DEVOTION
THE 1ST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS
ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION
1 Thess 4:3-8
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.
NIV
This is the further instructions that Paul gives regarding living in a
manner that pleases God. Of course, if I love the Lord with all my heart, soul,
mind, and strength then I would certainly be sanctified and avoid any sexual
immorality. Now the two Greek words here have a more specific meaning. The
first word that is translated as sanctified, means to consecrate which is to
make or declare sacred, to dedicate something formally to a divine purpose. The
question here is whether I am to consecrate myself, that is declare myself formally
for the purpose of God, or is it God who makes or declares me sacred and wholly
for his purpose. It would appear by the language that it is the will of God
that I am sanctified and therefore he is the one who sanctifies me, makes me
sacred. But then it could also be that it is God’s will that I declare myself,
dedicate myself for his purpose in my life. It seems to me that it makes sense
that If I am to avoid fornication, which is the second Greek word, that here is
translated as sexual immorality, that I would be the one who dedicates myself for
the purpose of God. The Greek word is actually porneia which applied in
that day as used properly as illicit sexual intercourse. This would have been seen as having temple
prostitutes or living in a very open society with no moral compass at all.
This may well be the case in the society I find myself in today. Of course, I
do not participate in that kind of open behavior of engaging in sexual intimacy
with anyone at any time and it is an absolute that I do not have that kind of religious
ceremony with temple prostitutes as who Paul calls the heathen did. It would
appear our society is definitely heathen and I have been called out from that
and I have been called to live a pure and holy life. I certainly do not live like
the heathens of our culture, but I make every effort to live a life that is
pleasing to the Lord. From this language, there is a clear line between the
heathen lifestyle and that of the lifestyle of those who are sanctified. The
main difference between the heathen or I should say non-believer and myself are
that I have accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, who leads me into all
truth, and they have rejected both Jesus and the Spirit. It comes down to
acceptance or rejection.
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