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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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PRACTICAL SANCTIFICATION: TO ABSTAIN FROM MORAL IMPURITY 1Th 4:3b-8 (6/12/11) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. ABSTAIN FROM MORAL IMPURITY (1Th 4:3b) A. [1Th 4:3b] - In speaking of God’s will for
the Thessalonians and all believers, God’s ultimate goal is sanctification.
Here Paul outlines the practical side of sanctification as to abstain from
moral impurity. 1. “Sanctification” comes from the Greek
root hagiázō which means
to make holy or set apart. Therefore the divine plan for all believers is
that they are separated and made holy by the Holy Spirit through the Word of
God in this life. 2. Out of the four aspects of Sanctification
(Preparatory, Positional, Progressive, and Perfect), Paul is referring
to Progressive (Present) Sanctification, where the believer has the practical
responsibility to cooperate with God. B. 1Th 4:1 taught that in order to be
sanctified, believers had to walk and please God. 1Th 4:3b teaches that in
order to be sanctified, believers have to abstain from sexual impurity. 1. “Sexual immorality” comes from the Greek
word porneia. Porneia,
in a general sense includes any and all types of sexual immorality:
fornication (Joh 8:41); adultery (Mat 5:32), infidelity (Mat 19:9), incest
(1Co 5:1), and immorality in general (1Co 6:13). It would also include casual
sex, unmarried couples living together, addiction to pornography (Eng.
“pornography” come from porneia) and
homosexuality. All of these are in epidemic proportions in our culture today. 2. The force of vs. 3 is that the
Thessalonians are “to continually keep
on abstaining” (present infinitive - apechō,
hold away from, hold back) from sexual immorality. Furthermore, it is in
the middle voice and the emphasis was that it was their responsibility and
part in God’s sanctification process. 3. Therefore, according to God’s Word,
believers must abstain from sexual immorality. a) Immorality is listed as one of the deeds
of the flesh (Gal 5:19), and must be prohibited. b) The believer is to understand that
immorality is an unbreakable sin against one’s own body and must therefore
flee it (1Co 6:18). c) Immorality is unbecoming of a believer
and should not be name among them (Eph 5:3). d) The believer must understand that through
Christ, the power of immorality has been rendered inoperative (Col 3:5). II. CONTROL LUSTFUL PASSIONS (1Th 4:4-5) A. [1Th 4:4] - Along the same thoughts, in
order to be sanctified, they have to know how to control their bodies and
keep themselves pure from sexual immorality.. 1. “Each one” (hecaston,
empahtic) of them was responsible for their own
actions and each one was responsible to know (perfect infinitive - oida - perception or realization) how to walk in a
holy manner. They perceived it from the Scriptures, seeing the example of
Paul, and through the influence of the Holy Spirit. 2. To “possess” (present middle infinitive
- ktaomai - acquire or control) one’s own
vessel (body), means to bring it under control for themselves. The Holy
Spirit empowers the believer with self-control to control himself (Gal 5:23
cp. 2Pe 1:6). 3. The Thessalonians were to consistently keep
their bodies holy (“in accordance with sanctification”) and with
integrity (“honor”). B. [1Th 4:5] - Their bodies were to be kept
under control and not allow their passions to be out of control just like the
pagan culture in which they lived. 1. They were not to give into lustful
passions. “Passions” (pathos) were strong cravings and desires which
in this case were sinful and contrary to God’s commands. Not every passion is
sinful. Only those which are contrary to God’s word, not contained with the
boundaries given by God, or out of control, are sinful. a) However, in the NT, pathos is used
only in a bad sense. We see pathos used for degrading passions (Rom
1:26), sinful passions (Rom 7:5), part of the flesh (Gal 5:24), and members
of the sinful flesh (Col 3:5) 2. It is described as “lustful” passion.
Lustful is the Greek word epithumía
and can mean good and godly desires (1Th 2:17), but can also refer to
strong unrestrained desires for something forbidden, particularly immorality
(2Pe 1:4; 1Jo 2:16-17). 3. Obviously, the believers at Thessalonica
were Gentiles, but when Paul spoke of the “Gentiles” here, he was referring
to the immoral pagan culture of those who did not know God. a) As believers they were not to imitate the world because of its
sin and violation of God’s holiness in the matter of sexual immorality (1Pe
4:3). b) The reason the sinful culture behaved
immorally was that it did not know God or have a relationship with Him (1Co
1:21; Gal 4:9). 4. In order to control our bodies the
Scriptures admonish us to: a) Flee lustful passions (2Ti 2:22) . b) Walk by Spirit and fulfill lust of the
flesh (Gal 5:16). c) Make no provisions for the flesh (Rom
13:14). d) Not let immorality reign in your life (Rom
6:12). III. DO NOT DEFRAUD ONE ANOTHER (1Th 4:6a) A. [1Th 4:6a] - As believers they were not to
“transgress” (huperbaínō - step over) and step over the line of God’s holiness and Law. 1. They would be stepping over the line if
they defrauded one another. Usually “defrauding” (pleonektéō - hold on to more, take advantage) happens in the area of money when
someone is exploited and taken advantage of (Luk 19:8). 2. In this context of sexual immorality (“in
this matter”), it refers to taking advantage of someone in a sexual sense
under the pretense of Christianity or “Christian love”. 3. The believer must never take advantage of
anyone, espcially in a sexually immoral manner
under the guise of Christianity. Rather he must follow God’s principles of
purity and commit to not transgressing them. IV. HEED THE CONSEQUENCES OF MORAL IMPURITY (1Th
4:6b-8) A. [1Th 4:6b] - Make no mistake; there are
consequences for sinning against God and His Laws. God defends His principles
against those who defraud one another in this matter. 1. Man is warned of the consequences of sin
and it is God who will carry the consequences out (cp. Col 3:4-7; Heb 13:4). 2. God is man’s Creator. He drew up the
blueprints, created us according to His good pleasure, and warns us in His
Word what will harm us. The question is, Will we believe God or think that we
know more and better than our Creator. 3. Paul was always careful to “admonish” (diamartúromai - affirm solemnly) and warn about such things. B. [1Th 4:7] - Believers ought to abstain
from moral uncleanness because that is not the purpose for which believers
have been called. 1. Believers were called to be saints (1Co
1:2; Rom 1:7) but also called to walk worthy of the calling (Eph 4:1). 2. Believers were not called to walk in
impurity. Here the word for “impurity” is akatharsia, which
means uncleanness, moral uncleanness, the opposite of holy living. 3. Becoming holy is what the believer has
been called to. If the believer has been called to holiness, then he cannot
be a part of sexual immorality or moral uncleanness. Otherwise he is marring
God’s purposes. C. [1Th 4:8] - Another consequence of not
abstaining from sexual immorality is that the believer rejects God and the
influence of the Holy Spirit. 1. Those who
violate God’s principles are not rejecting man’s temporal and cultural
taboos, rather they rejecting the Creator and Lord of All. 2. The Holy Spirit has been given to believers
to give them victory over all sin, including sexual impurity (Rom 8:13). |
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