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

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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 - 1Th 4:2-note) 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

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.; 1Pe 1:15, 16-see notes). (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." 1Pe 1:15, 16-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." Ep 2:3-notes), and are thus in inveterate opposition to the will of God, ("those who are in the flesh cannot please God" - Ro 8:8-note ("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." 1Cor 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." Ro 12:1,2 -see notes Ro 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."  1Pe 4:2-note) (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).

See related discussion in notes on Romans 1:23

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 Ro 2:14, 15-notes Ro 2:14; 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)

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 [word study] 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 1Th 3:13-note 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? 33 pp booklet in Pdf
John Piper's Strategies for fighting lust
Puritan Thomas Watson on "Sanctification"
Thomas Brooks The Crown and Glory of Christianity or, Holiness the Only Way to Happiness

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 1Corinthians 1:2, 6:11, Acts 20:32, 26:18; He 2:11- note; He 10:10 - note)

Our initial salvation experience:
A POINT IN TIME EVENT
OUR POSSESSION
OUR ETERNAL POSITION IN CHRIST

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.

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.

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

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)

Paul says it this way...

Note that the process of sanctification although enabled by the Spirit is the believer's  responsibility and that holiness is not produced by personal passivity or just letting go and letting God as some have taught. We need to learn to trust the Holy Spirit to make us holy...His sanctifying work alone saved us the first time and His sanctifying work alone saves us every day and both are activated by faith, a faith that obeys His still small voice without hesitation. That's "walking in the Spirit". That's being "filled with the Spirit". That's being controlled by the Holy Spirit. (see related topics Walking in the Spirit ; Filled with Spirit - Ephesians 5:18 or see exposition of Ephesians 5:18)

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh (because of their intellectual difficulty in grasping divine truth which often needs to be illustrated to be fully intelligible). For just as you presented (yielded, surrendered) your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present (once for all, yield - this necessitates a deliberate decision on the believer's part) your members (your faculties, the parts of your physical body, the headquarters from which and through which sin operates, members might also include mental faculties) as slaves to righteousness (right being and right doing), resulting in sanctification (hagiasmos). (See notes Romans 6:19)

To sum up sanctification as used in this verse speaks of  the separation of the believer from evil things and evil ways. This sanctification is God’s will us and is the reason He elected and called us by His gospel (we need "know how" - 1Th 4:7-note). Practical holiness however must be learned (1Thes 4:4-note) as His Spirit teaches us through His Word (see John 17:17, 19, Ps 17:4; 119:9). Holy character is not vicarious and cannot be transferred or imputed, but is to be pursued day by day, by obeying the Truth we have learned (1Ti 2:15; Heb 12:14- note) and imitating the example of Truth personified, Christ Jesus our Lord (Mt 11:29; Jn 13:15; Ep 4:20 - note; Php 2;5 - note), enabled by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ro 8:13 - note; Eph 3:16 - note; Gal 5:16 note)

THE NEXT TIME...
YOU ARE TEMPTED
BY LUST (Jas 1:14)

The next time you are sorely tempted to commit sexual immorality (or evil in any of its grotesque guises from gossip to greed!) in thought, word or deed, stop and ponder what our Messiah has accomplished for each of us on that Old Rugged Cross over 2000 years ago...1Co 1:18, Ro 6:6, 11, 12, 13 = takes care of the flesh, Gal 6:14 = takes care of the world and Col 2:13, 14, 15, He 2:14, 15 = takes care of the devil...  therefore... Jn 3:30  remembering 1Co 11:25, 26 - "until He comes"! And then close your eyes and/or watch as Sandi Patti sings this haunting version of Via Dolorosa - click...

Jesus the Messiah
Via Dolorosa
Isaiah 53:5KJV, John 8:36

and

We Shall Behold Him

Dearly beloved of God the Father, the next time temptation sweeps in suddenly like an unforecast  storm and seizes you (1Cor 10:13NIV), make the conscious choice (based on Php 2:13NLT) to fix your eyes on Jesus the Christ (He 12:2NLT - see devotionals on Fix Your Eyes on Jesus) and His Cross and His Coming Again (1Jn 3:2,3) and you will be enabled by His Spirit and His adequate grace (2Co 12:9, 10) to stand firm (Ep 6:11, Ro 13:14NLT) and resist (Jas 4:7, Ep 6:13) the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil, to the glory of of God.

