Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
3. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, &c.] The connection will be clearer if we render thus: For this is God’s will it is your sanctification that you abstain from fornication, &c.
It was not some counsel or wish of his own that he pressed on the Thessalonians under the authority of Christ; it was nothing less than God’s holy will: the primary ground of this charge. At the same time it was their sanctification. God’s will and their consecration to Him are the double reason for their leading a chaste life; and these two reasons are one, the latter springing out of the former. God had chosen them to be His own (comp. ch. 1Th 1:4). And He willed that their sanctification should be realised and carried into effect in the important particular about to be stated. This will of God was proclaimed in His “call,” by which the Thessalonians had been summoned to a pure and holy life (ch. 1Th 5:23-24; comp. 1Th 2:12). In all endeavours after purity it is our best support to know that God wishes and means ms to be holy; that His almighty help is at the back of our weak resolves, Who both “puts into our minds good desires” and “brings the same to good effect.”
“Sanctification” is the act or process of making holy: then, in the second instance, it comes to denote the result of this process, the state of one who is made holy, as in Rom 6:22, “You have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life;” similarly in Heb 12:14, “Follow after sanctification.” It is synonymous with consecration, i.e. devotion to God, but to God as the Holy One.
Holy is the single word which by itself denotes the Divine character, as it is revealed to us in its moral transcendence, in the awfulness and glory of its absolute perfection, raised infinitely above all that is earthly and sinful (see 1Sa 2:2, Psalms 99, Psa 111:9, Isa 57:15, &c). Now it is the character of God “thy Maker and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel ” that constitutes His right to the consecration of those to whom He is revealed. Our “sanctification” is the acknowledgement of God’s claim upon us as the Holy One Who made us. This involves our assimilation to His nature. In Him, first the character, then the claim: in us, first the claim admitted, then the character impressed. In short, Sanctification is fulfilment of the supreme command, “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1Pe 1:15-16; Lev 11:44; Lev 19:2; Lev 20:7). See, further, notes on 1Th 4:7, and ch. 1Th 5:23; also on ch. 1Th 2:10, for the difference between the two Greek words for holy used in this Ep.
St Paul makes chastity a part of holiness. He finds a new motive and powerful safeguard for virtue in the fact of the redemption of the body. Our physical frame belongs to God; it is a sharer in Christ’s resurrection, and in the new life received through Him. “Know you not,” he asks, “that your bodies are limbs of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost, which you have from God? Therefore glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:15-20). This is bodily sanctification. And faith in Christ effectually subdues impure and sensual passion.
The foul and heathenish vice of fornication was so prevalent in Greek cities and so little condemned by public opinion it was even fostered by some forms of pagan religion that abstinence from it on the part of the Thessalonians was a sign of devotion to a Holy God. But their purity was imperilled from the condition of society around them, and in many cases from former unchaste habits. The temptations to licentiousness assailing the first generation of Christians were fearfully strong; and all the Epistles contain urgent warnings upon this subject. The sense of purity had to be re-created in men gathered out of the midst of pagan corruption.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification – It is the will or command of God that you should be holy. This does not refer to the purpose or decree of God, and does not mean that he intended to make them holy – but it means that it was his command that they should be holy. It was also true that it was agreeable to the divine will or purpose that they should be holy, and that he meant to use such an influence as to secure this; but this is not the truth taught here. This text, therefore, should not be brought as a proof that God intends to make his people holy, or that they are sanctified. It is a proof only that he requires holiness. The word here rendered sanctification – hagiasmos – is not used in the Greek classics, but is several times found in the New Testament. It is rendered holiness, Rom 6:19, Rom 6:22; 1Th 4:7; 1Ti 2:15; Heb 12:14; and sanctification, 1Co 1:30; 1Th 4:3-4; 2Th 2:13, and 1Pe 1:2; see the Rom 6:19 note; 1Co 1:30 note. It 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.
That ye should abstain from fornication – A vice which was freely indulged among the pagan, and to which, from that fact, and from their own former habits, they were particularly exposed. On the fact that they were thus exposed, and on the reasons for these solemn commands on the subject, see the Act 15:20 note, and 1Co 6:18 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Th_4:3-7
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification–
Holiness
Holiness, like sin, is many-sided, and each separate side presents us with a different view of its requirements and perfections.
In this chapter holiness stands for purity and chastity, and also for liberality in our dealings one with another. A man may be both pure and liberal, and yet, as being proud, wilful, and revengeful, may be very far from being holy. Purity and liberality, or just dealing, are two conditions of holiness–are essential to its presence–yet they by no means exhaust its qualifications. The highest form of holiness is love, a love which at once purifies the affections, exalts the heart, and conforms us to the likeness of Him in whom all holiness finds its example and perfection.
I. The sanctified is one who is loved by God, and who asks for his love in return. All unholiness keeps us away from God.
II. The sanctified is also the wished-for one. This is the wishing of God, etc. The creation by God implied a dedication to God (Isa 43:7; Col 1:16). The wishing of God was made null and void by the fall; yet in His infinite love for man He went on wishing for man still. The purpose of the Incarnation was to reconsecrate lost and fallen man.
III. The sanctified is also the dear and honoured one; he is precious in the sight of the Lord (Psa 91:15; Joh 12:26).
IV. He who is sanctified is also dutiful and reverend towards God; not as being moved by threatenings or encouraged by promises, but as being brought within the sphere of the operations of God the Holy Ghost. I cannot be holy unless my holiness produce some kind of fruit and leads to some practical result.
V. The sanctified one is also rooted and grounded in the faith, since holiness is gained by faith passing into action. Every successive conquest over sin deepens his spiritual life, and becomes part of such office by which the soul is consecrated to God.
VI. The sanctified or consecrated one is also pure. Sanctification involves regeneration, or a new birth. (or. M. Ashley, M. A.)
Of sanctification
The notion of the word sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to an holy use. Sanctification hath a privative and a positive part.
1. A privative part, mortification, which lies in the purging out of sin. Though it takes not away the life, yet it takes away the love of sin.
2. A positive part, vivification, which is the spiritual refining of the soul, which in Scripture is called a renewing of your mind and a partaking of the Divine nature. The priests in the law not only were washed in the great laver, but adorned with glorious apparel; so sanctification not only washes from sin, but adorns with purity.
I. What is sanctification?
1. Sanctification is a supernatural thing: it is Divinely infused. Weeds grow of themselves. Flowers are planted. Sanctification is a flower of the Spirits planting; therefore it is called the sanctification of the Spirit.
2. Sanctification is an intrinsical thing: it lies chiefly in the heart. It is called the adorning the hidden man of the heart. The dew wets the leaf, the sap is hid in the root.
3. Sanctification is an extensive thing: it spreads into the whole man. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly. He is not a sanctified person who is good only in some part, but who is all over sanctified; therefore in Scripture grace is called a new man; not a new eye or a new tongue, but a new man. A good Christian, though he be sanctified but in part, yet in every part.
4. Sanctification is an intense ardent thing: fervent in spirit. Sanctification is not a dead form, but it is inflamed into zeal.
5. Sanctification is a beautiful thing; it makes God and angels fall in love with us, the beauties of holiness.
6. Sanctification is an abiding thing: His seed remaineth in him.
7. Sanctification is a progressive thing.
II. What are the counterfeits of sanctification? There is something looks like sanctification which is not.
1. The first counterfeit of sanctification is moral virtue.
2. The second counterfeit of sanctification is superstitious devotion.
3. The third counterfeit of sanctification is hypocrisy; when men make a pretence of that holiness which they have not. A pretence of sanctification is not to be rested in. Many ships that have had the name of the Hope, the Safeguard, the Triumph, yet have been cast away upon the rocks; so many who have had the name of saintship have been cast into hell.
4. The fourth counterfeit of sanctification is restraining grace. When men forbear vice, though they do not hate it, this may be the sinners motto, Fain I would, but I dare not. Here is no change of heart. Sin is curbed, but not cured; a lion may be in chains, but is a lion still.
