“Feb 7, 2024 - God's Will for Your Sex Life”

Tuesday, February 06, 2024

God’s Will for Your Sex Life

Reading:  1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
    
    Paul transitions here from recounting his history with the Thessalonians to giving them moral instructions.  He wants them to continue “to please God" and to “do so more and more” as they follow the truth he has already taught them (1 Thess 4:1, 2).  He has a specific teaching in mind here:  “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”(1 Thess 4:3-4).  God’s will for our sex lives is that we be holy—pure, separate from sin, and devoted to God.  This will involve abstaining from certain things—the kinds of sexual relationships that are off-limits to us—and will demand that we learn to be in control of our bodies and their impulses.  We cannot simply respond to every sexual urge or thought; this is not God’s will.

    We do not live “in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God”(1 Thess 4:5).  Gentiles (people who have no relationship with the true God) allow their lusts to grow without restraint, but those who know God pull back.  There is also a social dimension when we are sexually out of control:  “that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things”(1 Thess 4:6).  When I engage in improper sexual relationships, I hurt others (whether they consent or not).  Paul seems especially to have in mind the damage adultery between brothers and sisters in Christ can do to wounded spouses, the church, Jesus, and even ourselves.  He ominously warns that Jesus will avenge, that this is not our calling (1 Thess 4:7), and that if we ignore this, we are ignoring the gracious God himself (1 Thess 4:8).  

    People sometimes describe Christianity’s sexual rules as repressed and puritanical.  Paul argues that they are really about us being in control of ourselves.  There is strength in knowing that my sexual behavior is honorable, righteous, and loving of others.  I am no longer subject to every passing whim, a slave of my passions.  This is God’s will for me.

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One Thing to Think About:  Why is it so hard to control sexual impulses and behavior?

One Thing to Pray For:  The power and wisdom to control my body in holiness and honor

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