1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 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. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
There are several important truths in these verses. For one, sexual purity is "the will of God" (verse 3); we don't just do this to please our spouse or out of guilt, but this is the will of our Creator and Lord. Learning to do this is part of the process of "sanctification" (verse 3) that we go through after salvation, as we become more like Jesus. Part of that process is learning "how to control his own body in holiness and honor" (verse 4), versus being controlled by our lusts. The world tells us that sexual freedom comes through lust, but we know the deeper truth that lust brings bondage, and purity brings freedom. The NIV lists an alternative reading to verse 4 where instead of learning to control our own body it says to "learn to live with your own wife". This points out that the purpose of purity is not to abstain from all sex, but to direct that sexuality to its proper place with our spouse.
Verse 6 commands us not to "wrong his brother in this matter", where "in this matter" refers to the earlier command to abstain from sexual immorality. So what he is saying is that in the area of our sexuality, we should not wrong another person or take advantage of them. Unfortunately that is exactly what often happens when we view others as merely sexual objects that are there to gratify our desires. When we view people as less than God's beloved children, then we are tempted to take advantage of them for our own pleasure. Furthermore, the fact that it wrongs "his brother" (and assuming that this applies not just to homosexual immorality but also to heterosexual immorality) suggests that the wrong is not just to the sexual partner but also to the family, friends and community of the person who has been reduced to an object of pleasure. There are ripple effects to our sin.
Lord, help me to learn to control my own body, and to see others as your beloved children, so that I live not in "impurity, but in holiness" (verse 7).
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 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. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
There are several important truths in these verses. For one, sexual purity is "the will of God" (verse 3); we don't just do this to please our spouse or out of guilt, but this is the will of our Creator and Lord. Learning to do this is part of the process of "sanctification" (verse 3) that we go through after salvation, as we become more like Jesus. Part of that process is learning "how to control his own body in holiness and honor" (verse 4), versus being controlled by our lusts. The world tells us that sexual freedom comes through lust, but we know the deeper truth that lust brings bondage, and purity brings freedom. The NIV lists an alternative reading to verse 4 where instead of learning to control our own body it says to "learn to live with your own wife". This points out that the purpose of purity is not to abstain from all sex, but to direct that sexuality to its proper place with our spouse.
Verse 6 commands us not to "wrong his brother in this matter", where "in this matter" refers to the earlier command to abstain from sexual immorality. So what he is saying is that in the area of our sexuality, we should not wrong another person or take advantage of them. Unfortunately that is exactly what often happens when we view others as merely sexual objects that are there to gratify our desires. When we view people as less than God's beloved children, then we are tempted to take advantage of them for our own pleasure. Furthermore, the fact that it wrongs "his brother" (and assuming that this applies not just to homosexual immorality but also to heterosexual immorality) suggests that the wrong is not just to the sexual partner but also to the family, friends and community of the person who has been reduced to an object of pleasure. There are ripple effects to our sin.
Lord, help me to learn to control my own body, and to see others as your beloved children, so that I live not in "impurity, but in holiness" (verse 7).