Paul begins this section with the word finally. We might be tempted to think that this means he is about to complete his letter. But Paul is using pastor lingo here. He means he has finally finished his introductory remarks and is now beginning the main part of his message. Chapter 4 does mark a new section, a new theme. Up to now, in a sense Paul has been in the mode of making personal remarks to his friends, his spiritual family in Thessalonica. Now he begins a new section, and this section is really about sanctification.
I have said before, and it bears repeating, that there are three stages to our salvation. First there is justification, when we are made accepted by God, when we are given new life by God, transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of righteousness. We are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ at justification and born again, saved by the grace of God.
The second stage of our salvation is sanctification. Sanctification is a process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is walking in the Spirit and not by the flesh. Sanctification is the process of being holy, even as God is holy. It’s learned behavior, as maturity in the human realm is a process of growing and learning once you have been born. So sanctification is becoming mature in the spiritual realm, walking in the Spirit and not according to the lusts of the flesh. And sanctification is a process of being set apart unto Christ, then following His example as we walk after Him, as we pattern our life after Him.
The third stage of our salvation is glorification. Glorification is when we are raised to be with Christ in a new body, in a new heaven and earth, in the eternal realm forever and ever. This happens at the second coming of Christ. The second section of this chapter deals with glorification. But this first section deals with our sanctification. How we are to live now in the power of the Spirit as we await the second coming of Christ.
Now excelling and persevering in that process of sanctification is what Paul speaks of in vs 1. He says, “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us [instruction] as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.”
Notice that Paul uses a double imperative in beginning this subject. He says we request and exhort you i the Lord Jesus. This is about as strongly worded as you can make an appeal. It’s not simply a suggestion. It’s as if he is saying, I urgently command you in the name and authority of Christ Jesus. If Jesus is our Lord - as we must confess Him to be if we are to be saved - then He has the authority to give us commands and instructions about how we are to live.
Paul wants the Thessalonians to understand that the purpose of their walk – their manner of living – was to please God and not themselves. When the Christian has this basic understanding of the purpose of their new life in Christ, then the following instruction regarding Biblical morality makes sense.
Furthermore, he emphasizes that this is accomplished by adherence commandments, or instructions which the apostles gave to the church, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Scholars tell us that the word translated instruction - rendered commandments in the NKJV - is a military term. It’s not a suggestion, it’s an order. So this is an order that Paul is making an urgent plea to them to accomplish. There is a pervasive mentality in the church today that in the new covenant, since we are under grace, then we are not longer under obligation to any commandments.
But nothing could be further from the truth. We are still obligated to keep the moral law of God. There is no other way we can define sin outside of the commandments. The cross took away the penalty of the law for those who trust in Christ for their atonement. We are reconciled to God, we are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, through justification by faith in what Christ accomplished for us through His death and resurrection. But there remains the law of God which we are to keep, which we are given the power to keep by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And so if we are going to progress in sanctification, then it will be by adherence to the commandments. Now there are ceremonial laws which we are no longer obligated to fulfill, because they were a picture of the finished work of Jesus Christ. And as scriptures tell us, when the perfect comes the partial is put away. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the law, particularly the ceremonial laws which prefigured Him. And so for instance, the Sabbath rest is fulfilled in Christ, and we find rest from our labors in Him. So we are free from the ceremonial aspects of the law. But we are still obligated under the moral aspects of the law.
Jesus said in Matt. 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” He also spoke of two commandments which we are to keep, which encompass all the commandments; that is, to love God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself. He said love is the fulfillment of the law. To love God and love your neighbor encompasses all the law. Now that law of love isn’t an easy version of the law which was given to us in the new covenant. If you truly do what that law requires, I guarantee you that it is every bit as difficult if not impossible to keep as the ten commandments. The ten commandments are simply condensed into two laws - loving God and loving your neighbor.
So what proceeds here starting in vs 3 comprises the commandments. That’s what Paul is saying. What follows are commandments given by the authority of Jesus Christ. He makes that clear by vs 2, “For you know what commandments we gave you by [the authority of the Lord Jesus.” And then he goes on in vs 3 to exhort them to keep the first of these commandments, which is to abstain from immorality. Vs3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; [that is,] that you abstain from sexual immorality.”
Notice Paul introduces this commandment by saying, “this is the will of God.” That phrase emphasizes the fact that this is not optional. This is a commandment. God’s will doesn’t change from day to day, from generation to generation. Paul isn’t saying that this is the Lord’s preference, but you can take it or leave it. It’s not a deal breaker. No, he says, this is the will of God, your sanctification. You’ve been set apart for this. There is no other way to sanctification that by observing this command. If you disregard it, you do so to your own peril. Sanctification is not optional either. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” And this commandment concerning immorality is essential to our sanctification.
