“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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 ESV)
All of us who believe in Jesus Christ, male and female, are to be those who are walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. For if our faith in Christ is genuine, we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are not to let sin reign in our bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, its end is eternal life in Christ, our Lord.
For, as believers in Jesus Christ we are also followers of Christ, if our faith in the Lord is genuine God-persuaded faith. And as followers of Christ we are to be living our lives to please the Lord Jesus in all that we are and do and say. And this is not saying that we will be absolutely perfect in everything, but that we must no longer be making sin our practice, and now righteousness and obedience to our Lord and to his will and purpose for our lives are to be our practice. For this is the will of God, our sanctification, which means to be made holy, different from the world for becoming like Christ in character.
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Amen! Therefore, we are to abstain from sexual immorality of all kinds, which includes watching or even dreaming of anything of a sexual or a sensual nature which might stir lust within us towards people to whom we are not married. For Jesus said that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart (and this goes for women lusting after men, and for same sex attraction, too). For adultery first begins in the mind before it is ever acted out in physical ways with another person.
For, as followers of Christ, we are to be those who control our own bodies in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust like the ungodly who do not know God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. For we are NOT to be those who deliberately sin against God and other humans, especially not habitually and premeditatedly, as so many are doing. But we are only going to be able to do what is right if our lives are under the control of the Holy Spirit and not under the control of the flesh, and if we are denying self, dying daily to sin, and walking in obedience to God in holy living.
For, as followers of Christ, we are to be those who love one another with agape love which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, righteous and obedient to God. So if we do this, we will not willfully do to others what we know is sinning against them in any way, whether it is in our minds only, and/or whether it is something that we do with our bodies. And please know here that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to God, then we don’t know God, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.
So, if we disregard these instructions to us, which were written down for us in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, then it isn’t man we are disregarding in reality, but we are disregarding God, for these instructions came to us by God, through man, but still from God. And God expects that his followers (believers in Jesus Christ) should follow and not ignore his instructions. For these are not optional. They are not mere recommendations that we can ignore and still have the hope of eternal life with God. So we need to take these seriously, and we need to make obedience to God our practice, by the Spirit.
[Romans 8:1-14; Romans 6:1-23; John 10:27-30; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:13-16; 1 Peter 2:24; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 4:17-24; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31]
Open My Heart
An Original Work / July 2, 2013
“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil” (Rm. 16:19b).
Open my heart. Let Your truth in.
Make of me a servant, pure within;
Sing of Your praise all of my days.
Let Your Spirit transform all my ways.
Jesus Christ died on a cross to
Save me from my sin.
“Repent of sin. Be cleansed within.
Obey all of His commands today.”
“Why do you doubt? Why do you fear?
Jesus Christ will wipe away your tears.
He cares for you. He feels your pain.
Die to sin, and life with Him you’ll gain.
Follow Him where’er He leads you.
Talk with Him each day.
Then you will know what He has planned
For your life before your world began.”
“Come unto Me, weary in heart.
Let My love and grace to you impart.
Believe in Me. Trust in My care.
Take your burdens to the Lord in prayer.
He will meet all of your needs,
And give you peace within.
Rejoice in Him! Tell of His love.
He will give you comfort from above.”
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Also, good pun, my man. I would have probably made a similar joke.
