FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD YOUR
SANCTIFICATION: touto gar estin (3SPAI) thelema tou theou o hagiasmos
humon: (1Thes 5:18; Psalms 40:8; 143:10; Matthew 7:21;
12:50; Mark 3:35; John 4:34; 7:17; Romans 12:2; Ephesians 5:17; 6:6;
Colossians 1:9; 4:12; Hebrews 10:36; 13:21; 1Peter 4:2; 1John 2:17)
(1Th 4:4; 5:23; Jn 17:17, 18, 19; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Ro 6:22;; 1Co
1:30; 6:11; Ep 5:26,27; 2Th 2:13; Titus 2:14; 1Pe 1:2)
><> ><> ><>
1Thessalonians 4 can be divided
as follows...
1Thes 4:1-2
= General Call to a God Pleasing Walk
1Thes 4:3-12 = Specific Aspects of God Pleasing Walk
1Thes 4:3-8
= Sanctification in Area of Sexual Purity
1Thes 4:9-12 = Sanctification in Area of Love and Work
1Thes 4:13-18 = Hope for
Grieving Saints
><> ><> ><>
For (gar) enforces
the assertion that his commandments were "by (the authority of)
the Lord Jesus", the One Who always did the will of His Father
and explains what is involved in living God-pleasing lives in harmony
with the orders that had been given. The charges delivered to the
converts did not originate with the missionaries but were expressive
of the will of God. And
since this is the will of God, believers are to let it be their will
also.
Paul like a commanding officer who
has received his orders from the Captain of the Host (cp, Joshua
5:14-15), passes along the order (commandment -
1Thess 4:2)
as an officer would do to his subordinates.
As Jesus instructed His
disciples...
If you love Me, keep My
commandments (John 14:15)
You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you (John 15:14)
To please God is to do His will
Nathanael Emmons
Holiness has love for its essence, humility for its clothing, the good
of others as its employment, and the honor of God as its end
This - This demonstrative
pronoun is in essence the "subject" of the sentence and introduces
what follows, all that is comprehended in this being designated
as the will of God.
How often Christians search hither
and yon for how to determine God's will. As one commentator has
concluded, behind this interest to determine God's will is a desire to
have Him make our choice for us! In this passage God's will is clearly
revealed and needs no guess work, no attendance at a seminar, etc. All
that is left once this passage is read is the choice of whether the
reader will obey His good and acceptable and perfect will. His will or
my will. Do you want to be holy? If you do (and you should) you the
choice is clear - His will done on earth in your life as it is in
heaven. You will never regret doing His will.
The will of God - Literally "a thing willed" by God, His will
being best ascertained in His Word, the only place that gives His will
in absolute terms! There are many areas where we do not know the
explicit will of God but sexual behavior is not one of them. To please God is to do His will and to do His
will is be continually becoming holy in the area of
sexual morality. Christians daily have a choice to yield themselves to
God’s sovereign will or assert their own independent will. Don't
attempt to live the Christian life without the Bible for if you do,
you are far more likely to seek your sinful will than His perfect
will. We should be grateful that God has given believers His absolutes
in this vital area of sexual conduct so we can make clear, decisive
decisions that are pleasing to our Father.
Harry Ironside introduces
this chapter noting that...
In this section the apostle set
forth the walk that pleases God. During his ministry among the
Thessalonians, Paul had been careful to emphasize the practical side
of Christianity. Sometimes we are apt to neglect this. We are so taken
up with doctrine that we do not sufficiently stress our
responsibilities as believers. Both sides of Christianity are
important.
There is a special warning in this
passage against sins of impurity. In Paul's day, immorality was so
common among the heathen that even Christians were apt to look on it
with a measure of indifference or even complacency. As Alexander Pope
wrote:
Vice is a monster of so
frightful mien*,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
(*Mien = air
or bearing especially as expressive of attitude or personality)
Among pagan nations the vilest kind
of lasciviousness was connected with the worship of their false gods.
But our God is infinitely holy and we who know Him are called to be
careful to avoid every tendency to uncleanness. (1Thessalonians)
Gloag notes that...
The phrase, “the will of God,” has
two significations in Scripture: the one is the determination of God—his
decree; the other is his desire, that in which he delights—a will,
however, which may be frustrated by the perversity of his creatures. It
is in this latter sense that the word is here employed. (The
Pulpit Commentary: New Testament;
Old Testament; Ages Software
or
Logos)
Hiebert comments that...