THAT YOU ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY: apechesthai (PMN) humas apo tes porneias: (Matthew 15:19; Acts 15:20,29; Romans 1:29; 1Corinthians 5:9, 10, 11; 6:9,10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20; 7:1, 7:2; 2Co 12:21; Ga 5:19; Ep 4:17, 18, 19, 5:3, 4, 5; 8 Col 3:5; Heb 12:16; 13:4; Re 21:8; 22:15)

Phillips translation conveys the sense of Paul's instruction...

God’s plan is to make you holy, and that entails first of all a clean break with sexual immorality (1 Thes. 4:3, ph)

You abstain from sexual immorality - It is no accident that the first instruction designed to produce greater holiness is abstinence from sexual immorality which alone can result in purity of life and being holy as God is holy. This phrase is explanatory of the "negative" aspect of sanctification and obviously deals with sexual conduct. Notice that second personal pronoun you marks this as a demand upon the readers directly (and by application to all saints of every age). (Listen to S Lewis Johnson audio sermon on Purity in Christian Life Audio)

Patrick Morley makes a convicting statement that speaks volumes to our motivation to abstain from evil behaviors...

I would rather go to jail than be seen in a bar. Frankly, the reasons are not spiritual, but selfish. I don’t want my reputation to be tarnished, so I categorically avoid bars. This has less to do with what Jesus might think than what my friends might think. The visibility of our speech and actions helps us keep these in line. Visibility brings a certain level of self-discipline. Sometimes I think peer pressure actually influences us more to live righteously than the fear of a holy God. We all want to get along with others and have a good reputation, and these ambitions keep our behavior in check.

The nonbeliever doesn't have control of his high-visibility sins because he doesn't have the Holy Spirit to make him aware of his sins and bring him under conviction, nor does he have the peer pressure of a church family.

Of course, the peer pressure of visibility isn't bad. If no peer pressure existed, then I would have no accountability; and the temptation to sin would be more alluring (although I’m not suggesting that going in a bar in and of itself is a sin).

But the low visibility of our thought life has no peer pressure, no accountability of any sort, save our own self-discipline and dependence upon the Spirit, by which we are forced to pass muster. The result of low visibility? We lead a secret, often unruly, thought life, which we would find embarrassing for others to know about...

The answer to winning the battle for our mind—the secret thought life—is to open up ourselves to examination by ourselves and the Spirit. Our prayer should be the prayer of King David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23, 24NIV).

Faith and holiness are inextricably linked. Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God.

McGee notes that...

The great tragedy today is to hear of some Christian worker who has become involved in sexual sin. And, unfortunately, there are even churches that will defend a minister who has been guilty of such. We are people who are supposed to be set aside for the use of God! Paul says that you cannot be involved in sexual sin and at the same time be used of God. One cannot live in sin and be a preacher or singer or Sunday school teacher or an officer in the church. I don’t care who you are, if you do, you will wreck the work of God. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos)

The idea is that we as Christians, whether we are leaders or laity, must avoid those situations in which we might be tempted to commit sexual sin. We need to put some distance between ourselves and the temptation. We must not foolishly see how close to the fire we can come without being burned. In fact the Bible gives a clear solution to the one who is tempted to sexual sin and that word is flee!

Flee (present imperative = not a suggestion but a command to make it our habit to flee  - continually flee and keep fleeing until the danger is past - when the sensual commercial comes on at halftime of the game, excuse yourself and leave the room beloved!) immorality (porneia). Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body (Porneia is more destructive to the sinner than other sins because the one who engages in it cannot undo their act. In the Screwtape Letters C. S. Lewis says that each time a man and a woman enter into a sexual relationship a spiritual bond is established between them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally endured!) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1Cor 6:18-20)

Now flee (present imperative = not a suggestion but a command to make it our habit to flee) from youthful lusts, and pursue (present imperative = command to pursue as a practice) righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart (find a godly person with whom you can be accountable. King David did not and see what happened 2Sa 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5ff, 12:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10ff). (2Ti 2:22-note) (Note: Don't just flee evil, but pursue holiness with holy people!)

