A Call To Personal Purity
A CALL TO PERSONAL PURITY
1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-8
To please God, we must live a holy life. Having prayed for their holiness in chapter 3, Paul now describes in down-to-earth detail what this means.
Paul’s desire to return to Thessalonica reflects a concern to supply something lacking in the faith of the believers (3:10). Even under the most favorable circumstances difficulties could be expected among converts from paganism. While still in the city Paul had anticipated the need for practical instruction in such important areas as personal morality and holiness (4:1-8), love and mutual respect (4:9), social behavior and work (4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). He now supplements his oral instruction by considering specific areas of shortcomings and uncertainty. The key is provided in 5:14. What Paul has written was prompted by the temptations of “the weak,” the discouragements of “the faint-hearted,” and the unbrotherly conduct of “the idle.” The apostle’s ultimate concern is that his converts may “please” or satisfy God (4:1; see also 2:4,15).
By “the weak,” Paul means those who are weak with respect to some aspect of faith. Apparently moral weakness was the problem of this group (4:3-8). It is understandable that the attitudes of some Christians living in a cosmopolitan seaport had been shaped by the conventions of pagan society. In Greek society, generally, sexual morality was treated with relative indifference. Religious sanctions had become attached to forms of immorality, since fertility rites were an accepted form of consecration to the deity in certain of the mystery religions and cults. Believers needed careful instruction concerning the type of life which God demanded; specifically, that consecration to the living God was both religious and moral.
Paul’s instruction is based on the fact that personal sanctification is the will of God for every Christian (4:3). This means that the primary demand on Christians is to live their lives as those who are set apart for devoted service to God. This requires the discipline of the body and thoughts and the cultivation of a purity of life.
Immorality is incompatible with commitment to Jesus Christ—then and now. To be enslaved to the passions of lust, to enter marriage merely for sexual convenience or to commit adultery is to imitate “the heathen who do not know God” and to invite divine judgment (4:5-6). The apostle marshals forceful reasons why Christians cannot confuse their freedom with pagan licence: there is a fearful judgment on sin (4:6); purity of life alone is consistent with the character of the Christian’s call “in holiness” (4:7); and impurity expresses a contempt for God who has given his Holy Spirit to believers (4:8). These considerations demand a fresh hearing in contemporary society where sexual immorality, the exploitation of people and the flouting of divine authority are common and are championed even within the church.