Such a setting forth of the will of
God should be of vital interest to believers; it should provide the
direction and inspiration of their lives. Christian conduct must have
its source in the divine plan. The obligation being pressed upon them
roots in God's revelation of His will for them. It is His will that
His people should be holy precisely because He Himself is holy (Lev
11:44-45, etc.; see notes
1 Peter 1:15;
1:16).
(Hiebert,
D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians: BMH Book. 1996)
Vine makes the point that...
The character of a person is
expressed in his will; therefore, since God is holy, He can
desire only holiness for His children, ("but like the Holy One who
called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is
written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." see notes
1Pe 1:15;
16).
But all men by nature follow the desires, thēlemata, of the
flesh and of the mind, ("Among them we too all formerly lived in
the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." see
note
Ephesians 2:3),
and are thus in inveterate opposition to the will of God, ("those
who are in the flesh cannot please God" - see note
Romans 8:8)
("A natural man
does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are
spiritually appraised." 1 Corinthians 2:14). Hence the need of all
men for a new and spiritual birth, ("Jesus answered, "Truly, truly,
I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God...Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You
must be born again." - John 3:5, 7), and for that conversion to
the state of the child which is the evidence of the new birth, ("Truly
I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you
shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" - Matthew 18:3); and hence,
too, the need for that lifelong discipline in which is learned by
experience “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,”
("I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and
perfect." see notes
Romans 12:1;
12:2)
("so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the
lusts of men, but for the will of God." see notes
1 Peter 4 :2)
(Vine,
W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
Will (2307)(thelema from
thélo = to will, desire that comes from one’s
emotions, represents an active decision of the will) means what one
wishes or has determined shall be done or that which is desired or
wished for. It refers to a desire which proceeds from one’s heart or
emotions. This term expresses the result of one’s purpose or desire.
Thelema has both an objective meaning (“what one wishes to happen”)
and a subjective connotation (“the act of willing or desiring”). The
word conveys the idea of desire, even a heart’s desire, for the word
primarily expresses emotion instead of volition. Thus God’s will is
not so much God’s intention, as it is His heart’s desire. It is God’s
gracious disposition.
Your sanctification -
(Literally "your sanctifying"). Keep
the cultural context in mind as you study this section. Remember that
a major problem for the early church was maintaining sexual purity
(e.g., see 1Cor 5:1, 9, 10, 11).
Greek cities like Thessalonica were wide open to all
kinds of sexual looseness, including immorality associated with their
pagan idol worship.
Pagan religions did not demand sexual purity of their devotees, and
their so-called gods
and goddesses were themselves grossly immoral. These so-called gods
were half human, half god, and as immoral as the hearts of the vain
imaginings of the men who hatched them and gave them a license to act
according to their lewd desires. Their consciences became dull and
hardened and the law of the conscience had little effect (cp notes
Romans 2:14;
2:15). There were
even priestesses
(little more than "religious" prostitutes) in the pagan temples who
were to help the men who came to "worship" the immoral idols. In fact it
is a bit ironic that there
were 1000 priestess prostitutes at the Temple of Aphrodite
in Corinth - the very city from which Paul was writing these words
about walking in holiness! Roman culture had few sexual boundaries and the
Greek religion considered prostitution a priestly prerogative. The
sanctity of marriage was so distorted that extramarital sex was
actually considered to be an act of worship. Paul is saying in this
section that for believers
the will of God is holiness and that such a lifestyle excludes sexual immorality! No appeal to Christian liberty
or freedom can justify fornication.
Such appeals have no Biblical mandate and in fact only give
rise to
licentiousness.
Barclay as he often does has
an interesting note to help understand the historical/cultural
context....
In Rome for the first five hundred
and twenty years of the Republic there had not been a single divorce;
but now under the Empire, as it has been put, divorce was a matter of
caprice. As Seneca said,
Women were married to be divorced
and divorced to be married.
In Rome the years were identified
by the names of the consuls; but it was said that fashionable ladies
identified the years by the names of their husbands. Juvenal quotes an
instance of a woman who had eight husbands in five years. Morality was
dead.
In Greece immorality had always
been quite blatant. Long ago Demosthenes had written
We keep prostitutes for pleasure;
we keep mistresses for the day-to-day needs of the body; we keep wives
for the begetting of children and for the faithful guardianship of our
homes.
So long as a man supported his wife
and family there was no shame whatsoever in extra-marital
relationships.
It was to men and women who had
come out of a society like that that Paul wrote this paragraph. What
may seem to many the merest commonplace of Christian living was to
them startlingly new. One thing Christianity did was to lay down a
completely new code in regard to the relationship of men and women; it
is the champion of purity and the guardian of the home. This can not
be affirmed too plainly in our own day which again has seen a
pronounced shift in standards of sexual behaviour. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
As Gloag rightly remarks...
Our holiness is the great design of
Christ’s death, and is the revealed will of God. (The
Pulpit Commentary: New Testament;
Old Testament; Ages Software
or
Logos)
Hiebert reminds that...
Since God is holy and separated
from sin, this "sanctifying" must express itself in purity of life.
The possessive genitive your means that this sanctifying
process is God's will for the readers personally. Because of
their living union with Christ, believers are the holy ones
(the saints) and therefore can and should seek daily to
grow in personal holiness in character and conduct.
(Ibid)
(Bolding added)
Barnes writes that
holiness (hagiasmos)...
means here purity of life, and
particularly abstinence from those vices which debase and degrade the
soul. Sanctification consists in two things,
(1.) in "ceasing to do evil;" and
(2.) in "learning to do well." Or
in other words, the first work of sanctification is in overcoming the
propensities to evil in our nature, and checking and subduing the
unholy habits which we had formed before we became Christians; the
second part of the work consists in cultivating the positive
principles of holiness in the soul. (Albert Barnes. Barnes NT
Commentary)
R. J. Stewart
Holy
has the same root as wholly, it means complete. A man is not complete
in spiritual stature if all his mind, heart, soul, and strength are
not given to God.
Richison has some excellent
advice on the will of God warning us that...
Christians cannot set their sail as
to how the wind may blow. That is relative ethics. We must set our
sail according to the will of God, which may mean that we sail against
the prevailing winds of opinion. We want to sail in the same direction
God is going. Before we can do the will of God, we must be willing to
do His will no matter what the cost. The Christian who is willing to
open himself to God’s will unconditionally is the Christian God will
use.
If any man is willing (present
tense = as their
lifestyle. Verb = thelo - active decision of one's will implying
volition and purpose) to do (present
tense - note he
says not just know but do as your habitual practice!) His will,
he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I
speak from Myself. (John 7:17)
It is possible to understand the
will of God. It is no mysterious, ethereal, abstruse will. God reveals
His will in very clear terms.
So then do not be foolish, but
understand
(present
imperative =
command to make this your daily practice) what the will of the Lord
is. (see note
Ephesians 5:17)
It is possible to test the will
of God. We do this by a “renewed mind.
I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God” (see note
Romans 12:1;
12:2).
Those committed to living carnal
lives cannot prove the will of God. We cannot conform ourselves to the
world and find God’s will at the same time. These things are mutually
exclusive.
Do not love
(present
imperative with a
negative = stop an action in progress) the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the
world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever” (1 John
2:15-17)
It is possible to stand perfect and
complete in all the will of God.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a
bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you
in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of
God” (see note
Colossians 4:12)
The motto of one of my alma maters,
William Tyndale College, is
The will of God,
nothing more,
nothing less,
nothing else.
Getting into the will of God and
staying there gives the believer a great sense of satisfaction.
Certain things in the Christian life are not open to debate. We do not
rethink our view of sexuality. We do not rationalize sexual sin so
that it meets some convenient need that we perceive that we might
have. (1Thessalonians
4:3) (Bolding
added)
Sanctification (38)(hagiasmos
from hagiazo = sanctify from
hagios
= holy, set apart, consecrated) literally means
sanctification and includes the ideas of consecration,
purification, dedication and holiness. The dominant idea of
sanctification is separation from the secular and sinful and setting
apart for a sacred purpose, for God’s special use, all made possible
by the atoning work of Christ. Hagiasmos does not denote the
state of holiness but rather the process of being made holy, of
becoming more and more in character and conduct that which God desires
us to be. A sanctified person puts himself or herself at the complete
disposal of God.
In
1Thessalonians 3:13
Paul used hagiosune
which is the state of being holy.
It is fascinating to note that the
most concentrated use of the masculine noun hagiasmos is found
here in
1Thessalonians 4:1-7 where we encounter 3 of the 10 NT uses. (1Th 4:3,
4, 7 see notes
1Th 4:3,
4:4;
4:7)
The idea of sanctification is that something or someone is set aside
for the use intended by the designer. For example, a fountain pen is
"set aside" or "sanctified" for the purpose of writing. A pair of
glasses is "sanctified" and set aside for use in improving one's
sight. In short, as used in the Bible, things are
sanctified when they are used for
the purpose God intended. A human being is sanctified, therefore, when
he or she lives according to God’s design and purpose, walking in a
manner which is pleasing to His and worthy of His great Name. That is
the practical meaning of hagiasmos.
G. Campbell Morgan was right when
he said that the church did the most for the world when the church was
the least like the world.
Resources Related to Holiness
and Sanctification:
Holiness Quotes
The Lord Who Sanctifies
The Lord Who Sanctifies 2
Holiness by J. C. Ryle
Exposition of 1 Peter 1:15-16 "Be
Holy as He is Holy"
The Attributes of God - His Holiness
The Holiness of God - by A W Pink
Why Would Anyone Want To Be Holy?
John Piper's Strategies for fighting lust
THREE KINDS OF
SANCTIFICATION
The New Testament delineates 3
kinds of sanctification...
(1) Positional sanctification
- is the once for all setting apart of sinners as saints at the time
of salvation when they are taken out of Adam and placed into Christ
and His righteousness is imparted to them. This aspect of
sanctification is possessed by every believer the moment of conversion
and we will never be more saved than at the moment we put our trust in
Christ. We are accepted in the Beloved and not because of who we are.
(see 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:11, Acts 20:32, 26:18;
Heb 2:11 - note;
Heb 10:10 - note)
Our initial salvation experience:
A POINT IN TIME EVENT
OUR POSSESSION
OUR ETERNAL POSITION IN CHRIST
When we are
initially saved, the Bible sometimes refers to this as
we were sanctified (hagiazo) (see
note on 1Cor 6:11).
At the moment we
confessed "with (our) mouth Jesus as Lord, and (believed) in (our)
heart that God raised Him from the dead" (see
note
Ro 10:9) we were saved, sanctified or set apart from sin,
Satan and this present evil age and unto God for His good pleasure and
use.
The epistle to
the Hebrews records that
By this will we have been
sanctified (hagiazo) through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. (see note
Hebrews 10:10)
In Hebrews 10:10
(note) ,
sanctified is in the
perfect tense
which indicates a past completed action (the moment of salvation, a
one time event when we were placed in Christ) with present ongoing
effects or results. In other words, holiness is every saint's permanent possession,
for at salvation we were made holy in Christ and will always be "holy"
whether you feel holy or not.
(2) Progressive (practical)
sanctification - is the process by which believers are
set apart by God as a special people to grow spiritually in personal
holiness and to develop Christ-like character this process continuing
as long as we live. Progressive sanctification is the daily growth in
grace, so that believers are becoming in practice more and more set
apart for God's use. The primary means of sanctification is the Holy
Word. The Spirit of God takes the Word of God and makes the child of
God like the Son of God, as we walk in the Spirit and obey the Word.
Stated another way, progressive sanctification is the Holy Spirit
working in our lives to produce holiness in our walks. (see John
17:17, Eph 5:26 -
note,
Ro 6:19
- note,
Heb 10:14
- note)
Our daily
growth in Christ-likeness:
A PROCESS
OUR DAILY PRACTICE
PROGRESSIVE
Sanctification includes the
critical work of the Holy Spirit at conversion whereby we are set
apart or born of the Spirit (#1 above). Once that has taken place, the Holy Spirit
continues to work in us to make us more holy. That is the process
of sanctification which continues throughout our lives.
As
Richard Shelley Taylor said
Holiness is inwrought by the Holy
Spirit, not because we have suffered, but because we have surrendered.
(3) Perfect (ultimate, total)
sanctification - is when we are fully and completely set apart to
God in heaven and is also known as glorification (1Thes 3:13 -note;
1Thes 5:23
- note)
See the related study on the
Three Tenses of Salvation.
Erwin W. Lutzer
Although we become Christians instantaneously by faith in Christ,
knowing God and developing faith is a gradual process. There are no
shortcuts to maturity. It takes time to be holy.
A T Robertson observes that
in secular Greek hagiasmos conveyed the technical idea...
of consecration to a god or
goddess that did not include holiness in life. So Paul makes a sharp
and pointed stand here for the Christian idea of sanctification as
being “the will of God”...as further explained by the... infinitive that ye abstain from fornication.