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers (sojourners, we're just passing through) to abstain (present tense = continually, as your habitual practice; middle voice = you must initiate the abstaining or putting some distance between you) from fleshly (sarkikos = belonging to the flesh) lusts, which wage war (strateuo = engage in a war; present tense = pictures continual waging of war - so don't become complacent, lax or lazy in spiritual warfare) against the soul. (D L Moody understood Peter's exhortation once stating "I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any man I know.") (see note 1 Peter 2:11)

Beloved, is the trend in your thought life and actions moving toward increasing purity or increasing enslavement to sin? You must consciously, continually choose to abstain. For men it is the "eye gate" which is most vulnerable, so like David take your stand in the power of the Lord resolving...

I will set no worthless (unprofitable, Hebrew word is Belial also a name for Satan in 2Cor 6:15! Could there be any relationship?!) thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten (stick like glue) its grip on me. (Ps 101:3)

Abstain  (568)(apechomai or apecho from apó = away from - conveys the idea of putting some distance between; serves as a marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association  + écho = have) means to be away or be at a distance (see discussion of 4 basic meanings below).

Apechomai is apecho in the middle voice (reflexive = the subject initiates the action and participates in the results) and here in 1Thessalonians 4:3 calls for the believer to hold one's self from or keep one's self away from contact or influence of sexual immorality. The present tense is what is known as durative of action signifying that saints must constantly keep aloof from sexual immorality which in turn calls for continued exercise of self-control "by the Spirit... putting to death the deeds of the body" (see notes Romans 8:13). In parallel passages Paul commands believers who are setting their minds on things above to...

consider (Mortify! - KJV) (aorist imperative - Do this now, don't delay! It is urgent!) the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality (porneia), impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (see note Colossians 3:5)

(and to) discipline (present imperative - habitually, examine your lifestyle) yourself for the purpose of godliness for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (see notes 1Timothy 4:7; 4:8)

Surer than autumn's harvests
Are harvests of thought and deed;
Like those that our hearts have planted,
The yield will be like the seed. —Harris

The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.

Dearly beloved, each of us must realize that sexual immorality is one of the greatest enemies of Christian sanctification and must be dealt a "death blow" lest it do the same to our spiritual lives!

Webster defines abstain as to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice. This is a good definition except that self denial is the world's way. Believers have access to the empowering fruit of the Spirit, self-control (Gal 5:22) and yet are still responsible to make daily choices that cultivate the fruit of self control (see note 2 Peter 1:6).

The NT meanings of apecho  vary considerably depending on the context but basically convey 4 ideas:

(1) Apecho was used as a commercial technical term meaning "to receive a sum in full and give a receipt for it". (Mt 6:2, 6:5, 6:16). In the papyri apecho is used repeatedly in the sense of “I have received” as a technical expression in drawing up a receipt. And so it can refer to a commercial receipt which gives way to the NT meaning to receive in full payment, to have in full or to have received what one had a right to except (e.g., referring to Paul's financial support from the church at Philippi - Phil 4:18). A similar meaning is to receive back a person (Philemon 1:15).

(2) Apecho is used literally to describe a measurement of distance and so to be distant or a given distance away (of the boat from the land - Mt 14:24) or figuratively to describe separation or distance from a person (of one's heart from - God Mt 15:8)

(3) In the middle voice apecho (apechomai) is used to mean abstain from or keep away from something (Acts 15:20, 29, 1Th 4:3, 1Th 5:22-note, 1Pe 2:11-note)

(4) Apecho conveys the meaning it is enough or sufficient, referring to sleep in Mark 14:41.

Apechomai is used 19 times in the NT and is translated --abstain (5), abstaining (1), away (1), have back (1), have in full (3), have received in full (1), it is enough (1), off (1), receiving in full (1), was away (2).

Matthew 6:2 (note) When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (Comment: Here apecho means to receive payment in full. Apecho was often used in the sense of receipting an account which has been paid in full.)

Matthew 6:5 (note) "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. (Comment: Deissmann writes that "in the Sermon on the Mount we are led to understand “they can sign the receipt of their reward: their right to receive the reward is realised, precisely as if they had already given a receipt for it” from Light from the Ancient East)

Matthew 6:16 (note) "And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Matthew 14:24 But the boat was already many stadia away from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

Matthew 15:8 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.

Mark 7:6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.

Mark 14:41 And He came the third time, and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Comment: Here apecho could be construed to mean "Enough of this!")

Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

Luke 7:6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;

Luke 15:20 "And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.

Luke 24:13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Acts 15:20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

Acts 15:29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell."

