Sanctified for God's glory

God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 NLT

God wants to transform us into His likeness and it happens only when we accept His will that we be in the road of sanctification. It means honoring God with our bodies, renouncing fleshly desires, and turning away from all that is impure and unclean. Sanctification provides opportunities that will satisfy our longings by being obedient to God’s commands. From the text, Paul mentions specific ways we can honor and glorify God. Prominent among Greeks is the practice of sexual promiscuity. It is God’s will that we control our bodies under the authority of the Holy Spirit so we will not give in to sexual temptations. God warns us to avoid sexual sins. He is not commanding us to abstain from lustful passion just because He wants to rob us of joy. His purpose is for us to experience joy as we live our lives enjoying His gift in the bounds of His will and His word. Christians are supposed to be living their lives differently from the world that continues to live in darkness. He wants us to realize that once we receive Him as Lord and Savior, we no longer own our bodies. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God will deal with His children when they violate His will. In this world where people who value morals are frowned upon and immorality is widely accepted, God wants His children to be strong so they can continue to live lives that please God. The Holy Spirit lives within so that we will submit to Him so we will not fulfill our lust. “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25).

Blessings,