5. The fifth counterfeit of sanctification is common grace, which is a slight, transient work of the Spirit, but doth not amount to conversion.
III. Wherein appears the necessity of sanctification?
1. God hath called us to it: God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness.
2. The necessity appears in this: without sanctification there is no evidencing our justification; justification and sanctification go together: but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.
3. Without sanctification we have no title to the new covenant. If a man make a wilt, and settle his estate upon such persons as he names in the will, none else but they can lay claim to the will; so God makes a will and testament, but it is restrained and limited to such as are sanctified; and it is high presumption for any else to lay claim to the will.
4. There is no going to heaven without sanctification: Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.
5. Without sanctification all our holy things are defiled: Unto them that are defiled is nothing pure.
IV. What are the signs of sanctification?
1. Such as are sanctified can remember a time when they were unsanctified.
2. The second sign of sanctification is the indwelling of the Spirit: The Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
3. The third sign of sanctification is an antipathy against sin.
4. The fourth sign of sanctification is the spiritual performance of duties, viz., with the heart, and from a principle of love. The sanctified soul prays out of a love to prayer; he calls the Sabbath a delight.
5. The fifth sign, a well-ordered life. Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Where the heart is sanctified, the life will be so too: the Temple had gold without as well as within.
6. The sixth sign, steadfast resolution.
V. What are the chief inducements to sanctification?
1. It is the will of God that we should be holy. In the text, This is the will of God, your sanctification. As Gods Word must be the rule, so His will the reason of our actions: this is the will of God, our sanctification. Perhaps it is not the will of God we should be rich, but it is His will that we should be holy. Gods will is our warrant.
2. Jesus Christ hath died for our sanctification. Christ shed His blood to wash off our impurity.
3. Sanctification makes us resemble God.
4. Sanctification is that which God bears a great love to. A king delights to see his image upon a piece of coin: where God sees His likeness, there He gives His love.
5. Sanctification is the only thing doth difference us from the wicked.
6. It is as great a shame to have the name of a Christian, yet want sanctity, as to have the name of steward, and yet want fidelity; the name of a virgin, yet want chastity.
7. Sanctification fits for heaven: Who hath called us to glory and virtue. Glory is the throne, and sanctification is the step by which we ascend to it.
VI. How may sanctification be attained to?
1. Be conversant in the Word of God: Sanctify them through Thy truth. The Word is both a glass to show us the spots of our soul, and a laver to wash them away.
2. Get faith in Christs blood; purifying their hearts by faith.
3. Breathe after the Spirit; it is called the sanctification of the Spirit.
4. Associate with sanctified persons. Association begets assimilation.
5. Pray for sanctification. (T. Watson.)
Distinctive features of a true sanctification
It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the outlines of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. They are more theoretical than practical. So it is possible to form a hold conception of some leading Christian virtue–beauty, dignity, and necessity; but all the while to ignore the little details which, in everyday life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is the perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some magical feat, but by patient plodding and stern conflicts. It is the sublime but little understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man. Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: We have lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and for our God. Observe:
I. That a true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal chastity.
1. This involves an abstinence from gross and sensual indulgence. Fornication (1Th 4:3) designates not only the actual transgression, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is the source of many others. It is like the fabled Hydra, of which it is said that when one head was cut off another grew in its place. It is the root of extravagance, drunkenness, disease, poverty, murder. It is bewitching, prevalent, most fatal in its tendencies; and against it terrible vengeance has been declared and executed.
2. Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity (1Th 4:4). The vessel of the body is The temple of the Holy Ghost, and whatever would defile that must be shunned. The apostle implies that there is a kind of art in chastity which all should practice. Know, i.e., have skill, the power of self-control. Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well; and no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the Christian virtues. To possess, to rule the body in purity, keep a diligent guard on the senses (Job 31:1; Pro 23:33; Gen 39:6-7); avoid the company and conversation of the sensual; be temperate, industrious, prayerful.
3. Involves a masterly restraint on the passionate outgoings of evil desire (1Th 4:6). Ignorance is the origin of unchastity; and the apostle shows to what an extent of wickedness a man may go who knows not God. An old writer says: Ignorance is a master, a mother sin: pull it, thou pullest all sin. Evil must be restrained in its earliest manifestation; banished from the region of thought. The longer it is harboured, the more powerful it becomes.
II. That a true sanctification consists in the universal exercise of strict justice (1Th 4:6). Note–
1. That no violation of justice is allowable. The prohibition extends not only to acts of unchastity, but to all the transactions of life. The value of a commodity is governed by its relation to the immediate wants of man. In nature that which has life and sense is more excellent than an inanimate creature: in this view an insect is superior to a diamond. But with regard to use, a loaf of bread is of more value than a thousand insects. Justice requires there should be a fair proportion between a thing and its price. To exact a price which is beyond the worth of the commodity sold, or to give a sum which is below its due value, is to overreach on the part either of the seller or the buyer. The commercial world of the present day might ponder with advantage the wholesome lessons to be learnt from the practice of an ancient Christian simplicity. The man who begins a course of dishonesty by defrauding a stranger will soon reach the point of cheating his dearest brother and chuckle at his unjust success.
2. That every violation of justice will be certainly punished. The rogue will not always triumph; and his ill-gotten gains may be the instruments of his curse. An all-seeing Eye watches and an Unseen Hand rests on all his accumulations. The successful robber is apt to lull himself into a false security. But the Lord is the avenger of all such (Pro 22:22-23; Pro 23:10). Not that we are to act honestly from the fear of punishment; but while striving to act rightly from love to God and a sense of duty, it is also salutary to remember that vengeance belongeth unto the Lord, and He will recompense. Where human justice fails, the Divine vengeance will supply the deficiency.
III. That a true sanctification recognizes the supreme authority of the Divine call (1Th 4:7). A holy life gives no license to sin. Everything is in favour of holiness; the caller is holy (1Pe 1:15), the instrument holy (Joh 17:17), and the Spirit, the immediate worker, is the fountain of all holiness. Religion is a holy calling, because it leads to holiness; and though it finds us not holy, yet it makes us so. They answer not their calling who commit any manner of sin. Unmercifulness, cruelty, fornication, fraud and uncleanness are not of God. In every temptation to evil remember the Divine calling. Lessons: A true sanctification–
1. Provides for the chastity of the whole man.
2. Governs all the transactions of daily life.
3. Responds to the highest call of God. (G. Barlow.)
Sanctification of the Spirit
I. Why the Spirit was sent. The first purpose which was to be answered by Christs coming in the flesh was, as St. Paul tells us, that He might redeem us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Christs death has answered that purpose fully; for, as the same apostle declares, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. But there are other things in Christianity beside the death of Christ; and they must have their purpose also. Why was the Holy Ghost sent to us? and why does He vouchsafe to come? He comes to sanctify us men. You remember that, in the account of the creation, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him. This image of God in the soul of man–for that, of course, is the thing meant–did net descend from Adam to his children. He lost it at the fall, and so could not leave it to his posterity. Adams first son was born in the likeness of sinful man. What was the consequence? All flesh corrupted his way upon the earth. At last it became quite clear that, so long as this evil root–this hereditary taint–remained within us uncorrected, so long men would go on sinning; nay, would grow worse and worse; just as a bowl with a bias, if you try to send it straight, the longer it rolls, the further it will swerve. Now, if this state of things could be allowed to go on, Christ would have died in vain; therefore, that He might finish the work He had begun for us, He sent His Holy Spirit to correct the bias of our evil nature, and gradually renew the image of God in our souls. This includes the renewal in the spirit of our minds, and the putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Here, then, is another great purpose which the plan of our redemption is meant to answer. The death of Christ was to redeem us; the coming of the Holy Ghost is to sanctify us. For this is the will of God, etc.
