Today’s reading is I Thessalonians 3:1-4:18.

I Thessalonians 4:3-8 says:

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.

Sex is a great thing. Sexuality is a natural desire. Sexual immorality is an abomination. There is no greater way to have intimacy than to commit your life totally to another person, getting to know them emotionally, mentally, spiritually and then celebrating that union physically. There is not greater cheat or destructive force than to take that great celebration and waste it on just a few moments of physical pleasure with someone to whom there is no commitment or union. Therefore, abstain from, avoid, flee sexual immorality. 

But do not stop there. It is not enough to simply say, “Well, I won’t have sex unless I’m married.” We have to know how to control our bodies or possess our own vessel as some translations say. We need to present our bodies in a way that befits holiness and honor. We must not present our bodies in a way that says, “Look at me, I’m sexual.” We must not present our bodies in a way that says, “Look at me, I’m aroused.” We must not present our bodies in a way that says, “Look at me, I want to arouse you.” We must shine forth holiness in the way we dress these bodies, in the way we walk with these bodies, in the places we go with these bodies, in the way we allow our bodies to interact with other people and their bodies. 

But do not stop there. It is not enough to simply say, “I’m going to present myself in a modest way.” We must not live in the passion of our lusts. We must work on our minds as well. We may follow the strictest of rules about bodily modesty, but if our minds are filled with lust and thoughts of sexual immorality for those around us, we are still not living in holiness. Men, we need especially think about this as we walk through the mall and the Victoria’s Secret store. We need especially think about this as we pass the magazine rack at the grocery store. We need especially think about this when we are firing up our computers and heading to the internet.

Then I notice the reasons why. First, so we won’t transgress against our brother. I think this is an interesting statement and perhaps I’m missing the point. However, since I see the issue being discussed as mostly a male problem, I think what Paul is saying is when I look at a woman to whom I’m not married to lust after her, if I present myself in a way to purposefully arouse a woman to whom I’m not married, or if I even pursue a sexual encounter with a woman to whom I’m not married, I’m not only transgressing against me and against her, I’m also transgressing against her husband or future husband.

Additionally, I should avoid these fleshly sins and attitudes because God has called me to holiness. He hasn’t called us into a special club in which we can mentally trade wives because we are all becoming spiritually intimate and vulnerable with each other in Christ. We may greet each other with hugs and even kisses, but they are to be holy hugs and kisses. They are not to be attempts to satisfy fleshly lusts. God has called us to holiness, not to cop a feel in the name of Christian greeting and relationships.

Finally, Paul says if we disregard this, we aren’t disregarding him, we aren’t merely disregarding the men and women against whom we are perpetrating our sins, we are also disregarding God. No matter how far down the path of lust, immodesty, and immorality we have traveled, we need to get back to God’s call of holiness. He will work with us if we will surrender to Him.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

If I plant watermelon seeds, I won’t get pumpkins and vice versa. Or as Jesus would say, we can’t get figs from thistles or grapes from thornbushes. We grow what we plant.

Therefore Paul says:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8, ESV).

All too often, as we Christians argue about where to draw our personal moral lines, we end up defending planting the seeds of the flesh. You may not agree with me regarding issues like the lottery, social drinking, couples dancing, etc. I just ask you to think about this passage.

What seeds are we planting if our best friends are drinkers? What seeds are we planting when we attend their parties filled with drink? What seeds are we planting when we hang out in casinos? What seeds are we planting if we look the other way as our friends get high? What seeds are we planting if unmarried couples rub their bodies together to the rhythm of the music? What seeds are we planting when we watch shows filled with the immodest and the immoral? What seeds are we planting when the songs that entertain us glorify immorality? What seeds are we planting if the books we read, the movies we watch, the tv shows we enjoy provide a constant and steady stream of the immoral?

I hear people all the time justify the “gray areas” in which they delight and then they wonder why they struggle so much with sin? Anecdotally, we hear of the increasing numbers of unmarried pregnancies, cases of adultery, alcoholism, drug abuse, homosexuality, prescription drug abuse, divorces, etc. These stories are not from the worldly but from within Christ’s body. I’m not sure a month has gone by over the past few years that I haven’t heard of another preacher or elder committing adultery. Of course, I cannot think about these who have fallen without thinking of my own sins and recognize but for the grace of God go I. 

What is happening here? Is the problem starting at the moment of the major sin? No. The problem is in our continual fight for our personal rights to claim we can watch what we want, read what we want, listen to what we want, go where we want, drink what we want and do what we want. Whether we realize it or not we are sowing seeds to the flesh. When our general practice is to justify and defend sowing the seeds of the flesh, we shouldn’t be surprised when we reap corruption. Paul proclaimed the hard and fast rule. If we sow seeds to the flesh, we will reap corruption from the flesh. 

Somehow, Christians today think we can plant thistles but get figs. We think we can plant thornbushes but get grapes. It doesn’t work that way. When we sow the wind, we will reap the whirlwind.

If we really want to help people overcome full blown immorality, we need to quit telling them to just say, “No,” to the biggies. We need to help them start planting the right seeds. We need to start planting seeds to the Spirit. We need to increase our prayer and Bible Study. We need to deepen our relationships with other Christians. We need to come clean and confess to our brethren. We need to assemble with the saints, worshipping God and edifying one another. We need to cut off our right hands and pluck out our right eyes if they get in the way. 

Here is the great comfort. If we plant grapes, we won’t get thornbushes. If we plant figs, we won’t get thistles. When we plant seeds to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. That cannot be helped. It is just the way things work.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC