1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
The Thessalonian believers were living lives that pleased God and yet Paul writes to them to encourage them to grow more in their walk with God. Every believer has scope to grow in godliness every day. God’s will is our sanctification, that is that we grow in holiness and become more and more like Christ every day. Paul focuses on sexuality. We should abstain from every form of sexual immorality. Any sexual practice outside of a marriage between one man and one woman is immoral. As believers, we must control our bodies (and we have the Holy Spirit inside us to help us). Our bodies should be dedicated to God in holiness and honour. Unbelievers may carry on without any sexual constraint but they do not know God and are not living to please God. We must be different. The world around us is pushing for a sexual “revolution” in which all forms and expressions of sexuality are considered acceptable. We cannot live like that. We cannot allow sexual perversion into the church. When believers engage in these practices we harm each other. God has called us out of impurity towards holiness. To ignore this is to ignore God Himself who has given us his Holy Spirit to live inside us (1 Cor 6:18-20).
As the world gets louder and louder about freedom of sexual expression and lifestyle we will get caught up in it if we are not fully convinced about God’s view and rules for our sexuality. God created sex but He confined it to a very specific context—marriage between a man and a woman. We need faith in this area. We need to fully trust God that His plan is best. Only if we believe Him will we live right in this area. How convinced are you that God knows best in the area of your sexuality?