To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 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. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

So, have you ever been asked the following question: “Who are you to tell me what to do?” Implied with this question is the idea that no one has the right to tell anyone else how to live.  Of course, this isn’t true, because there are definitely consequences if we carry this attitude with us into our relationships with those who have authority over us.  For you see, some people definitely do have the right to tell others what to do.  Parents, supervisors in the work place, and the government come to mind. However, beyond this, God has authority that extends over all.  God has ordained that His commands be communicated to us through His Word, the Bible, and by those who preach and teach His Word, which is again, as He has commanded.  Therefore, whenever we accurately share God’s Word with another person, for someone to reject that command is to disregard not man but God, as the Scripture above tells us.  Which brings us to the specific topic of the Scripture above, i.e., sex. 

God has given us very clear commands about it, and to disregard those commands brings us into a sphere of God’s judgment, for He is “an avenger” of those who violate His commands and by those violations, wrong others.  Our Creator Has every right to expect obedience from us. As I heard someone teach just the other day, the consequences of disregarding a command increases proportionally to the level of authority the one who has given the command exerts over us.  He gave the example of one child telling another child what to do.  There are no consequences for “disobedience” in this case, because children typically have no authority over other children.  Perhaps you have heard little ones assert this with the words “You’re not the boss of me!!”  But if a child disregards a parent’s command, the consequences are greater, and the result can mean loss of privileges or perhaps physical discipline. Then there is the government. Here disobedience to the law can have even greater ramifications, including fines, incarceration, and in some cases, capital punishment.

But what about disobeying God? Then what? What are the ramifications if we disregard the commands of the King of kings?  Surely, they are severe, with judgment including painful consequences not just in this life, but also in the life to come.  And what is the specific God-given command the Scriptures are referring to in the passage above? It is the specific command to “abstain from sexual immorality.”  In the “live and let live” society in which we live today, the definition of sexual immorality may be unclear.  Surely it was unclear to the Thessalonian’s to whom Paul wrote, where “religious” practices included such things as temple prostitution.  But Paul tells the Thessalonian believers that they are to be different. They were to be set apart in this area of their lives. They were to be sanctified. 

So, what specifically was he referring to? It was anything outside the only sexual relationship that God ordains anywhere in His Word, which is a sexual relationship between a man and a woman who are married. That’s it. There are absolutely no exceptions.  Anything outside of this is a violation not simply of a man-made law, but it’s a disregard of God – and judgment is coming for all such sins, for whatever we sow, we will reap. It’s an inviolable principle of the One Who made us all. 

So, in the sex-saturated society in which we live, one that is very similar to that of the Greek and Roman world at the time the New Testament was written, who are you listening to and who are you following regarding the use of your body?  Are you listening to God, the Creator of sex, or are you disregarding Him and going your own way?  If so, as the words above tell us, you are living a life lacking self-control, dishonoring your own body by using it in an unholy way, and wronging the other person with whom you are involved. But above all, you are disregarding the One Who has every right to tell each and every one of us what we should or should not do.