II. The spirits difficulty in sanctifying. That must needs be a great and difficult task which the Holy Ghost has taken upon Himself. Could a lesser arm have upheld us in our battle against sin, God would have sent us that lesser and weaker arm. But He sends us His own Spirit. The work, then, from its importance and difficulty, must be worthy of that eternal Spirit. It is a war against sin and Satan. Satan has lodged himself in the heart, and knowing the value of the heart, he will fight for it inch by inch. But the work of sanctification is something more than merely driving out Satan: it is binding the old man which has hitherto held a tyrannous sway within us, and replacing him by the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. To sanctify or hallow a thing is to set it apart for Gods service. Thus Christians are called in Scripture holy and saints, because they are Gods people and serve Him. So when we say that it is Gods will we should be sanctified or hallowed, this is the same as saying that our hearts ought to be like a church. A church is a house of prayer; and our hearts should be full of prayer also. Again, a church is the place for reading and explaining the Word of God; and the Word of God must be the food of our minds and the delight and meditation of our hearts. Moreover, a church is the last place for doing any wicked thing; so should it be with the heart of a Christian. Above all, a church is devoted to God; and this is the chief mark of a Christian: he should be devoted–heart and mind, soul and body, wholly given up to Gods service. Not always praying, not always reading the Bible; but he is to be always serving God. Strength, as well as liveliness, is necessary to a principle; and it is the principle of sanctification to give ourselves up to God, and to give up everything that offends Him. In fine, it is in a measure living the life of heaven upon earth. This is Gods will, and this is our beatitude. (A. W. Hare, A. M.)
Our consecration the will of God
I. Our sanctification.
1. This word has been misunderstood and abused.
(1) There are some who expect to become different beings, with different ideas and qualities from those they now have. Thus when they find old sins reappearing under new names, needing the revival of grace, they become disheartened, and doubt their Christianity.
(2) Others take refuge in small improvements, and think the work of sanctification is going on because this lust has died out or that temper curbed.
2. Let us grasp its meaning. It is applied in Scripture–
(1) To things: the Sabbath, Mount Horeb, the Tabernacle, Altar, Temple; and in each case means consecration, for no moral change can pass over these things.
(2) To persons: priests, prophets, the Jewish nation; and still the idea is appropriation, the stamping with Gods image and superscription.
(3) We pass on to gospel times.
(a) Sometimes it is the grand universal consecration which Christ made in redemption: By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all.
(b) Sometimes it is the first great individual consecration at conversion: The blood of the covenant wherewith he warn sanctified; But ye were washed, ye were sanctified.
(c) Sometimes, as in the text, it is the progressive realization in spirit and conduct of the one all embracing consecration; not a change of nature, but an increasing, brightening presence of the Holy Spirit in the soul, into transformation of character and life.
(d) Sometimes the complete identification of the will of man and the will of God, which is consecration consummated.
3. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this view. This is the redeemed man living his redemption, the forgiven man living his absolution, the consecrated man living his consecration.
(1) Here is the antidote to self-righteousness: Nor I, but Christ liveth in me.
(2). Here is the antidote to despondency: In me truly there dwelleth no good thing; but I am encouraged to look to God for help.
(3) Here is the antidote to all that petty, piecemeal, retail righteousness which dwarfs the aspirations of many. There are many who are building their little separate towers for the chance of reaching heaven–one trying to build a treasure house of charity, another to beautify taste into piety, another to construct a substitute for grace out of natural negative virtues, but all missing the very point of Christian perfection, the becoming in deed that which God has made us all in idea–His entirely. Consecration is the being absolutely, and of a glad heart, Gods.
4. There are special foes of this consecration.
(1) It is a ruinous error to dream of the ideal and to neglect the practical This is antinomianism.
(2) There are sins which make havoc of this consecration, of which St. Paul speaks in the context–sins which divide allegiance, sully loyalty, and fill Gods temple with foul and filthy idols.
II. Our sanctification is the Will of God.
1. Gods will is the true law of our lives. This is expressed without reservation, and all amounts to this–our consecration.
2. What God wills He will help us to realize. If there is failure, it is attributable to want of prayer, faith, and cooperation with God.
3. There is no way of acceptance with God but in conformity to His will. God being what He is, must will our sanctification. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. (Dean Vaughan.)
Human holiness the great object of the Divine will
1. God has a will. Will implies reason; God is infinite reason. Will implies force; it is determination: God is infinite force. Will, free, uncontrolled, is the expression of the willers nature. Gods nature is holy, benevolent, unchangeable.
2. God has a will concerning man. Insignificant though man be as compared with the universe, and less than nothing as compared with his Maker, he, nevertheless, engages the mind and heart of God. Glorious truth this!
3. Gods will concerning man is his holiness. Sanctification mans holiness, and holiness is moral excellence, assimilation to Himself. If this be the will of God concerning man, two conclusions deserve special notice.
I. That mans grand duty chimes in with his moral intuitions and highest interest. What is the grand duty of man? Obedience to the Divine will. Philosophy can return no other answer.
1. Our moral intuitions urge us to holiness. There is one ideal character which they are constantly intruding on our notice, urging us to cultivate. Moral souls everywhere on earth feel that they should be true, honest, generous, pure, and devout; in other words, that they should be holy.
2. Our highest interest urges us to holiness. The history of the world shows that men have been prosperous and happy in proportion to their virtues; and human consciousness attests that men are only inwardly happy as they feel that they have lived and done the thing that is right and true. So, then, the great demand of the Bible, instead of being in the slightest degree incongruous with human nature or its interests, blends in with the strictest accordance.
II. That man has an infallible guide to determine the successful in prayer and effort. He who goes with Gods will goes with omnipotence, and if he goes rightly, must succeed.
1. Successful prayers are prayers for holiness. He who prays for health, long life, secular property, has no reason to expect an answer only so far as these are sought with the grand motive of promoting holiness. God has not promised to answer any prayer that has not the desire for holiness as its inspiration.
2. Successful efforts are efforts for holiness. Efforts after wealth, influence, power, fame, may, and frequently do, succeed; but what then? If the inspiring motive has not been holiness, the end, which is happiness, is not obtained. Since Gods will is our holiness, no human effort for happiness not aiming at the grand end has ever been, or can ever be, successful. Whatever may be the appearance of things, all prayers and effort not aiming at holiness are failures. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Sanctification the will of God
I. The sanctification of man is the avowed object of God in all the dispensations of His grace.
1. The patriarchal (Gen 30:1).
2. The Mosaic (Exo 19:1-25.; Lev 11:1-47.).
3. The Christian (Eph 5:25-27).
II. God has shown this to be His will in the construction of Revelation, which offers a system of truths admirably calculated as an instrument to effect it.
1. Mans responsibility.
2. Gods perfections.
3. The doctrine, exhibition, and temporal and eternal punishment of sin.
4. The provision and offer of redemption.
5. Holy precepts, to which are attached abundant rewards.
III. The Scriptures reveal and instruct us how to receive the agency of a Divine Person, whose operations are particularly directed to this object.
1. He is the Author of our regeneration, which is holiness began.
2. He is the Author of the truth, which is the means of holiness, and applies that truth to the heart.
3. He is the Fountain of continual supplies of that grace, growth in which is progressive sanctification. (J. F. Denham.)
Sanctification the will of God
It is Gods will, the great purpose that He has at heart, that men should be holy. Sanctify them through Thy truth, etc. Pardon and all other blessings are means to this end. The Great Sculptor plans and labours only for a torso in room of a statue without this; the Great Builder would never see the top stone in His chosen temple without this; the Great Husbandman would never taste of the fruit of His labour without this. Now, if our sanctification–our growing holiness here and our perfected holiness hereafter–is Gods will, then–
I. Holiness is a great and blessed consummation. Good is the will of the Lord. There can be nothing so great and blessed for any creature as to have Gods will perfected in it. Only in holiness are eternal life and blessedness possible. To have the thoughts pure, the life at every point and in all its interests set like music to the words of Gods law, the soul moulded into the image of Christ, that is to have heaven begun.
II. God will spare no pains to create and perfect holiness in a mans soul. He has spared no sacrifice, in that He sent His Son; for it was the essence and heart of Christs mission to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, etc. And still towards and in us He will direct His working to this great end. He will prune this vine, that it may bear more fruit. He will cut, and chisel, and polish, till the fair image of Christ is seen. And as we smart, and weep, and wonder at our heavenly Fathers severity, let us think of His great purpose.
