1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. Let’s go!
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (NIV)
1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.
7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
On verses 1-8: It appears that some members of the church in Thessalonica were engaging in sexual immorality – that is, having sex outside of marriage. So Paul takes the opportunity to remind the church about the instructions he and his team had earlier given on sex. He says that it is God’s will (v3) and God’s instructions “by the authority of the Lord Jesus” (v2) that God’s people should avoid sexual immorality.
Verses 4-8 shows us 5 problems that arise when we do not honour God’s plan for sex:
1. rather than being in control, we become enslaved to our passions and our flesh (v4-5);
2. we end up hurting and taking advantage of others, living in lust rather than living in love (v6a);
3. we set ourselves up for punishment by choosing to disobey God in this area (v6b);
4. we miss God’s calling on our lives to be holy, sanctified and set apart for Him (v7), instead choosing to follow the sinful patterns of this world (v5, 7);
5. we reject God Himself when we refuse to obey God’s Word in the area of sex (v8).
The New Testament is very clear in its stance against sexual immorality. Those who say that Christians can feel free to sleep around before marriage on the basis that “we are not under law but under grace” not only misunderstand what it means to be “not under law but under grace”, but they also they are ignoring the clear teaching of the New Testament against sexual immorality. May we not be deluded into thinking that in God’s eyes sexual immorality is okay. God is holy, and He calls us to be holy too.
Remember that God gives us His commands not to take away our happiness but to protect us for a truly happy and blessed life. You will never be ultimately fulfilled living in sexual immorality. True joy, freedom and happiness come when we obey God and live out God’s purpose for your life. That’s when we have healthy, honouring relationships both with God and with one another.
Father, since it is Your will that I be sanctified and avoid sexual immorality, I pray that I would obey You and honour You in this area, knowing that the greatest peace and pleasure will come ultimately when I do things Your way. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
