[1 Thessalonians 4:1-18]
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 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.
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
{Rev. David White}
According to scripture, the only acceptable expression of sexual intimacy is in a committed relationship of marriage. This was a radical teaching back in the Greco-Roman times. Pagan worship often involved prostitution. Men had mistresses, concubines, and wives... all for different purposes. In the passage, it is not rebuke, but rather he is calling them to radical obedience to God. Paul tells them that this is from God, not from Paul.
Our sexuality is a reflection of our inner spiritual life.
According to this passage, how we steward our sexuality reflect our allegiance. How we convey ourselves sexually tells how we are spiritually... Does our sexuality show how we are set apart by God? Scripture tells us that to be a Christian means we are bought by the blood of Christ and we are set apart for God. When Paul calls Jesus LORD, he is saying the He owns us... body and soul.
Sex is an incredible force to be handled carefully.
God has designed sex to be incredibly pleasurable. Unfortunately, our hearts want to be able to have sex when we want, how we want, etc. Paul says that people who live according to our passions don't know God. When we have sex outside of God's boundaries, we experience a splintering of our souls. Sex no longer gives the same pleasure... we become calloused. The pleasure decreases as we seek it out more and more...
"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity." - Ephesians 4:17-19
For those of us who are having issues with sexual immorality, consider this. If you are not having problems, God is expressing his wrath. When God presents us with the consequences of our sin, that is God expressing His love for us. You are living as one who disregards God. If God loves you, He will convict and discipline you.
God is saying that there is a holy way to control our genitals. God is also the one who put all the nerves in our genitals. He was the one who created the orgasm and called it good. Consider our God is a God of pleasure. But sex is not life-giving.
There is a deeper reality behind sex.
We are a called people. The Holy spirit has been given to us. He has given us a part of Himself. We are joined with Him. Even at it's best, marriage and sex is pointing to Someone greater. It is pointing to one who can give us rest, fulfillment, and joy. Sex that has no boundaries... makes lust insatiable. Marriage is not a cornucopia of sex... but we will be satisfied.
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