III. We are bound to cooperate with God in this great end. God wills it, said the Crusaders, and buckled on their armour for the conquest of the Holy Land. God wills it that we should pray, and strive, and fight for a purer and higher conquest. And what a start God gives us in His forgiveness through Christ! He thereby gives us freedom, gratitude, momentum; and in our whole warfare with sin He gives His Holy Spirit to inspire, direct, and sustain.
IV. We are assured of success. If it is His will, who can be against us? (Family Churchman.)
Sanctification
I. Distinguish it from related terms. From–
1. Regeneration is once for all done, and is the beginning of holiness, whereas sanctification is its progressive advancement. One is the implantment of holy principles and affections; the other their issue in a holy character.
2. Justification, while it does now exclude the present, has special reference to the past, while sanctification is chiefly directed to the present and the future. The one is something done for us, the other something done in us. The one is a change of relation, the other a change of character. The one implies pardon, the other purity.
3. Morality. This may exist without sanctification, as is seen in the lives of many worldly men. But sanctification cannot exist without morality. Morality is not to be disparaged; but there is no perfection without Christ.
II. What do we mean by sanctification? Religion implanted in the heart and conspicuous in the life.
1. The kingdom of God is within you. Christianity begins in the heart, and forms the life by forming the dispositions. It works from centre to circumference. It does not consist in having, but in being.
2. Its fruits will always be apparent. Grace in the germ is hidden, but it is always manifest in the life. It is a light that shines, a fire that burns. How grace grows is a mystery; but when grown it is read and known of all men. Your life as to its source and supply is hid with Christ in God; but as to its practical effect, it is a city set on a hill.
III. Its cause.
1. The ultimate cause is God the Holy Ghost. Men may fashion a block of stone into the figure of a man, so admirably that the sculpture seems to look, and breathe, and speak; but it is not a man. It is merely an image; it wants life, which no created power can give. So it is here. Spiritual life in all its stages is a direct inspiration from God, and impossible without such inspiration. And He who gives life alone can sustain it.
2. The instrumental cause is truth. Of His own will begat He us, etc. Sanctify them through Thy truth. Sanctification is the effect not of the separate, but conjoint influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart, and the Word on the understanding, the one removing prejudice, the other dispersing ignorance.
IV. Sanctification is a progressive and harmonious work.
1. Where there is life there will be progress–in vegetation, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and in each case gradually.
2. This is a progress that affects the whole manhood, a harmonious development of an entire Christian character. Just as in the healthful growth of a tree there is growth, not only of the roots but the shoots, branches, foliage, and fruit; so in the Christian the development is not of one grace, but of all. There is much diversity. Grace does not produce uniformity in the human character; but still the finest specimen of a Christian is the man in whom all graces are in their proportion.
3. Its beginning is here, but its progress forever. Heaven begins on earth, and earth merges into heaven.
V. Sanctification is the will of God. Not simply the command, but the good pleasure of God.
1. It is necessarily so. He who is Light cannot love darkness; He who is Life cannot love death.
2. It is wrought in harmony with the nature of the human will. God works in what we have to work out.
3. What an encouragement is this! In all our struggles after goodness we may be sure of Divine sympathy and help.
4. With what solemnity does this invest the subject, for it follows that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. (J. Davies.)
Sanctification
I. Its nature.
1. It is the invariable result of union with Christ (Joh 15:5). He whom the Blood cleanses walks in the light. He who has a lively hope in Christ purifies himself, as He is pure (1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 3:3).
2. It is the outcome and invariable consequence of regeneration. The new creature lives a new life (1Jn 2:29; 1Jn 3:9-14; 1Jn 5:4-18).
3. It is the only certain evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is essential to salvation (Rom 8:9). The Spirit never lies idle in the soul, but makes His presence known by His fruits (Gal 5:22). It, is nonsense to suppose that we have the Spirit if we do not walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:25; Rom 8:14).
4. It is the only sure mark of Gods election. There is much that is mysterious about this subject; but nothing is plainer than that the elect are known by their holy lives (1Th 1:3).
5. It is a thing that will always be seen. It cannot be hid.
6. It is a thing for which every believer is responsible. Every man has power to lose his own soul; but believers are under special obligation to live holy lives.
7. It is a thing which admits of growth and progress.
8. It depends largely on a diligent use of Scriptural means–Bible reading, private prayer, attendance on public worship, regular communion. There are no spiritual gains without pains.
9. It does not prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict (Gal 5:17; Rom 7:1-25).
10. It cannot justify a man, but it pleases God (Rom 3:20-28; Heb 13:16; Col 3:20; 1Jn 3:22). Just as a parent is pleased with the efforts of his little child to please him, though it be only by picking a daisy, so our heavenly Father is pleased with the poor performances of His believing children. But they must first be believing–i.e., justified children; for without faith it is impossible to please God.
11. It will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the day of judgment, it will then be utterly useless to plead our faith if it has not been evidenced by our works.
12. It is necessary to train us for heaven. Then hope to get there; but the only way is the way of holiness. We must be saints before we die if we are to be saints in glory. When an eagle is happy in an iron cage, a fish happy on dry land, then will an unsanctified man be happy in heaven.
II. Its visible evidence.
1. It does not consist in–
(1) Talk about religion (1Jn 3:18).
(2) Temporary religious feelings (Mat 13:20).
(3) Outward formalism and external devoutness.
(4) Retirement from our place in life (Joh 17:15).
(5) The occasional performance of right actions (Mar 6:20).
2. It will show itself in–
(1) Habitual respect to Gods law, and the habitual effort to live in obedience to it as the rule of life (1Ti 1:8; Rom 7:22).
(2) An habitual endeavour to do Christs will (Joh 15:14).
(3) An habitual desire to live up to the standard which Paul sets before the Churches in the closing chapters of nearly all his Epistles.
(4) Habitual attention to the active graces which our Lord exemplified, and especially the grace of charity (Joh 13:34-35; Col 3:10).
(5) Habitual attention to the passive graces of Christianity, which are especially shown in submission to God and forbearance towards man (1Pe 2:21-23; Gal 5:22-23).
III. The relation of sanctification to justification.
1. In what are they alike?
(1) Both proceed originally from the free grace of God.
(2) Both are part of the great work of salvation which Christ has undertaken on behalf of His people.
(3) Both are found in the same persons.
(4) Both begin at the same time.
(5) Both are alike necessary to salvation.
2. In what they differ.
(1) Justification is the reckoning a man to be righteous for the sake of Christ; sanctification is making a man righteous.
(2) The righteousness we have by our justification is not our own, but Christs; that which we have by sanctification is our own, imparted by the Holy Ghost.
(3) In justification our works have no place at all, simple faith in Christ being the one thing needful; in sanctification our works are of vast importance, and are commanded by God.
(4) Justification admits of no growth; sanctification is essentially progressive.
(5) Justification has special reference to our persons; sanctification to our natures.
(6) Justification gives us our title; sanctification our meetness for heaven.
(7) Justification is the act of God about us; sanctification the work of God within us.
IV. Application.
1. Let us awake to a sense of the perilous state of many professing Christians (Heb 12:14).
2. Let us make sure work of our own condition.
3. We must begin with Christ. We must first live and then work.
4. We must continually go on as we began (Eph 4:16).
5. Let us not expect too much from our hearts here below. The more light we have the more we shall see our own imperfection. Absolute perfection is yet to come.
6. Let us never be ashamed of making much of sanctification. (Bp. Ryle.)
Our sanctification
I. The intrinsic evidence of the fact that God desires our sanctification.
1. Sanctification is the restoration of that which was ruined by the apostasy. If it were only to bring things back to the primitive order which He pronounced to be very good, it is in Gods view most desirable that man should be made holy. We do not wish to see a ship dismasted, a man lame, or a machine out of order. It delights us to see them restored to their natural state. So God delights in a restoration to the primitive moral order.
