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 your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
God’s desire for us – as it was for the church in Thessalonika was for us to be set apart. Sexual sins were so pervasive in Greek culture that they didn’t think anything of “sleeping around” or fornicating. This teaching was very new to them and probably very shocking.
“Who was this man, someone who wasn’t even married, to tell us who we should or shouldn’t sleep with?
Two thousand years have passed and sexual sin is even more pervasive because of instant communication, pornography, and a massive international sex trade.
Right now we can’t deal with the major sins facing our world, so we start at home. Paul implores the believers to set themselves apart, to abstain from sexual sin.
God is telling us the exact same thing. In fact, Paul tells us elsewhere to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18). Don’t even entertain thoughts about it. Get out of there, fast.
God wants us to have pure and holy lives. He wants us to think about and meditate on good and right things.
As I’ve been discussing the past few days, take this opportunity to fill your mind with the Word of God so that when temptations arise, more of the Word of God is hidden in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit can use it for His glory. If this is sin you struggle with, this would be a perfect passage to hide in your heart. Read it over and over again, write it down, repeat it another 20 or thirty times. Get it into your head and before you know it, it will be hidden in your heart.
God is more powerful than these sins, and the Holy Spirit also wants us to lead a holy life.