By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Thessalonians 4:1
Finally, then,
brothers,[a] 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.
(ESV)
Christian living is a balance between grace and truth. Our salvation from sin is a work of God’s
grace and not dependent upon anything we have done (Ephesians 2:8). However, James 2:17 reminds us that faith without
works is dead. While this may appear to
be a contradiction in scripture, when we look at these two passages in context
and consider who they were written to, the apparent contradiction
vanishes. Paul is writing to the Church
in Ephesus about the redemptive work of Christ in their lives whereas James is
speaking to Christians about acting out their faith after experiencing the
redemptive work of Christ in their lives.
The encouraging report from Timothy was pleasing to Paul in
that it showed the believers in Thessalonica still wanted to see Paul again (1Thessalonians 3:6). However, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 expresses he still had concerns regarding how they were
living out their faith, in other words were there any good works accompanying
their faith a question I believe the church must ask itself today.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 speaks of sanctification. Sanctification is the setting apart of
something in service to God. Paul’s
desire was that the church, even though those in it are saved by grace, set
itself apart from the rest of the world by living lives of holiness that have a
higher standard. Unfortunately, however,
in many churches today there is little difference between how their members
live Monday through Saturday and nonbelievers.
As members of the body of Christ we are to,
1)
Abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thessalonians4:3-8) – Unfortunately the current election has deviated from a discussion on
which direction the country should take and devolved into a debate over lewd
sexual comments by Donald Trump and the enabling of sexually perverted behavior
by the husband of Hillary Clinton. Let
us therefore as Christians striving to live lives pleasing to God return the
discussion among our friends, family, co-workers, and fellow believers to
important issues like the economy, national security, and protecting our
Constitutional rights including the right of the freedom to practice our
religion.
2)
Love one another (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10) –
There is no lack of hate in our world.
We have hatred rooted in racism, hatred rooted in gender, and even
generational hatred. Unfortunately, if
the world sees similar hatred in the church, why would they want to become part
of it by accepting Jesus as their savior.
Jesus taught His disciples in John 13:35 that it is love for one another
that differentiates the church from the world.
Living a life pleasing to God therefore must involve the church putting
aside its petty differences and unifying around its mission, spreading the Gospel
of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15).
3)
Live quiet lives, minding our own affairs – (1 Thessalonians 4:11a) While social media makes it easy for us to keep up with
friends, it also gives people the opportunity to vent from behind the keyboard
in a manner they probably would not do face-to-face. Before hitting send I urge my fellow brothers
and sisters in Christ to pause and make sure what they are about to send is not
something incendiary or gossip.
4)
Work diligently (1 Thessalonians 4:11b) – We
tarnish our witness for Christ when we slack off at work. Most of us are not missionaries traveling to
foreign countries to minister but we do have a mission field, our
workplace. When our co-workers see us
slacking off by sharing our faith or studying our Bible on our employer’s time,
they see Christianity as an excuse to be lazy instead of a life changing
relationship with God.
5)
Be good citizens dependent on no one but God (1Thessalonians 4:12) – Let us be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) in how we conduct our
daily lives while standing strong against sinful behavior. This means we are not to start heated
arguments with nonbelievers but to instead peacefully share the truth of God’s
word with them so the Holy Spirit can convict them of their sin and point them
to the source of their salvation, the graceful work of Jesus Christ on the
cross.
We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). However, when we fail to live lives of
sanctification for God, we in essence hide our light. Let us therefore strive to live lives of
sanctification as Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 so the light of the
gospel within us can shine brightly.
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