Philippians 4:18 (note) But I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.

1Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1Thessalonians 5:22 (note) abstain from every form of evil (literally abstain from all which "strikes the eye" or is exposed to view!)

1 Timothy 4:3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from (present tense = continually) foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

Philemon 1:15 For perhaps he was for this reason parted from you for a while, that you should have him back forever,

1 Peter 2:11 (note) Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain (present tense = continually) from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.

Apecho is used some 29 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (Ge 43:23; 44:4; Num. 32:19; Deut. 12:21; 18:22; 1 Sam. 21:5; Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; 13:21; 28:28; Ps. 103:12; Prov. 3:27; 9:18; 15:29; 22:5; 23:4, 13; Isa. 29:13; 54:14; 55:9; Jer. 7:10; Ezek. 8:6; 11:15; 22:5; Joel 1:13; 2:8; 3:8; Mal. 3:6) where Job provides a good illustration of one who abstained from evil...

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away (Lxx = apechomai in the middle voice indicating Job initiated this action) from evil.

Job 1:8 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away (Lxx = apechomai in the middle voice indicating Job initiated this action)  from evil."

Job 2:3 And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away (Lxx = apechomai in the middle voice indicating Job initiated this action) from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause.

What was Job's "secret" of abstaining to the point that God Himself testified to his pattern of abstinence? The passages indicate that Job had a healthy fear of God, a fear of offending Him, a fear of impugning His character and a fear of "disappointing" His goodness and lovingkindness. Fear of the Lord is a powerful motivating force the Spirit uses to energizes the saint's abstaining from evil.

Therefore, having these promises (read them in 2Cor 6:16,17,18 and also the three commands to Come out from their midst and be separate....and do not touch what is unclean), beloved, let us cleanse ourselves (our part in daily sanctification) from all defilement of flesh and spirit, (continually, habitually) perfecting holiness (hagiosune) in the fear of God (practically reflected in a self-distrust, a serious caution, a tenderness of conscience, a watchfulness against temptation and a courageous withdrawing from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ our Bridegroom). (2Corinthians 7:1-note)

Based on Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians, why do you think so few individuals are serious about a pursuit of holiness? In the context it appears that it is because there is such a low level of healthy, reverential fear of God, either as a Father or as a Judge, both of which should serve to activate a vigorous, Spirit empowered, pursuit of holiness. (1Pe 1:17-note, He 12:28-note)

How can believers stay pure in an impure world? Here are just a few Scriptural guidelines...

• By hiding God's Holy Word in our hearts (Ps 119:11) and in obedience living holy lives according to God’s Word (Ps 119:9)

• By walking continually under the control of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 24, 25, Eph 5:18, 19, 20-see notes Ep 5:18; 19; 20).

• By making the conscious, Spirit controlled and empowered, choice not to lust (Job 31:1, Ps 101:3, see Mt 5:28, 29, 30-notes Mt 5:28; 29; 30, Col 3:5-note, Ro 8:13-note).

• By consciously, continually choosing to flee from sexual temptations (even the "form" of - see note 1Thes 5:22) and pursuing righteousness (2Ti 2:22-note, cf Joseph in Genesis 39:12, 13)

Sexual immorality  (4202)(porneia) originally referred to any excessive behavior or lack of restraint, but eventually became associated with sexual excess and indulgence. Porneia originally was used especially to describe the practice of consorting with prostitutes (porneis = “prostitute”) and eventually came to mean “habitual immorality.” Porneia is the comprehensive term denoting any and every form of sexual practice that lies outside the circle of God's revealed will, including adultery, premarital and extramarital intercourse, homosexuality, bestiality and any other perversion of God's design.

Porneia is the opposite of the Greek word egkrates/enkrates (literally "holding oneself in"), which usually implied sexual self-control (see Acts 24:25)

Porneia as used in the Scriptures describes any illicit sexual activity outside of the divine bounds established by marriage and thus includes the ideas of unlawful sexual intercourse, unchastity and fornication.

Richards makes an interesting remark...

The Gk. porneias here encompasses all sex sins which holiness demands the Christian reject. Like other temptations, sexual temptations have a positive side. When we resist them, they enable us to develop self–control (v. 4). The pagan who ridicules the believer for his “hang–ups” is himself the captive of his own “passionate lusts.” The person who masters his body has the real freedom. The person who is driven by her glands acts like an animal rather than a human being, and so loses touch with her real self by indulging in sex sins. (Richards, L. O. The Bible Readers Companion. Wheaton: Victor Books)

Alexander remarks

St. Paul insists, with great solemnity, upon a truth which at various times, even in the Church, has been, if not denied, yet half forgotten, that moral evils are always spiritual evils of the first magnitude.