2. Sanctification is the complete reconciliation of man to God. As a lover of order, He must be pleased to see man reconciled to the perfect order He has established. Sin is a quarrel with Gods arrangements. Sanctification is a return to perfect harmony with God and His government.
3. It is the restoration of perfect loveliness to man. God abhors sin partly because of its moral repulsiveness, and loves holiness because of its moral beauty.
II. The actions of God in reference to mans sanctification.
1. We see more than desire; we see great earnestness in these. This earnestness comes to us in the form of authority. We are made for law, and are susceptible to the requirements of authority. See, then, the eternal God coming down to Sinai to make a law requiring men to be holy, and throwing around that law all the sanctions of Divine approbation and displeasure. To this mighty influence He adds the potent discipline of His Providence pruning us that we may be fruitful. Then, further, there is the mission of Christ, and the ministry of the Spirit.
2. With our minds full of these facts, let us see their practical consequences.
(1) We should rejoice in afflictions. God, in chastening us, is aiming at our perfection. Christ was made perfect through suffering.
(2) We should be earnest in the use of religious ordinances. These are the appointed means. Sanctify them through Thy truth. And we should be confident of success in the right employment of them.
(3) We should labour for each others sanctification. As we are bound to pray, Thy will be done, etc., so we are bound to desire that every human being may carry out that will by being holy.
Conclusion: If God wills the sanctification of all men, then–
1. The condition of the irreligious is fearful.
2. Every one who knows what the will of God is, is bound at once to seek after holiness. (E. N. Kirk, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. This is the will of God, even your sanctification] God has called you to holiness; he requires that you should be holy; for without holiness none can see the Lord. This is the general calling, but in it many particulars are included. Some of these he proceeds to mention; and it is very likely that these had been points on which he gave them particular instructions while among them.
That ye should abstain from fornication] The word , as we have seen in other places, includes all sorts of uncleanness; and it was probably this consideration that induced several MSS., some versions and fathers, to add here , all. Directions of this kind were peculiarly necessary among the Greeks, and indeed heathens in general, who were strongly addicted to such vices.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What in the former verse he called commandments from Christ, he here calls the will of God; or he had some further duties to lay before them, which he had not yet given commandments about, which were the will of God. There is the secret and revealed will of God, and his revealed will is about things to be believed or practised. The latter is here meant, so that the will of God is put figuratively here for the things he willeth, or commandeth of us. And that which the apostle first mentions is sanctification, which is often taken for holiness in general, which consists in mens conformity to the will of God both in the heart and life. But I think not so taken here, but for chastity, as opposite to the sin of uncleanness, as the apostle explains it in the next words. For to
abstain from fornication is the will of God. And by it is meant all unchasteness, either of persons married or unmarried; and that either in the heart, or in speech, or in the eye, or lascivious gesture, as well as in the very act itself. It was a sin common among the Gentiles, especially the Grecians, and judged as no sin. And therefore it is particularly mentioned and forbidden to the believing Gentiles by the council of Jerusalem, lest they should apprehend it not to be an evil, Act 15:20. For it is not so evident by the light of nature as many other moral evils; and therefore the apostle tells the Thessalonians that it is the will of God they should abstain from it, and that is a sufficient ground either of doing or not doing. This will of God is expressed in the seventh commandment, which though the Jews well knew, yet these new converted Gentiles might not yet so well understand. And therefore the apostle in his several Epistles to the Gentile churches doth dehort them from it, especially the Corinthians, 1Co 6:9, and that by many arguments. It is a sin which corrupts and effeminates the mind, captivates the heart, consumes the flesh, and wastes mens estates. So that this will of God that forbids it is a good will, Rom 12:2, as all the commandments of God are said to be for our good, Deu 10:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Forenforcing the assertionthat his “commandments” were “by (the authority of)the Lord Jesus” (1Th 4:2).Since “this is the will of God,” let it be your will also.
fornicationnotregarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the moreto be denounced (Ac 15:20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,…. Which is another reason to enforce the above exhortation. “Sanctification” is internal or external. Internal sanctification is the work of the Spirit of God, and is a principle of spiritual life in the soul, a divine and spiritual light in the understanding, a flexion of the will to the will of God, and a settlement of the affections on divine things, and is an implantation of every grace in the heart. External sanctification arises from this, and lies in holiness of life and conversation; and is what is chiefly designed, as appears both by what goes before, and follows after: and this is “the will of God”; the will of his purpose and decree; for in the same decree that he wills the salvation of any by Jesus Christ, he also wills their sanctification in heart and life, and here and hereafter: and this is his approving will, or what is well pleasing in his sight, being agreeable to his nature, and divine perfections, particularly his holiness, in which he is glorious; and it is his will of command, and what he requires in his law, which is holy, just, and good, and perfectly agrees with the sound doctrine of the Gospel, and the revelation of his will in both.
That ye should abstain from fornication: which is particularly mentioned, abstinence from it being a branch of external holiness; and because that this sin was common among the Gentiles, and not esteemed a sin by them; as also to observe to these Christians, that as simple fornication was not to be allowed of, much less other acts of uncleanness, as adultery, incest, sodomy, and the like, which were iniquities that greatly prevailed among the Heathens. The Syriac version renders it, “from all fornication”; on this subject the apostle enlarges in some following verses.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Your sanctification ( ). Found only in the Greek Bible and ecclesiastical writers from and both to take the place of the old words , with their technical ideas 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” (apposition) and as further explained by the epexegetic infinitive
that ye abstain from fornication ( ). Pagan religion did not demand sexual purity of its devotees, the gods and goddesses being grossly immoral. Priestesses were in the temples for the service of the men who came.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Fornication. 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 (see Introduction). About the time of Paul, a political sanction was given to this worship by deifying the Emperor as Cabeirus.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For this is the will of God” (Touto gar estin thelema tou theou) “For this is (the) will of God”; which to know and to do brings blessings in this life and rewards in the world to come. Rom 12:2; Eph 5:17-18; Col 1:9.
2) “Even your sanctification” (ho hagiasmos humon) “The sanctification of you (all)”; the term sanctification as it relates to Christian conduct, involves separation from, or avoidance of, wrong and performance of good and right. 2Th 2:13; Rom 12:1-2; 1Pe 3:15.
3) “That ye should abstain from fornication” (apechesthai humas apo tes porneias) “That you all (are) to abstain from fornication”; moral sex relations apart from marriage of the two committing parties; intimate sex relations outside of marriage are declared to be sinful and wicked, subject to Divine judgment, Gal 5:19-21; Heb 13:4; Pro 5:8-11; Pro 6:24-32; Pro 7:24-27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3 For this is the will of God. This is doctrine of a general nature, from which, as from a fountain, he immediately deduces special admonitions. When he says that this is the will of God, he means that we have been called by God with this design. “For this end ye are Christians — this the gospel aims at — that ye may sanctify yourselves to God. ” The meaning of the term sanctification we have already explained elsewhere in repeated instances — that renouncing the world, and clearing ourselves from the pollutions of the flesh, we offer ourselves to God as if in sacrifice, for nothing can with propriety be offered to Him, but what is pure and holy.
That ye abstain. This is one injunction, which he derives from the fountain of which he had immediately before made mention; for nothing is more opposed to holiness than the defilement of fornication, which pollutes the whole man. On this account he assigns the lust of concupiscence to the Gentiles, who know not God. “Where the knowledge of God reigns, lusts must be subdued.”
By the lust of concupiscence, he means all base lusts of the flesh, but, at the same time, by this manner of expression, he brands with dishonor all desires that allure us to pleasure and carnal delights, as in Rom 13:14, he bids us have no care for the flesh in respect of the lust thereof. For when men give indulgence to their appetites, there are no bounds to lasciviousness. (567) Hence the only means of maintaining temperance is to bridle all lusts.
As for the expression, that every one of you may know to possess his vessel, some explain it as referring to a wife, (568) as though it had been said, “Let husbands dwell with their wives in all chastity.” As, however, he addresses husbands and wives indiscriminately, there can be no doubt that he employs the term vessel to mean body. For every one has his body as a house, as it were, in which he dwells. He would, therefore, have us keep our body pure from all uncleanness.
