey the lusts s.w. of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). The same word translated &quot;lust&quot; is used in Rom. 6:12: &quot;Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the <i>lusts</i> thereof&quot;.</p><p>Col. 3:5 uses the same Greek word for &quot;passion&quot; and adds: &quot;Which is idolatry&quot;. I suggested on :3 that the specific <i>porneia</i> in view was the usage of idol prostitutes.</p>