Sanctification: God's Still Working on Me

Sanctification: God’s Still Working on Me

1 Thessalonians 4: 1 – 12

Introduction

I once heard a story about Joel Gregory, who used to be the pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas.  Whenever a child would walk down the aisle to make his or her profession of faith, Dr. Gregory would introduce the child to the church and say, “This is Andy.  He has come today to take the first step of his Christian life.”

I have always liked that image.  It tells us something very important about salvation.  Our profession of faith is the beginning of our Christian life and not the end.

I took the first step in my Christian life when I was nine years old.  I had heard the Gospel all my life.  But it became personal for me during Vacation Bible School when I was nine.  I met with the pastor in his office.  I walked down the aisle of the church.  I was baptized.  That was the beginning for me.  I was nine years old…But I didn’t stay nine years old for the rest of my life. 

Perhaps we could make a comparison between our Christian life and our physical life.  The birth of a baby is an exciting time for new parents.  But the birth of a baby is not the end of life…and it is certainly not the end of parenting.  The birth of a baby is the start of something wonderful…but it is only the start.  A baby becomes a toddler…then a child…then a teenager…and hopefully they will one day become an adult.

Sometimes parents have been known to say, “I want them to stay little forever.”  And, as a parent, I can understand that.  Children grow up so quickly, and we never get a second chance to influence our children.  But no one actually wants their children to remain little forever.  We want them to grow and to learn and eventually become responsible adults who pursue their dreams and make a contribution to the world.

Imagine the tragedy of a baby who never grows and develops beyond infancy.  Perhaps this baby lives to become forty years old but continues to depend on his mother and father to meet all his needs.  His parents feed him and change him and generally provide for all his needs.  That is not a wonderful story.  In some ways it is a tragedy.

When I look out in the sanctuary, I do not see a room full of infants.  I see people of all ages at every stage in life.  But, what about spiritually?  Are you the same person today that you were when you were baptized?  Have you remained nine years old spiritually?  Or, has your spiritual life grown as you have grown physically, emotionally and intellectually?

I guess there are a couple of ways we can describe spiritual growth.  One way to describe it is to use the word “discipleship.”  While the word “discipleship” does not appear in Scripture, the concept of discipleship does.  In the Bible, a disciple is a student or a learner.  Jesus had twelve disciples who learned from Jesus’ teachings and grew spiritually by imitating the life of Jesus, their teacher.  Eugene Peterson defines discipleship as “a long obedience in the same direction.”

Another way to describe spiritual growth is to use the biblical term “sanctification.”  Salvation is more than being “born again.”  The person who is truly saved first experiences a changed life / conversion / “born again.”  Then, God begins to work in us to mold and shape our lives to look more and more like Jesus.  God is still working on us as Christians.  This process is what the Bible calls “sanctification.”

1 Thessalonians 4: 1 – 12.

1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 

3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. 

9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more. 

11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

In verse 3, Paul makes a bold statement about God’s will.  He says it is God’s will for us to be sanctified.  It’s nice to have clear teachings about God’s will.  But what exactly does “sanctified” mean?

Even if we don’t know what “sanctified” means, it’s pretty easy to figure it out by comparing it to similar words.  “Sanctified” is closely related to words like “sanctuary,” “saint” and, less obviously, “sacred.”  What these words have in common is the concept of holiness.  A saint is a holy person.  A sanctuary is a holy place.  Sacred is something that is holy.  Therefore, we ought to think of “sanctification” as the process of becoming holy.

There are both similarities and differences in the ways the Old Testament and the New Testament talk about holiness.  In both Old Testament and New Testament, holy means “set apart.”  However, the Old Testament speaks more about holy things, while the New Testament is more concerned with holy people.

In the Old Testament, we read about how Moses received instructions from God on how to build and furnish the Tabernacle for worship.  The Tabernacle was to be a holy tent, and it was to be filled with holy articles to aid in worshipping God.  There were holy lamps, holy bowls and holy forks.  The holy lamps were to be “set apart” and could only be used to light up the Tabernacle in worship.  The holy bowls were “set apart” for holding oil and wine associated with sacrifices—the priests could not use these holy bowls to eat Frosted Mini Wheats.  And the holy forks were to be used only in placing sacrifices on the altar.

In the New Testament, there is no mention of holy things and holy places.  Whereas the Old Testament was concerned with Jerusalem as a holy city, the Temple as a holy building, and the furnishings of the Temple as holy articles, the New Testament was concerned with God’s people becoming holy.  God wants our lives to be “set apart” to be used by God and no one else…for holy purposes and not for worldly purposes.

Sexual Ethics

Interestingly, Paul begins his discussion on sanctification by talking about sexual ethics.  In fact, he gives three instructions about sexuality: avoid sexual immorality; control your body; and do not take advantage of your brothers and sisters.

I hesitated to talk about sexual ethics on Sunday morning.  Part of me thought that there would be parents here today who would not want their children hearing about sexuality in church.  Then, I realized that every time we watch the television news, someone is talking about sexuality.  Parents, if you are not talking to your children about sexuality, then you may be too late.  They may not learn about it from you…But our culture is so consumed by sexuality that they are already trying to teach our children what they believe about sexuality and not what the Bible teaches.

The reason Paul began with sexuality is because that was an obvious problem facing the early church.  The early church grew up in First Century Greco-Roman culture.  However, the sexual ethic of the early church was neither Greek nor Roman.  In one sense, we might say that the church’s view on sex was Hebrew.  But, Paul tells us in verse 8 that our views do not come from human laws, they come from God.  As a result, the early church had beliefs and behaviors that were countercultural to the world around them.