And honor, that is, honorably, for the man that prostitutes his body to fornication, covers it with infamy and disgrace.
(567) “ Il n’y a mesure ne fin de desbauchement et dissolution;” — “There is no measure or end of debauchery and wantonness.”
(568) “ Au regard du mari;” — “In relation to her husband.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
1Th. 4:4. How to possess his vessel.R.V. to possess himself of his own vessel. With the long list of names in view of those who interpret vessel as meaning body, it is almost daring to hint at another meaning. The list, however, is strong of those who regard the expression as a figurative designation for a wife, and 1Pe. 3:7 decides us.
1Th. 4:5. Not in the lust of concupiscence.R.V. not in the passion of lust. The word passion signifies not so much a violent feeling as an overpowering feeling, one to which a man so yields himself that he is borne along by evil as if he were its passive instrument; he has lost the dignity of self-rule, and is the slave of his lower appetites (Findlay).
1Th. 4:6. That no man go beyond and defraud.R.V. transgress, and wrong. More exactly, that none overreach and take advantage of his brother in the matter. The matter of the last two verses. The apostle sets the wrong in the strongest light: it is to cheat ones brother, and that in what touches most nearly the sanctities of life (Ibid.). The Lord is the avenger.The heathen deities, so far as they were anything, were oftener patterns than avengers of such things, and they who made them were only too like them.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.1Th. 4:3-7
Distinctive Features of a True Sanctification.
It is comparatively easy for some minds to grasp the broad outlines of a grand undertaking, but they fail in working out the details. It is a fatal defect, and involves the ruin of the whole scheme. The peculiar genius of minds like these is to deal with things in the mass; but they have not the ability or the patience to master a numerous and complicated series of minute particulars. They are more theoretical than practical; they are strong in the concrete, but feeble in the abstract faculty. So it is possible to form a bold conception of some great, leading Christian virtue, to expatiate on its exquisite beauty, to exalt in grandiose terms its supernatural dignity, and to enforce with magisterial importance its superlative necessity, but all the while to be lamentably deficient in practical attention to the thousand and one little details which, in every-day life, constitute the essence of the virtue. Sanctification is an aspect of the Christian life, facile and seductive in theory, but difficult and commonplace in practice. It is the essence and perfection of the Christian life, and is attained, not by some magical feat of the mental powers, but by patient plodding, stern conflicts, and hard-won moral victories. It is the sublime but little understood science of living aright, in the sight of God and man. Secretary Walsingham, in writing to Lord Burleigh, said: We have lived long enough to our country, to our fortunes, and to our sovereign; it is high time that we began to live for ourselves and for our God. In the above verses are portrayed the distinctive feature of a true sanctification. Observe:
I. A true sanctification consists in the maintenance of a personal chastity.
1. This involves an abstinence from gross sensual indulgence. That you should abstain from fornication (1Th. 4:3). A word that designates, not only the actual transgression known by that name, but all the sinful lusts of the flesh. This vice is a prolific source of many other vices. It is like the fabled Hydra, or many-headed snake, of which it is said that when one head was cut off another grew in its place. Fornication is the root of extravagance, drunkenness, disease, poverty, profanity, murder, and irreparable infamy. It is a sin the most bewitching, the most prevalent, the most fatal in its tendencies, and against which the most terrible vengeance of Heaven has been declared. It brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, fire and brimstone upon Sodom, pestilence upon the Israelites, and destruction upon the nations of antiquity. Prior to Christianity it was hardly regarded as a vice. The apostolic teaching revealed its enormity, denounced it with righteous indignation, and supplied the spiritual weapon by which it is to be slain.
2. Involves a rigid maintenance of bodily purity.That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour (1Th. 4:4). The vessel of the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and whatever would defile or disgrace that sacred shrine must be carefully avoided. The apostle seems to imply there is a kind of art in chastity which all should practise. That every one of you should knowshould have skillthe power of self-control. Christianity is the science of sciences, the art of living well, and no small skill is necessary in regulating the exercise of the Christian virtues. To possessto rule the body in purity, keep a diligent guard upon the senses (Job. 31:1; Pro. 23:33; Gen. 39:6-7), avoid the company of the sensual; be temperate; be industrious; continue instant in prayer.
3. Involves a masterly restraint upon the passionate outgoings of evil desire.Not in the lust of concupiscence; not in the passion of lust; even as the Gentiles which know not God (1Th. 4:5). Ignorance is the origin of unchastity; and the apostle shows to what extent of wickedness man may go who knows not God. An old writer says, Ignorance is a master, a mother-sin; pull it, thou pullest all sin. Concupiscence is the rudimentary stage of evil desire; unchecked, it spreads through the soul, inflames the passions, and rises into an ungovernable tempest of lust. Evil must be restrained in its earliest manifestation, banished from the region of thought. The longer it is harboured, the more powerful it becomes.
We are not worst at oncethe course of evil
Begins so slowly and from such slight source,
An infants hand might stem its breach with clay;
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy shall strive in vain
To turn the headlong current.
II. A true sanctification consists in the universal exercise of strict justice.
1. That no violation of justice is allowable. That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter (1Th. 4:6). The prohibition extends not only to acts of unchastity, but to all the transactions of life. The value of a commodity is governed by its use, its relation to the immediate wants of man. In nature that which has life and sense is more excellent than an inanimate creature; in this view an insect is superior to a diamond. But with regard to use, a loaf of bread is of more value than a thousand insects. Justice requires there should be a fair proportion between a thing and its price. To exact a price which is beyond the worth of the commodity sold, or to give a sum which is below its due value, is to overreach on the part of either the seller or the buyer. The commercial world of the present day might ponder with advantage the lessons to be learnt from the practice of an ancient Christian simplicity. The man who begins a course of dishonesty by defrauding a stranger will soon reach the point of cheating his dearest brother and chuckle at his unjust success.
2. That every violation of justice will be certainly punished.Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified (1Th. 4:6). The rogue will not always triumph; and his ill-gotten gains may be the instruments of his curse. An all-seeing Eye watches all his sinuous trickeries, and an unseen Hand rests on all his covetous accumulations, and by-and-by the blow of vengeance will be swift and terrible. The successful robber is apt to lull himself into a false security; he has escaped disaster so often and so long that he begins to fancy his villainy may be continued with impunity. But their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not, for the Lord is the avenger of all such (see Pro. 22:22-23; Pro. 22:10). Not that we are to act honestly from the fear of punishment; but while striving to act rightly from love to God and a lofty sense of duty, it is also salutary to remember that vengeance belongeth unto the Lord, and He will recompense. Where human justice fails, the divine vengeance will supply the deficiency, that injustice may not escape unpunished.
III. That a true sanctification recognises the supreme authority of the divine call.For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness (1Th. 4:7). A holy life gives no licence to sin. Everything is in favour of holinessthe caller is holy (1Pe. 1:15), the instrument holy (Joh. 17:17), and the Spirit, the immediate worker, is the fountain of all holiness. Religion is a holy calling, because it leads to holiness; and though it finds us not holy, yet it makes us so. They answer not their calling who commit any manner of sin. Unmercifulness, cruelty, fornication, and uncleanness are not of God. In every temptation to evil remember the divine calling.
Lessons.A true sanctification
1. Provides for the chastity of the whole man.
2. Governs all the transactions of daily life.
3. Responds to the highest call of God.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1Th. 4:6. Reason for Conscientiousness.A man was once asked why he was so very particular to give good measureover goodand he replied: God has given me but one journey through this world, and when I am gone I cannot return to correct mistakes.
Respect for Conscientiousness.Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, once remarked respecting one of his pupils who was in the habit of attending to all his duties conscientiously and faithfully, I could stand hat in hand to that boy.
1Th. 4:7. Christian Holiness.