Immorality is from the Greek word porneia. That’s the root for our word pornography, or pornographic. The ancient Greek word translated sexual immorality (porneia) has a broad meaning, referring to any sexual relationship outside of the marriage covenant. The broad nature of the word porneia shows that it isn’t enough to just say that you have not had sexual intercourse with someone who is not your spouse. All sexual behavior outside of the marriage covenant is sin.
I think that is important to recognize, because we tend to think today, perhaps as did the Thessalonians, that immorality is not such a big deal. Living together before marriage or outside of marriage is not a big deal in our culture, even within the realm of the church. Young people today think that living together is more practical. After you have lived together a few years, have perhaps bought a house together, have tried each other out, then maybe you can get married and have a big ceremony and get a lot of presents. But it’s more logical to live together first for a while. But God has not sanctioned sex outside of marriage, and He does in fact forbid it. Contrary to popular opinion, sex outside of marriage is not love, it’s love. It’s selfishness. It takes advantage of another. True love does not take advantage of another person for selfish reasons.
God grants great sexual liberty in the marriage relationship. Hebrews 13:4 says “Marriage [is to be held] in honor among all, and the [marriage] bed [is to be] undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” So sex within marriage is good, it’s honorable. But Satan’s not-very-subtle strategy is often to do all he can to encourage sex outside of marriage and to discourage sex in marriage. Satan makes the same lie he offered to Eve in the garden, that God is withholding something from you that is good. And so he seduces you through lust while at the same time disparages God’s motives.
And that idea of sex within marriage being honorable is echoed in the next injunction. Vs 4 can be viewed as a separate injunction, which builds on the first. Paul says in vs 4, “that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.” In the past, when I read this verse, I always assumed the reference to “his own vessel” referred to my body. But actually, Greek scholars tell us that vessel was a term that the rabbis used in reference to one’s wife. I suppose it could be interpreted either way without great harm, but I think the context suggests that the wife is to be held in honor. Marriage which is the union of husband and wife, is to be held in honor before all, as we read in Hebrews 13:4. And this is speaking of honoring one’s wife and the marriage commitment.
Marriage honors the wife and marriage honors God. Marriage was instituted by God in creation. We find that account in Gen. 2:23-25 And Adam said, “This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
So immorality is in a sense uncovering the nakedness of someone who is not your wife, who you are not committed to be one flesh with for the duration of your life. To extrapolate on that, immorality is dishonoring someone else’s wife, dishonoring someone else’s marriage. Even if it occurs before either party is married, it is still dishonoring the future marriage of both. Immorality in all it’s various forms is debasing to all concerned. It reduces love to lust, to degrade something God intended to be honorable, to something that is on the level of animals. And yet I have heard people who try to excuse immoral behavior use animal conduct as an excuse or even a validation of their desires. Contrary to what evolutionists would try to tell us, we are not animals. We were made in the image of God, not animals. We are made to rule over the animal kingdom, not be ruled by animal passions and lusts.
Paul equates such sexual immorality to the unsaved pagan nations in which they lived. He says in vs 5 “not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” Paul gave these commands to a first-century Roman culture that was marked by rampant sexual immorality. At this time in the Roman Empire, chastity and sexual purity were almost unknown virtues. In fact, sexual immorality was a major component of a lot of their pagan religions. Temples were staffed by prostitutes. Homosexual lifestyles were prevalent and accepted. The ancient writer Demosthenes expressed the generally amoral view of sex in the ancient Roman Empire: “We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day needs of the body; we keep wives for the faithful guardianship of our homes.” Nevertheless, Christians were to take their standards of sexual morality from God and not from the pagan culture in which they lived.
In vs 6, there is another addendum to this commandment. Paul says, “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.]” To defraud someone is to cheat them, to take illegally from them what is not yours to take. When we are sexually immoral, we take advantage of and defraud others and we cheat them in greater ways than we can imagine. The adulterer defrauds his mate and children. The fornicator defrauds his future mate and children, and both defraud their sexual partner.
Repeatedly in Leviticus 18 – a chapter where God instructed Israel on the matter of sexual morality – the idea is given that one may not uncover the nakedness of another who is not their spouse. The idea is that the nakedness of an individual belongs to his or her spouse and no one else, and it is a violation of God’s law to give that nakedness to anyone else, or for anyone else to take it.
