From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves.
απο παντος ειδους πονηρου απεχεσθε
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Not only from this or that, but from every kind. Test both the false and the true, so that with knowledge you may distinguish one from the other, depart from the former, and hold fast to the latter. Indeed, we shall especially hate the former and love the latter only when we do everything not simply and without testing, but after exact examination.
"Abstain from every evil thing," α̉πό παντός είδους. This can be translated so that the Apostle advises us to withdraw not only from everything evil, but also from everything that has the appearance of evil.
"But testing all things, hold fast what is good" (1 Thess 5:21). In connection with the preceding verse, one may think that the Apostle continues to speak about manifestations of the prophetic gift. By these words he suggests, as Theodoret interprets, "to discern what is from the Spirit of God and what is from the adversary, and he teaches them, rejecting what comes from deception. To hold fast what comes from truth." For this testing and discernment there existed in the early Church a special extraordinary gift of grace, the discernment of spirits (1 Cor 12:10).
Although these counsels of the Apostle referred most directly to distinguishing true prophecies from false ones, they also have a general meaning.
Everywhere and in everything, thoughtfulness, testing, and examination are necessary, so that one may see what is good in everything, value it, and hold fast to it.
One must turn aside and flee from what is evil, as something worthless and harmful. "Depart from evil and do good," the Psalmist already said (Ps 33:15).
According to blessed Theodoret, the Apostle speaks as if saying: "Discern what is from the Spirit of God and what is from the adversary. Reject what comes from delusion, and hold fast to what comes from the truth."
In order to discern whether what is spoken in a prophetic spirit is from God, or is the speaker's own fantasy and the enemy's delusions, the primitive Church had a special gift of discerning spirits (1 Cor 12:10).
In our time, the positive teaching of the Church serves to distinguish whether inspired and captivating speech is from the truth.
The gift of discerning spirits, living and acting in the Church, has clearly separated what is true from what is false.
In another epistle the Apostle depicts this more fully, saying: "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may test what is the good and perfect will of God" (Rom 12:2).
The general will of God has already been expressed in the commandments and is known to all. There is no need to investigate it.
But the application of the commandments can vary. Which application should be chosen must be determined by each person at the moment of action.
The mind renewed by grace determines this. Grace forms a spiritual sense, which discerns how to act in a manner pleasing to God (Heb 5:14).
The will of God is the norm. Nothing contrary to it should be admitted under any circumstance. Whenever perplexity arises, it is better to leave the matter undone than to do something doubtful.
The word "keep away" is remarkable. It makes one picture a man walking the path of the Lord's commandments as one passing among thorns or thick grass.
He must push these aside in order to clear the road. This comparison shows that in those zealous for salvation, an evil thought arises against every good undertaking.
One must push it away, so as to hold more freely to the good. Here there is an allusion to what is said in Rom 7:21-23.
It refers to resistance against evil and the compulsion of oneself toward good, until one comes to the reign of good.
Since the Christian's prayer is an outpouring of the Spirit of God dwelling in him (Rom 8:16, 26), the Apostle, for the success of prayer, exhorts the Thessalonians not to quench this Spirit. That is, they must not hinder His manifestations in the Church, and especially must not demean the gift of prophecy (see 1 Cor 12:10, 20; 14:24, 25). On the contrary, by testing every prophecy and every inspired instruction of the prophets, whether they are from God or not, the Thessalonians must hold fast what is good and reject every form of evil.
When discernment determines what is good and what is evil, the zealous spirit naturally holds fast to the good and withdraws from evil.
Only the negligent and careless man can still heed the suggestions of evil and deliberate whether he should indulge the impulses of the passions this time.
But one whose spirit burns with zeal, and in whom the fear of God is present, has a living conscience and is filled with love for his Savior.
Such a man may feel the assaults of evil passions, but he cannot indulge them. For this to happen, the spirit must first grow cold, though it had been burning.
This burning spirit is the counterweight to the flame of the passions.
Thus holding fast to the good and keeping away from every evil thing, or, what is the same, turning away from evil and doing good (1 Pet 3:11), are two operations of one living Christian principle.
They are always inseparable, like the two feet of one who follows the Lord along the path of His holy commandments.
"Hold fast what is good." Receive the good you have recognized into your heart, embrace it with love, and hold it not once only, but throughout your whole life, as the unchanging rule of your activity.
"Keep away from every evil thing," "not from this or that only, but from every evil" (Chrysostom).
From the Greek, it means from every form of evil, that is, from evil in words, deeds, thoughts, and feelings. It means even from every shadow and slight trace of evil.
The will of God is the norm. Nothing contrary to it should be admitted under any circumstance.
Whenever perplexity arises, it is better to leave a matter undone than to do something doubtful. Then the consciousness of fulfilling the exact will of God before the face of the all-seeing God remains clear.
The word "keep away" is remarkable. It makes one picture a man walking the path of the Lord's commandments as one passing among thorns or thick, clinging grass.
At every step they hinder the free movement of his feet. Before moving from one foot to the other, he must clear the road by pushing aside the clinging grass or the hooked thorn.
This comparison shows that in one who is zealous for pleasing God and for salvation, an evil thought, and sometimes an attraction, arises against every good undertaking.
These come from a passionate heart not yet purified. In carrying out the good, one cannot avoid struggling with them.
They must be despised, rejected, and hated. In this way one pushes them away, so as to hold more freely to the good.
Here there is an allusion to what Saint Paul writes in Romans: "I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me.
"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin in my members" (Rom 7:21-23).
Thus the man burning in spirit and strengthened by God's grace now turns himself away from evil, now bends himself toward the good.
Resistance to evil and compulsion of oneself toward good are his two constant occupations. They become easier as the passions grow weak and as he advances in the good.
The goal of his striving is to reach the point where, in the whole composition of his nature, the good alone reigns.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 5 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS