In our last visit we began studying 1st Thessalonians 4:1-12. I pointed out two impact statements that help motivate us in the normal, routine challenges of life to live in such a way that God will be pleased and the outside world will notice and respect us.
Both God and the world are watching? What do they see in the way we live? To help us do a reality check Paul discusses behaviors in four areas of our lives: sexually, socially, spiritually and vocationally.
He begins by affirming the Thessalonian believers for already living in a way that was pleasing God. But he urged them “in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” He had instructed them how to live. Now he was reminding them, these were not just suggestions. They were instruction given “by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”
Listen to what he said about their sexual lives in verses 3-5, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God.” He makes three main points in these verses.
1. You should be sanctified.
2. You should avoid sexual immorality.
3. You should control your own body.
To be sanctified means to be set apart for a holy purpose, or more specifically, for God’s service. This is both a commitment and a process. It’s an ongoing process because daily we encounter temptation to regress into conformity to worldliness. We will look into this danger further in our next visit.