I. The nature of holiness.Conformity to the nature and will of God. Not to be confounded with virtue.
II. The origin of holiness.It is immediately connected with regeneration. No holiness in man previous to this.
III. The progress of holiness.The seed, the tree. The dawn, the day. The child, the man.
IV. The objects of holiness.In reference to God, to the moral law, to duty, to sin.
V. The influence of holiness.There is an energy of moral suasion in a good mans life passing the highest efforts of the orators genius. The seen but silent beauty of holiness speaks more eloquently of God and duty than the tongues of men and angels.G. Brooks.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Text (1Th. 4:3)
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication;
Translation and Paraphrase
3.
For (among other things) this is the will of God (for youyes, it is even) your sanctification, (the process of your becoming free from sin and consecrated to Godand it is this: ) that you should abstain from (every form of) sexual vice.
Notes (1Th. 4:3)
1.
Christianity never delivers us, as by the stroke of a magician, from the lusts and wickedness which have become habitual in the heathen world. Rather a long and constant fight is necessary for vanquishing them.
2.
For example, fornication was considered no sin among the Gentiles. Therefore, Paul often had to warn about it in his letters. Fornication refers to unlawful sexual intercourse in general. Adultery is generally used to describe the sin of married people who are unfaithful. Fornication is a broader term. It includes adultery and all related vices. Notice some of Pauls words about fornication:
1Co. 6:1-20; 1Co. 13:1-13The body is not for fornication.
1Co. 6:18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without (outside) the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Heb. 13:4Fornicators and adulters God will judge. (See also Rev. 21:8)
3.
If our sanctification is the will of God, we ought to give more attention to the subject than we usually hear given. Sanctification is the action of making us free from sin and consecrated to God. It is the opposite of pollution. It means holiness in its general sense, and the same word which is translated holiness is the one translated sanctification. Sanctification (or holiness) is commanded in 1Pe. 1:12. In Heb. 2:11 Christ is described as he that sanctifieth us.
4.
In this verse Paul makes it very plain that the sanctification that he is referring to is abstaining from fornication. There are other things necessary in sanctification, of course, but that is the only matter that Paul is dealing with in this verse.
5.
It would be wrong to quote just part of this verseThis is the will of God, even your sanctificationand then by using that part of the verse to urge people to seek a second work of grace. Some denominations hold to a doctrine that after a person has been saved, he may have a second work of grace, a sanctification by baptism of the Holy Spirit, in which all desire for and practice of sin is taken out of his nature.
John the apostle says, If we say we have no sin (present tense), we deceive ourselves. 1Jn. 1:8. Surely this verse cancels out any doctrine that we can be so totally sanctified that we utterly cannot sin.
6.
The two stages in sanctification:
(1)
Sanctification at conversion.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified. The spirit of every believer is sanctified, cleansed, and set apart for the Masters use at conversion. 1Co. 6:11; Heb. 10:14; 1Pe. 1:2; 2Th. 2:13; Eph. 5:26.
(2)
Sanctification after conversion.
Heb. 12:14: Follow . . . the holiness (or sanctification) without which no man shall see the Lord. Sanctification is something we must follow or pursue (Gr., dioko) constantly. We cannot get a one-shot inoculation of sanctification that will permanently guarantee our immunity against sin.
Now being servants of God, we have fruit unto holiness (or sanctification). Rom. 6:22.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(3) For.The word further enforces the appeal to their memory: Ye know what commandments . . . for this (you will recollect) is what God wants; a commandment given through the Lord Jesus, being, of course, identical with Gods will.
Your sanctification.In apposition to the word this. The mere conversion, justification, salvation of us are not the aim of God: He would have us holy. The general idea of sanctification passes however here, as the following clauses show, into the more limited sense of purification.
Fornication.The word is often used in late Greek for any kind of impurity, as, e.g., 1Co. 5:1, of incest; but here it must be understood in its strict sense. To the Gentile mind, while the wickedness of adultery or incest was fully recognised, it was a novelty to be told that fornication was a deadly sin; hence the strange connection in which it stands in the Synodal letter to the Gentile churches (Act. 15:20; Act. 15:29; Act. 21:25). This consideration also makes it easier to understand how St. Paul can praise these Gentile Thessalonians so heartily, although they need earnest correction on this vital point. It is a true instance of the sacerdotal metriopathy (or, compassionate consideration) towards the ignorant and deceived. (See Heb. 5:1-2.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. For this To sum up the whole of these commandments.
Will Without the Greek article, a will. So Bengel, “Many are God’s wills or volitions. Act 13:22.” But it is a very dangerous distinction which some theologians make, (as Barnes here,) between God’s decree or “secret will,” and his commandments or “revealed will;” as if God decreed one thing and commanded its opposite.
Sanctification Holiness; avoidance of evil and practice of good, through the blessed guidance and aid.
Abstain from fornication Which abstain is a particular branch of sanctification; the negative, of which 1Th 4:4 gives the positive.
‘For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from fornication, that each of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. That no man transgress and wrong his brother in the matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. For God called us not to uncleanness but in sanctification.’
The passage must be read as one whole, for each part defines the other. It is dealing with the major moral problem that faced Christians in the first century, and faces them in many countries today, of lax and loose sexual behaviour. Marriage for some had become a mockery. Many religions in the first century encouraged sexual misbehaviour and laxity. Sacred prostitutes were common, with whom sex was seen as a form of worship, and ‘love feasts’ (see 2Pe 2:13-14), orgies, where anything went and was even looked on as religious activity, were a favourite pastime for many. Indeed the practise later invaded the Christian church causing major condemnation from Christ (Rev 2:6; Rev 2:14-15; Rev 2:20-23). This was especially prevalent in the area of the world in which the Thessalonians lived. Thus becoming Christians had faced them with a totally new way of life.
‘This is the will of God, even your sanctification.’ The will of God for His people determines, among other things (‘will’ has no article), that they should be separated to Him and therefore holy. And here we learn that this especially applies to the avoidance of wrong sexual practises. Here sanctification is the process of being made truly holy and Christ-like.
Now Paul delineates three things that the Christian must avoid, ‘that you abstain from fornication — that each one of you know how to possess himself — that no man transgress and wrong his brother.’
‘That you abstain from fornication.’ Fornication is a general word signifying sex engaged in outside a formal marriage relationship, and includes sex engaged in with other than one’s first wife while she is still alive, unless she herself has first committed fornication (and vice versa), and any forms of perverted sex. ‘From’, included in the verb, is emphasised by the further use of a preposition. They are to keep far from such things.
‘That each of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.’ ‘The Gentiles’ in general were ruled by their lustful passions. But that was the opposite of how Christians should behave. They should be ruled by spiritual ideals under God. Thus they are like the holy vessels set apart on the Tabernacle and must rule their bodies as ‘holy vessels’ set apart for God, dedicated to God’s service. They must do all as in the sight and presence of God. Their whole manner of life will be different, for their primary aim and responsibility will be to please and to serve God. See 2Ti 2:20-22 for a similar comparison of a man with a vessel (skeuos) unto honour, which must avoid ‘youthful lusts’, a good parallel to here. See also 2Co 4:7 for men as ‘earthen vessels’.
‘The passion of lust.’ Something which possesses the mind as an overriding feature and results in outward lust, making someone surrender to their passion. This was especially prevalent in a world where there were few barriers.
It should be noted that this is not saying that all Gentiles behaved openly in this way, just as not all openly live immorally today, although society in those days did not generally frown so much on such behaviour. It is rather indicating the passions that controlled the majority of them and which they followed when they could, and which many of their religions and societies encouraged them to practise openly. Similarly, many a ‘respectable’ man or woman today goes on the internet and indulges in sexual appetites in secret, hidden behind anonymity, and enjoys on television the corruptness of society. But their behaviour is known to God (and recorded secretly on their computer). What we laugh or gaze at in secret indicates what we are. For an honest and open indictment of Gentile belief and behaviour see Rom 1:18-32.
The verb translated ‘possess’ has mainly the meaning of ‘acquire’, but then went on to mean that having acquired you possessed. We might translate ‘gain and keep control over’. Control is the central idea. ‘Know to’ may indicate knowing that they are responsible to, rather than simply knowing how to (there is no specific ‘how’ in the Greek or in the verb).