It is a sad commentary that sexual sin in the ancient world was intimately linked to pagan "religious" practices which undoubtedly some of the saints at Thessalonica had come out of when they turned to God from idols (1Th 1:9-note). Furthermore loose morals were a continuous problem in the ancient world just as they are today! The heart of fallen mankind (Ro 5:12-note) is desperately sin sick and has not evolved or changed despite the passage of two millennia. In fact Gibbons in his monumental secular work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire wrote that "The friends of Christianity may acknowledge without a blush, that many of the most eminent saints had been before their baptism (Ed note: Gibbons not a believer probably means water baptism but Paul would refer us to spiritual baptism in genuine repenters as described in Ro 6:4-note) the most abandoned sinners."

Fausset goes so far as to say that fornication was...

not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the more to be renounced.

Renouncing the sin of fornication is exactly what the early church leaders in Jerusalem called for, Luke recording their commands that the Gentiles were to...

abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. (Acts 15:20)

Paul wrote from Corinth, where sensuality in the guise of religion was rife. In Thessalonica, besides the ordinary licentious customs of the Gentiles, immorality was fostered by the Cabeiric worship. About the time of Paul, a political sanction was given to this worship by deifying the Emperor as Cabeirus.

Porneia is the more general term for all kinds of sexual sins and encompasses the more specific sin of adultery (moichea [3430]) which describes sexual sin in at least one person who is married. Jesus used porneia to describe adultery in marriage, declaring

for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Re 21:8-note)

It is never too late to walk with God. Many of you have already sinned sexually. It is God’s will that you move on. He will welcome you into His fellowship. God makes it clear that He will restore us to fellowship. As we trusted the finished work of Christ for salvation, so we trust His finished work on the cross for our sin (1 John 1:9, 10, 2:1, 2:2)

the apostle in stating the will of God for the sanctification of His people, had in mind those particular temptations to which, from their past history as idolaters, his readers were peculiarly susceptible, and to which, from their present environment, they were still exposed. Since the Gentiles refused to have God in their knowledge, God had given them up to a reprobate mind and to the doing of unseemly things, (Ro 1:21-note; Ro 1:28-note) resulting in familiarity with vice and deadness to the claims of moral purity. From such conditions those to whom the apostle wrote had been delivered by the gospel. Now lest, growing careless under the evil influences to which they were daily exposed, they should relapse into Gentile ways, it was necessary that conscience should be aroused and instructed, (cp. "You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led" 1Corinthians 12:2) (Ep 4:17, 18, 19-see notes Ep 4:17; 18; 19; 1Pe 4:3-note). Apparently Timothy’s report had given the apostle some ground for apprehension on this point, (1Th 3:10-note); hence he begins the section of his Epistle in which he seeks to supply the things lacking in their faith, (1Th 3:10-note), by words concerning the self-control which they must exercise in order to be preserved in holiness as regarded themselves, (1Th 4:4-note), and in righteousness as regarded each other, (1Th 4:6-note). (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos) (Bolding added)

He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow
Proverbs 22:8

Knowing God's Will - I tell my friends in jest that I make three difficult decisions every day: What should I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I live in Singapore, where we enjoy the food of the Chinese, Malay, and Indian cultures, to name just a few. We are spoiled by having so many choices.

Life is full of decisions—far more serious ones than choosing what to eat. Perhaps this explains why some people constantly wonder what God's will is for their lives.

Discovering God's will is not necessarily a complicated process. He has given us many simple and clearly stated principles for life. For example, we are told, "This is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (1Pe 2:15-note). In 1Thes 4:3-note we read, "This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality." And in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we are told, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

As we live by faith and do what the Bible clearly tells us to do, we can be sure the Lord will lead us through the difficult decisions when the options may not be clear. Above all else, God's will is that we submit to Him and be willing to follow wherever He leads. —Albert Lee (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

If you will choose to do God's will
And follow what is right,
God will confirm to you His truth
And give you greater light. —D. De Haan

The best way to know God's will is
to say "I will" to God.

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