Now Paul has already stated that this commandment was given by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he adds to that in vs 6 the reason for the commandment. “Because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.” We see here the first of four reasons for sexual purity. We can trust that God will punish sexual immorality, and that no one gets away with this sin – even if it is undiscovered. He says, the Lord is the avenger in all these things. He will punish those who transgress and defraud another in sexual immorality. I don’t know what that always looks like, whether it is in this life or in the judgment. But Paul gives a solemn warning about it. I do know that you don’t want to presume upon the grace of God or think that God doesn’t really care about it.
Paul gives us more insight into why God may avenge immorality in 1Cor. 6:15-20 which says, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body [with her?] For He says, "THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit [with Him.] Flee immorality. Every [other] sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” Our body does not belong to us but to Christ. And so we must honor God in our body by honoring our wife or husband in marriage.
That leads us to the second reason we should be sexually pure is found in vs 7 “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” The second reason for sexual purity is because of our call, our purpose in salvation. That call is not to uncleanness, but to holiness; therefore, sexual immorality is simply inconsistent with who we are in Jesus Christ. As we just read in 1 Cor. 6:20, we are to glorify God in our body and spirit, which belong to God.
The third reason for sexual purity is because to reject God’s call to sexual purity is not rejecting man, but God Himself. Vs 8 “So, he who rejects [this] is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” We may make a lot of excuses for our immorality, we may try to rationalize sexual immorality, but actually we still reject the will of God when we sin in this way. We are in effect saying I know what is best for me. I know what is good. God doesn’t.
Paul doesn’t seem to issue such a strong command here because the Thessalonians were deep in sin. No specific sin is mentioned; it seems that this was meant to prevent sin rather than to rebuke sin, in light of the prevailing low standards in their society and because of the seductive nature of sexual immorality.
But on the other hand, I think it’s possible that many of you don’t think you can be tempted in this way, or think that sexual immorality not an issue for you. But I would suggest that you might be deceiving yourself. There are lots of ways that we can sin in regards to sexual immorality. When you even look at another man or woman in lust, when you look at someone’s nakedness on television or in the movies, you are in effect defrauding that person of their honor and sinning against God. And I don’t think that such temptation necessarily has an expiration date on it. You may have lost desire for your husband or wife, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t still tempted for another person’s husband or wife, even if you never plan on actually doing anything about it.
The fourth reason for sexual purity is God has given us the Holy Spirit. Paul says you are rejecting “God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” We have been given the Holy Spirit, who empowers the Christian to overcome sexual sin. By His Spirit, God has given us the resources for victory; we are responsible to use those resources. To sin in this way then quenches the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to lead us. But when we sin, we suppress the Spirit and take the lead ourselves.
The thing about the commandment to love one another is that if we truly keep that commandment, then we will not defraud our brother or sister by sexual immorality. So Paul wants to show the fullness of that command to love one another as a contrast to the desire for sexual immorality which is defrauding. Love, biblical love, instead of lust. So he says in vs. 9 “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for [anyone] to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more.” This is really an elaboration on what Paul said about them in the previous chapter, “may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.”
What that shows is though you may observe the commandment to love one another, you can still continue to practice it, so that you may excel in it. It’s a process of sanctification, as I said earlier. We will not reach perfection in this age, but we will be perfected in our glorification. But for now, we must abound more and more in love for one another. We must practice it, live it out. But as I said, true Christian love does no harm to another. But love is doing what is good for them, what is beneficial for them. And as we just saw in the previous verses, sexual immorality defrauds another person. It doesn’t build them up. Love edifies the other person.
The final commandment in this section has multiple parts, but I think it’s obvious they are all related. We find that commandment starting in vs 10: But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.”
Notice once again Paul reiterates that this is a command. But when he speaks of living a quiet life, I don’t think he is necessarily saying that you have to go live on a farm in the country. I think it means living a life that is content with what God has given you. A life that is content with your husband or wife, or that is content with being celibate, if that’s your lot in life. I think he may be talking about a life without lusting after the world or the things of the world.
My son was talking the other day about how we are such a consumer society. And the world want’s us to be consumers. They are always selling us something, something newer, better. They are always tempting us with grass that is greener on the other side of the fence. It’s like a carrot that is continually dangled in front of our noses. The world can never satisfy, but the Lord can satisfy.
Paul says if we focused on working with our hands, to supply for our needs and not what we are told we need to be happy, then we will learn the secret of contentment. I think that is the goal of this instruction, that we learn the secret of contentment. Paul said in Phil. 4:11-13 “Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever [circumstances] I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every [circumstance] I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
The secret to contentment is found in Christ. He is the living water by which those who drink will never thirst again. He is the bread of heaven which those who eat of it, will never hunger. He is the Shepherd that those who follow will never want again. Our lives belong to Him, and if we walk after Him and live to please Him, then we will find satisfaction and sanctification in this life, and glorification and exaltation in the next.
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