I remember a young lady once hearing a lesson on First Thessalonians 5:22 and coming out and saying, “I had no idea that verse was in the Bible.” Like many, she had danced around various worldly behaviors, trying to justify certain ones with statements like, “Well, the Bible doesn’t really address that specifically.” This verse hit her hard. While it’s a short verse, it certainly packs a punch.
God warns His people throughout Scripture about “evil” and the present and eternal dangers associated with it. He tells us to “Abhor what is evil” (Rom. 12:9) and to “not be overcome by evil” (Rom. 12:21), for “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Pet. 3:12). First Thessalonians 5:22 goes a little deeper than these passages.
The word “abstain” is a strong term. It is an imperative, denoting a direct command from God. It is in the middle voice in Greek, which emphasizes the direct involvement of the subject in action for which he has a vested stake. The present tense stresses the ongoing, continuous nature of this command. The Greek word for “abstain” means “to avoid contact with, keep away, refrain from, hold oneself from.” There is no middle ground with this term—it involves absolute avoidance, being distant from something.
The word “every” is an all-inclusive term. The same Greek word is used in Second Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” No Scripture is left out of that. The same word is in Hebrews 3:4, “Every house is built by someone.” There are no exceptions to that. When God commands to abstain, avoid, keep away from “EVERY” of any thing, there are no exceptions or anything left out.
The word for “form” means any “variety or kind.” The KJV translation of “appearance” is also good, as the Greek word can mean “outward appearance,” as in “the appearance” of Jesus’ face in Luke 9:29. Even more specific than abhorring, in general, what is evil (Rom. 12:9), this text underscores that every kind or appearance of evil must be avoided.
In a similar way, Galatians 5:19-21 spreads God’s disapproval over any form of sin by listing a variety of sinful vices and then adding, “and the like,” to cover anything else “like” these that may not be specifically mentioned. Anything that is “like” evil is “evil”!
As I seek to walk faithfully with the Lord, I must not quibble about whether a particular practice is specifically mentioned in the Bible or not. Every single kind of evil, without any exception, is condemned by God in Scripture and must be kept away from continually by God’s children, if we are to “be holy in all [our] conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15-16).