Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk: Is there a standard by which Christian conduct can be measured? This is one of many verses that so affirms. Here Paul refers to the standard "as ye have received of us." What the Thessalonians have received of Paul is "the word of God" (2:13). This is obviously the standard to which he alludes. If, as some affirm, it makes no difference what we believe or practice, why is Paul so anxious to return in the face of powerful opposition to instruct the believers further about that standard? Why not allow them to go on blissfully living just as they were? Paul is about to make a strong appeal for holy living, and "the only way to holiness is along the path of obedience to the revealed will of God" (Hogg and Vine 110). "Walk" is used by Paul some thirty times to refer to the way people deport themselves.