For example…It was common in the First Century for Greek and Roman men to practice homosexuality.  It was an acceptable practice for a married man to engage in some homosexual acts.  It was also common for wealthy men to keep male and female slaves for sexual purposes. 

Paul is responding to the lax sexual boundaries of the non-Christians and calls the church to be different.  He never says that sexuality is a bad thing.  Instead, he insists that sex can be holy and honorable.

Notice that Paul’s teaching stands in stark contrast to what the world outside the church practiced.  This ought to remind us of the world we live in.  As Christians, we have a different sexual ethic from the rest of the world.  This is not restricted to the Twenty-First Century.  The church has always been countercultural.  Another way to say this is to say there are people in the Twenty-First Century who say the church’s views on sexuality are old fashioned.  Good news.  They were old fashioned in the First Century too.

Christians do not get our views on sexuality from the culture around us.  We get our views from God’s teachings in the Bible.  We do not determine right and wrong based on popular vote, legislative action or judicial decree.  God’s standards do not change when popular opinion changes.

What if our culture decided the law of gravity was outdated?  After all, we live in the Twenty-First Century.  We really don’t need gravity holding us down.  We are supposed to have flying cars in the Twenty-First Century!  Let’s take a ballot vote to repeal the law of gravity.  Let’s convince congress to pass legislation that declares gravity a thing of the past.  Let’s get the Supreme Court to declare that gravity is unconstitutional.  Then, let’s all go stand on the roof of the courthouse and jump off.  It does not matter if one person jumps off the courthouse or if millions of people hold hands and jump off the courthouse, we will all fall down together.

Brotherly Love

In verses nine and following, Paul shifts his attention to brotherly love.  A couple of interesting things happen in these verses.

First, Paul tells the Thessalonians that he really doesn’t need to teach them about brotherly love, because they already know how to love their brothers and sisters.  I think this is interesting, because it makes Paul sound a little like you mother.  Remember when your mother used to say, “I am not going to tell you to clean up your room again?”  This is a rhetorical device.  Paul does not want to talk about brotherly love, because by now they ought to understand and practice brotherly love.  However, he still feels the need to teach them, because they are deficient in some ways. 

Second, Paul uses “brotherly love” in a special way.  Outside of the Bible, “brotherly love” always refers to the love between brothers and sisters.  When Paul speaks about “brotherly love,” he is not addressing biological siblings.  He is speaking to Christians about our relationships with other Christians.

For Paul, the church is the Family of God.  As a result of our faith in Jesus, we are now brothers and sisters.  Just as family members love each other, so individual Christians ought to love other Christians.

Notice that Paul mentions the way the Thessalonian church has “loved” all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia (verse 10).  When we read this in the context of both 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we realize that Paul is not talking about love as an emotion or a feeling.  No.  Love is an action.  We express our love for others through the ways we serve them…tangible expressions of love.

The Thessalonians showed their love in three ways.  They prayed for their brothers and sisters who were facing persecution.  They opened their homes and extended hospitality to other Christians who traveled through their region.  They gave financial support to meet the physical needs of other Christians.

I believe that brotherly love is an important mark of sanctification.  A person who is a Christian is a person who loves others and demonstrates that love through service.  Remember what Jesus taught us about the two most important commandments?  Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  And, Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus not only taught these commandments with his words, he also demonstrated them in his life.

A sanctified Christian is a person who is daily becoming more and more like Jesus.  In one sense, we obey the teachings of Jesus.  In another sense, we follow Jesus’ example by imitating the life of Jesus.

In the World

One last thing to notice about sanctification is where Paul tells us it takes place.  Sanctification means to be made holy.  Holy means to be set apart.  However, Paul never tells us to withdraw from the world.

In fact, Paul tells us in verse 12 that we should live out our holiness where the world will see us.

We should expect non-Christians to live contrary to God’s commandments.  Non-Christians will always live like non-Christians.

However, Christians as individuals and the church as a community are not supposed to be like the world.  We are supposed to be different, set apart, holy, even countercultural.  But, we are to gain the respect of outsiders by not living like the rest of the world

Conclusion

I think it is significant that when Paul uses the word “sanctified,” it is in the passive voice.  In verse 3, Paul says, “It is God’s will for you to be sanctified.”  Paul does not say that it is God’s will for us to sanctify ourselves.  This is significant, because we cannot make ourselves holy.  Holiness is God’s work in our lives.  Holiness is the reason God gave us  the Holy Spirit.  It is God’s will to make you holy.

Of course, Paul also spends a lot of time in his letters writing about proper Christian behavior.  Typically, Paul spends the first half of his letters writing about theology and the second half writing about ethics.  Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between Paul’s theology and Paul’s ethics.  This is because Paul’s theology is an ethical theology and Paul’s ethics are theological ethics.  Paul teaches us that our behavior should always be tied to our beliefs—or in reverse, our beliefs should always affect our behavior.

If sanctification is God’s work in us, then why does Paul exert so much effort to teach us how to live as Christians?

Because, in sanctification we participate in God’s work in our lives.  God extends Grace and we respond.  Sometimes we respond in obedience and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our decisions.  Other times we respond by resisting God’s Grace and guidance.  It is possible to resist what God wants to do in your life.

It is God’s will to make you holy.

If you are not yet perfect, then God is still working on you.