In 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3, Paul describes at least one major segment of the will of God. He says this:
(1) God’s will is that we be like he is, that is, holy. Man, that is no easy task! Anyone else struggle with this?
(2) Sexual immorality is to be avoided. Wow! In a culture that has trivialized real relationships and sacrificed long-term commitment on the altar of sort-term titillation, this is an incredibly challenging thing to do? Have any of you ever succumbed to inappropriate impulses? Hmm.
(3) We don’t really need this passage to remind us of the obvious: Those who give no thought to God behave in a manner consistent with their philosophy, and we aren’t supposed to copy them. Clearly, in many legitimate ways, we should be like everyone else. Our likes and dislikes, our shared experiences and common humanity–these things should link us to those around us. But, this doesn’t mean that we are to be like everyone in every way. In some ways, ways that matter most, we should be different. Lord, help us!
(4) God’s will, which in this case involves sexual self control, should be viewed as a divine calling. God has not called us to simply be like everyone else. Rather, he intends that we choose a higher calling? Have you ever viewed your decision to resist temptation as a divinely initiated mission? Ever treated your lack of resistance as a denial of that mission? Me neither . . . to my shame!
(5) If we disregard this, we aren’t simply ignoring some manmade standard–whether ours or someone else’s–but we are rejecting God. Oh, that hurts!
What’s my point? Well, I suppose it is that God’s will is difficult. Our calling to a sanctified life is demanding. Yet, we often ignore these clear-cut directions (at least I do) while pretending to be on a search for God’s will. So, for example, we wonder which ministry opportunity we should take, and we ponder what our next Sunday School series should entail. Then, when we’re with others, we pray for the Lord to show us the way as if the things that really matter are hidden behind some bush somewhere or perhaps under a rock. All the while–while we’re fretting about what God might want us to do–we ignore or minimize what he has already said. Please, don’t take this the wrong way. It is certainly a good thing to care about ministry opportunities and Sunday School lessons, and it is of course healthy to pray about such matters. All I’m saying is that, in the grand scheme of things, I would do a whole lot better if I simply paid closer attention to things I already know. Whether I take this or that opportunity, whether I teach this lesson or that one, what truly matters is that I understand and seek to follow what God has clearly revealed.
Man, I would be so much better off if I expended more energy resisting temptation, seeing God’s purpose in my walk with him, and learning to abstain from anything that is inappropriate. What about you? Want to join me, pray with me and for me (and I for you), in our efforts to be different, to be sanctified? I have a feeling that if we did these things in sincerity and commitment that the other things would eventually fall into place. “Lord, help me to fulfill that which is already evident. Empower me through your Holy Spirit to do your will! Heck, if he is your holy spirit, make me like he is, holy.”
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.Aside from the more difficult segments of this passage (e.g., Does “vessel” in verse 4 refer to the man’s physical body or to his wife?), this is an already demanding application of the will of God. At least the following flow out of this section of Scripture:
(1) God’s will is that we be like he is, that is, holy. Man, that is no easy task! Anyone else struggle with this?
(2) Sexual immorality is to be avoided. Wow! In a culture that has trivialized real relationships and sacrificed long-term commitment on the altar of sort-term titillation, this is an incredibly challenging thing to do? Have any of you ever succumbed to inappropriate impulses? Hmm.
(3) We don’t really need this passage to remind us of the obvious: Those who give no thought to God behave in a manner consistent with their philosophy, and we aren’t supposed to copy them. Clearly, in many legitimate ways, we should be like everyone else. Our likes and dislikes, our shared experiences and common humanity–these things should link us to those around us. But, this doesn’t mean that we are to be like everyone in every way. In some ways, ways that matter most, we should be different. Lord, help us!
(4) God’s will, which in this case involves sexual self control, should be viewed as a divine calling. God has not called us to simply be like everyone else. Rather, he intends that we choose a higher calling? Have you ever viewed your decision to resist temptation as a divinely initiated mission? Ever treated your lack of resistance as a denial of that mission? Me neither . . . to my shame!
(5) If we disregard this, we aren’t simply ignoring some manmade standard–whether ours or someone else’s–but we are rejecting God. Oh, that hurts!
What’s my point? Well, I suppose it is that God’s will is difficult. Our calling to a sanctified life is demanding. Yet, we often ignore these clear-cut directions (at least I do) while pretending to be on a search for God’s will. So, for example, we wonder which ministry opportunity we should take, and we ponder what our next Sunday School series should entail. Then, when we’re with others, we pray for the Lord to show us the way as if the things that really matter are hidden behind some bush somewhere or perhaps under a rock. All the while–while we’re fretting about what God might want us to do–we ignore or minimize what he has already said. Please, don’t take this the wrong way. It is certainly a good thing to care about ministry opportunities and Sunday School lessons, and it is of course healthy to pray about such matters. All I’m saying is that, in the grand scheme of things, I would do a whole lot better if I simply paid closer attention to things I already know. Whether I take this or that opportunity, whether I teach this lesson or that one, what truly matters is that I understand and seek to follow what God has clearly revealed.
Man, I would be so much better off if I expended more energy resisting temptation, seeing God’s purpose in my walk with him, and learning to abstain from anything that is inappropriate. What about you? Want to join me, pray with me and for me (and I for you), in our efforts to be different, to be sanctified? I have a feeling that if we did these things in sincerity and commitment that the other things would eventually fall into place. “Lord, help me to fulfill that which is already evident. Empower me through your Holy Spirit to do your will! Heck, if he is your holy spirit, make me like he is, holy.”
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