The Will of God for Your Body
Introduction: A War Over Worship
We live in a culture that is drowning in sex, and yet has never been more confused about it. Our world treats sex as a recreational appetite, a consumer good, and the central sacrament of self-expression. The high priests of our secular age tell us that freedom is found in casting off all restraint, in following every impulse, and in defining our own reality. But this supposed freedom has not led to a promised land of joy and fulfillment. It has led to a wasteland of broken homes, rampant disease, profound loneliness, and the industrial slaughter of the unborn. The sexual revolution was a revolution against God, and like all such revolutions, it has devoured its own children.
The world believes that what you do with your body is your own business. The Bible teaches that what you do with your body is an act of worship. It is either an act of worship directed toward the one true God, or it is an act of worship directed toward an idol, which is usually the self. There is no neutral ground. Every sexual act is a theological statement. It declares either that you belong to God or that you belong to yourself. And since we are not, in fact, our own, the second option is a lie that always ends in ruin.
Into this confusion, the Apostle Paul speaks with breathtaking clarity. He does not offer suggestions or therapeutic advice. He delivers commandments from the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us that the Christian life is not a matter of private opinion or personal preference, but of walking in a way that pleases God. And central to this walk, at the very heart of it, is the matter of sexual holiness. This passage is not a list of outdated rules; it is a battle plan for living as a citizen of heaven in a world that has declared war on the Creator.
The Text
Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification. Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
(1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 LSB)
The Upward Call to Excel (v. 1-2)
Paul begins with a pastoral exhortation, grounded in the highest authority.
"Finally then, brothers, we ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2)
Notice the balance here. Paul affirms them, "just as you actually do walk," but he immediately pushes them forward, "that you excel still more." The Christian life is not a static state of arrival; it is a dynamic walk, a progression. It is a race. God does not call us to the spiritual equivalent of a participation trophy. He calls us to run in such a way as to win the prize. Complacency is the enemy of sanctification. The moment you think you have arrived is the moment you have begun to slide backward.
And this is not Paul's personal growth program. He asks and exhorts "in the Lord Jesus." The instructions he gave them were not helpful hints for a better life; they were "commandments... through the Lord Jesus." This is crucial. We are not dealing with human wisdom, but with divine authority. To disregard these instructions is to disregard King Jesus. The Christian faith is not a buffet where we can pick and choose the parts we find palatable. It is a summons to submit to the total lordship of Christ in every area of life, without exception.
The Centerpiece of God's Will (v. 3)
Paul then makes one of the clearest statements in all of Scripture about the will of God for the believer.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;" (1 Thessalonians 4:3 LSB)
Many Christians tie themselves in knots trying to discern the "will of God" for their lives, as if it were a hidden treasure map. Should I take this job? Marry this person? Move to this city? While God does guide us in such things, the Bible is far more concerned with our character than with our circumstances. You want to know God's will? Here it is, written in black and white: your sanctification. Sanctification means being set apart. Set apart from the world, and set apart for God. It is the process by which the Holy Spirit makes us in reality what we already are by position in Christ: holy.
And Paul does not leave this as a lofty, abstract concept. He immediately brings it down to the street level. What does this sanctification look like in practice? It begins here: "that you abstain from sexual immorality." The Greek word is porneia, from which we get our word pornography. It is a catch-all term for any sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. In a Greco-Roman world where sexual license was the norm, where temple prostitution was common, and where passions were to be indulged, this command was as counter-cultural as it gets. And it is just as counter-cultural today. The first and most basic application of our being set apart for God is the holiness of our bodies.
Bodily Integrity and Pagan Passion (v. 4-5)
Paul then gives both the positive command and the negative contrast.
"that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;" (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 LSB)
The positive duty is to "possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor." The "vessel" here most likely refers to one's own body. The command is to know how to control, manage, and steward your body in a way that is set apart for God's purposes (sanctification) and in a way that is dignified and weighty (honor). This requires knowledge and discipline. It is a skill to be learned. Self-control is not the opposite of passion; it is the right ordering of passion.
The contrast could not be more stark: "not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God." The driving force of the pagan world is disordered desire. But look at the root cause Paul identifies. Why do they live this way? It is because they "do not know God." This is a theological problem before it is a behavioral one. When you worship idols, whether they are made of stone or made of self, you become like what you worship. If your god is a creature of chaotic impulse, you will live a life of chaotic impulse. But if you worship the holy, righteous, and self-controlled God of the Bible, you will be transformed into His likeness. Sexual sin is ultimately a form of atheism in practice. It is living as though God does not exist, does not see, and does not matter.
Sin's Social Cost and Divine Justice (v. 6-7)
Next, Paul expands the scope. Sexual sin is never a private affair.
"and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification." (1 Thessalonians 4:6-7 LSB)
Here we see that sexual sin is a sin against the community. To "transgress and defraud his brother" means to step over a boundary and to cheat or take something that does not belong to you. When you engage in porneia, you are stealing. You are stealing purity from another person. If they are single, you are stealing from their future spouse. If they are married, you are stealing from their current spouse. You are defrauding their father, their mother, and the entire church community by devaluing the covenant of marriage and treating a fellow image-bearer as an object for your gratification. There are no victimless sexual sins.
And for those who think they can get away with it, Paul issues a solemn warning: "the Lord is the avenger in all these things." God is a God of justice. He sees. He knows. And He will repay. This is not a game. To sin in this way is to place yourself under the threat of divine judgment. God's law is not a collection of suggestions; it is the boundary line of reality, and to cross it is to invite destruction. This is because our very calling is at stake. "God did not call us to impurity, but in sanctification." Holiness is not an optional add-on for the super-spiritual; it is the very purpose of our salvation. It is the environment in which we are called to live, like a fish is called to live in water.
Rejecting God, Not Man (v. 8)
Finally, Paul brings it all to a thunderous conclusion, identifying the ultimate authority being defied.
"Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." (1 Thessalonians 4:8 LSB)
If you read these commands about sexual purity and decide to ignore them, to "set them aside," you are not having a mere disagreement with the Apostle Paul. Your quarrel is not with a first-century moralist. Your rebellion is against God Himself. You are looking the sovereign Creator in the face and telling Him that you know better.
And notice the specific way Paul describes Him: "the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." This is a masterstroke. Why is it so heinous to live in impurity? Because God has given you His own Spirit to dwell inside you. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). To engage in sexual sin is to take the temple of God and defile it. It is to grieve the Spirit. It is to take the very power God has given you for holiness and to use it for impurity. It is an act of profound, cosmic treason. The presence of the Spirit is both the means of our sanctification and the reason for it.
Conclusion: The Logic of the Gospel
The world's logic is that if you are forgiven, it doesn't matter how you live. The gospel's logic is that because you are forgiven, it matters immensely how you live. We do not pursue holiness in order to be saved. We pursue holiness because we have been saved.
The call to sexual purity is not a call to a sterile, joyless legalism. It is a call to freedom. It is the freedom from being a slave to your passions. It is the freedom to worship God with your whole being, body and soul. It is the freedom that comes from living in accordance with the way our Creator designed us to live.
This is the will of God: your sanctification. It was willed by the Father, purchased by the blood of the Son, and is being accomplished in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, do not set this aside. Do not treat it lightly. Flee from impurity. Know how to control your own body in honor. And in so doing, you will walk in a way that is truly pleasing to the God who did not just save you from sin's penalty, but who is daily saving you from its power.