1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication: The apostle comes at once to particulars. "That ye should abstain from fornication." Though adultery and incest were crimes among the heathen, fornication was not accounted a sin at all. Therefore we can understand the emphatic place which is assigned to this sin in the synodal letters to the Gentile Churches (Acts 15:20-29), The Gentiles "walked after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness." I. CONSIDER THE HEINOUSNESS OF THIS SIN. 1. It is a sin against God. So Joseph regarded it (Genesis 39:9). The law to restrain from this sin is grounded in the reason, "For I the Lord am holy" (Leviticus 19:2), The Divine nature which believers share through grace is quite inconsistent with "the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4). This sin is likewise inconsistent with the design of the gospel of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:29, 30). 2. It is a sin against our neighbor. This is implied in the seventh commandment. 3. It is a sin against our own bodies. (1 Corinthians 6:18.) Sinners dishonor their own bodies (Romans 1:24). 4. It is a sin against the soul. "Whoredom takes away the heart" (Hosea 4:11). II. CONSIDER THE FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF THIS SIN. 1. It Wastes the body. (Job 20:11.) 2. It wars against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11.) 3. It causes shame. (Proverbs 6:33; Ephesians 5:12.) 4. It entails poverty. (Proverbs 6:26.) 5. It excludes from the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.) - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:WEB: For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, |
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