Pagan religion did not demand sexual purity of its devotees.
Oswald Chambers
It is
quite true to say, “I can’t live a holy life,” but you can decide to
let Jesus make you holy.
The
destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. God’s
one aim is the production of saints. He is not an eternal blessing
machine for men; he did not come to save men out of pity; he came to
save men because he had created them to be holy.
Hagiasmos
was used in the Greek pagan religions to describe buildings,
altars or offerings set apart for religious purposes. The object set
apart was thus declared sacred, holy, and devoted to religious
purposes. In a similar way worshippers were set apart persons or
religious devotees of the temple. As thus the people were sanctified
just as was the temple or its utensils. In the same way, in the Bible,
just as a sanctified building, lampstand, or utensil was designated to
be used only in service to God, so too sanctified persons were set
apart for His service. And in the process as already noted it is the
Holy Spirit Who both sets us apart for God’s service and empowers us
to render that service.
In Paul's second epistle
to the
Thessalonian believers (whose
faith had been shaken by false teachers cf 2Th 2:1, 2, 3ff) Paul
reminds them of the source and security of their salvation, explaining
that they are
brethren beloved (perfect
tense = their
permanent state) by the Lord, because God has chosen you (election --
middle voice
= for Himself) from the beginning for salvation through
sanctification (hagiasmos) by the Spirit (God's part) and
faith (man's part, realizing that even faith is a gift) in the truth
(believers need to stay "in the truth" for faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the Word of Christ).
(2Thessalonians
2:13).
The Spirit uses
the Word of Truth (the Gospel) to convict men of sin, righteousness
and the judgment to come (John 16:8), to point them to safety in the "Ark" of Christ and
to set them apart from the world.
The writer of
Hebrews then goes on to explain that...
by one offering (of His Own Body on
the Cross) He (Christ, our Great High Priest) has perfected (perfect tense
= speaks of the permanence or eternality of this perfection) for all
time those who are sanctified (present tense,
passive voice
{"divine passive" = God enables this progressive setting apart
in believers} = more literally = "are continuously being sanctified"
= speaks of the process of sanctification as discussed below). (see
note
Hebrews 10:14)
Having been
saved, sanctified or set apart in the past, now daily we are being
saved, sanctified or set apart from the world and unto God. (See topic
Three Tenses of Salvation
- see also the lengthy discussion by Lehman Strauss re
Regeneration, Justification and
Sanctification) The
first sanctification is a one time event, never to be repeated.
The second sanctification is a daily event and represents an
ongoing process by which the Spirit is continually conforming us into
the image of God's Son by producing internal transformation.
Paul says
it this way...
we all, with unveiled face
beholding as in a mirror (the Word of Truth) the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as
from the Lord, the Spirit. (2Cor
3:18).
Jesus prayed for
the sanctification of saints, asking His Father to
Sanctify
(aorist imperative)
them in the Truth. Thy Word is Truth. (Jn
17:17)
Dearly beloved,
if you are not in the Word daily (cf Mt 4:4), and the Word is
not in you and/or you are not (as you are enabled by the Spirit)
obeying the Word, you will not experience significant progressive
sanctification. Peter charges believers (after exhorting them to lay
aside growth stunting sins - see note
1 Peter 2:1)
to be
like newborn babes (and)
long for
(aorist imperative
= a command demanding urgent attention. Do this now! Don't delay! Do
it effectively! Develop an appetite for, have an insatiable craving
for) the pure milk of the word (unadulterated, no additives, not
devotionals or books about the Word but the "pure Word"), that by it
(they) may grow in respect to salvation (i.e., the process of
sanctification or
present tense salvation.")
(see note
1 Peter 2:2)
The process of
sanctification is dependent not only on the intake of the Word, but on
our response to the Word. Is the Word "in one ear and out the other"
or does it truly impact your walk, beloved? Paul explains that our
daily growth in Christ-likeness is a "cooperative effort" writing that
if you are living according to the
flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit (this is God's part -
His power in us to will and to work for His good pleasure) you
are putting (this part is our responsibility, it is present
tense - habitually, daily - the process of sanctification) to death
the deeds of the body (prompted by sin still resident in the physical
body), you will live. (see note
Romans 8:13).
He reiterates
this vitally important spiritual dynamic in Philippians exhorting the
saints to...