So each is responsible for his own ‘vessel’. To control it and keep it as holy to God and honourable, ‘a vessel unto honour’ (2Ti 2:21), or to prostitute it and make it dishonourable, ‘unto dishonour’.
Some see the ‘vessel’ as indicating the wife. Wives are elsewhere called ‘the weaker vessel’ (1Pe 3:7). But that then also makes the husband a vessel also, ‘the stronger vessel’. There is not there the suggestion, as there would be here, that the man possesses the wife like a chattel. The latter was not the Christian view (Gal 3:28; Eph 5:28). It is true that the verb can also be used of acquiring a wife. But there is nothing obvious in the context to support the idea here and it is a good principle in interpreting Scripture to take the obvious interpretation where two interpretations clash. If Paul meant a wife why did he not say so? Nor does it fit well with 1Th 4:6.
‘Who do not know God.’ For if they did they would be aware that their sexual behaviour was contrary to His nature. Rom 1:18-32 links the sins of the Gentiles with the fact that they do not know God because they close their eyes to His appeal through nature and conscience and turn to idolatry. Thus they worship beasts and behave like them.
‘That no man transgress and wrong his brother in the matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.’ Sexual sin not only affects us, it affects others. It defrauds and takes advantage of others. It destroys marriages, breaks up relationships, makes a mockery of genuine love, drags men and women down to a lower level of living, and dishonours God (1Co 6:15-16; 1Co 6:18-19). And when we so lead others astray or hurt them, the Lord will avenge them, either at the day of judgment, or by illness and disease (1Co 11:30).
There is no reason for considering that ‘brother’ here means any different from elsewhere. It refers to a fellow-Christian. Sexual transgression in the church was most likely to affect other Christians, especially in days when free time was limited, and that would be a great sin for it would be a sin against a brother which the Lord will avenge. And even sex outside the church community would harm fellow-Chrisitian for it would bring shame on the church and on each brother.
‘For God called us not to uncleanness but in sanctification.’ Paul finally summarises the position. Sexual purity is part of the call of God. There are two options, being involved in uncleanness or being in sanctification. God’s call is from the one to the other. If we are those who are called by God then we do not have an option, for our behaviour and attitude will reveal the genuineness of our calling. Again this sanctification is to be practical and not imputed, although resulting from having been first sanctified by God ( 1Co 1:2 ; 2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:2).
1Th 4:3. For this is the will of God, For the will of God is, that you should become holy, and abstain from all impurity. The sense of the original word , is very general, and extends to all acts of uncleanness.
1Th 4:3 . Further specification of , according to its contents. ] for this (the following) is the will of God .
] not the predicate (de Wette, 2d ed.), but the subject (comp. Rom 9:8 ; Gal 3:7 ; Winer, 5th ed. p. 130 [E. T. 199]), is emphatically placed first, accordingly not superfluous (Pelt).
] without the article, as the will of God is not exhausted with what is afterwards adduced. The words are without emphasis; they resume only the idea already expressed in 1Th 4:2 , although in another form. For a command given is nothing else than .
] namely, your sanctification , in apposition to and the subject-matter, whereas was only a preliminary and nominal subject. has an active meaning, your sanctification ( , the genitive of the object), i.e. that you sanctify yourselves , not passive (Estius, Koppe, Usteri, p. 236; Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius), so that it would be identical with , 1Th 3:13 . Calovius, Wolf, Flatt, de Wette, Koch, Alford, and others take as a “quite general” idea, under which not only . . ., but also 1Th 4:6 , are specified as particulars. This view, in itself entirely suitable, becomes impossible by the article before , 1Th 4:6 . This does not permit us to consider 1Th 4:6 as a parallel statement to , 1Th 4:3 , and , 1Th 4:4 , but places the statement . . . evidently on the same level with . Accordingly receives a double specification of the subject-matter in the form of apposition (1) in , and (2) in , 1Th 4:6 . Thus the meaning is: For the following is the will of God, first , that ye sanctify yourselves, and then that ye overreach not, etc. But from this relation of the sentences it follows that must denote holiness in a special sense, i.e. must be considered in special reference to sins of lust, thus must be used of striving after chastity (Turretin, Pelt, Schott, Olshausen, Bloomfield, and others).
is further epexegetically explained (1) negatively by , and (2) positively by . . ., 1Th 4:4 . In an entirely erroneous manner by Hofmann, according to whom the stress is to be laid on , is to indicate . . ., and is a parenthetic apposition. Moreover, “a contradiction” to the praise of the church, expressed elsewhere in the Epistle, is not contained in the exhortation, 1Th 4:3 ff. (Schrader), as the reception of Christianity never delivers, as with the stroke of a magician, from the wickedness and lusts of the heathen world which have become habitual; rather a long and constant fight is necessary for vanquishing them.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
Ver. 3. For this is the will of God ] This is his prescribing will, which we must obey; as we must submit to his disposing will, the will of his providence, and grow acquainted with his approving will, the will of his gracious acceptance, Mat 18:14 ; Joh 1:23 .
3 .] further specification ( ) of the : see above.
is the subject, not the predicate (as De W.): see Rom 9:8 ; Gal 3:7 ; not superfluous, as Pelt, but emphatically prefixed (so Lnem.).
. serves to take up again the . . .
The article may be omitted, because the predicate . . is not distributed (?): but in this case, . would be equally applicable, there being no danger of . being mistaken for ‘the whole will,’ but rather specifying ‘that which forms part of the will.’ This explanation is not to be abandoned, as Ellic., on account of the merely occasional omission of the article after a noun substantive, mentioned by Middleton and Ellic.: for the reason of that omission is to be sought rather in logic than in idiom. Rather perhaps should we say that there is in Greek a tendency to omit articles before predicates, even where such an omission cannot be logically pressed.
. . is in apposition with . . . as a ‘locus communis,’ the will of God respecting us being known to be our sanctification, and then this, sanctification being afterwards specified as consisting in , &c. Therefore must be taken in the most general sense, and that which is afterwards introduced, , &c., as a part of our .
is the objective genitive, of you .
and are not the negative and positive sides of . . as Lnem. and Ellic., for the negative comes in again in 1Th 4:5-6 , but the latter ( to , 1Th 4:6 ) further specifies and ensures the former.
1Th 4:3 . (in apposition to , without the article being the predicate) = the moral issue of a life related to the ( cf. 1Th 4:8 ), viewed here in its special and negative aspect of freedom from sexual impurity. The gospel of Jesus, unlike some pagan cults, e.g. , that of the Cabiri at Thessalonica ( cf. Lightfoot’s Biblical Essays , pp. 257 f.), did not tolerate, much less foster, licentiousness among its worshippers. At Thessalonica as at Corinth Paul found his converts exposed to the penetrating taint of life in a large seaport. As the context indicates, . = “the perfecting of you in holiness” ( . in its active sense, genitive objective: so Lnemann, Ellicott, Bahnsen). The absence of any reference to is remarkable. But Paul’s dialectic on justification was occasioned by controversies about which were not felt at Thessalonica. Besides, the “justified” standing of the believer, even in that synthesis of doctrine, amounted practically to the position assured by the possession of the Spirit to the Christian. In his uncontroversial and eschatological moments, Paul taught as here that the experience of the Spirit guaranteed the believer’s vindication at the end ( cf. 1Th 1:9-10 ) and also implied his ethical behaviour during the interval. The comparative lack of any allusion to the forgiveness of sins ( cf. e.g. , 1Th 3:5 ; 1Th 3:10 ; 1Th 3:13 ) does not mean that Paul thought the Thessalonians would be kept sinless during the brief interval till the parousia (so Wernle, der Christ u. die Snde bei Paulus , 25 32); probably no occasion had called for any explicit teaching on this commonplace of faith (1Co 15:3 ; 1Co 15:11 ).
will. App-102.
sanctification. Greek. hagiasmos. See Rom 6:19.
abstain. Greek. apechomai. See Act 15:20.
3.] further specification () of the : see above.
is the subject, not the predicate (as De W.): see Rom 9:8; Gal 3:7; not superfluous, as Pelt, but emphatically prefixed (so Lnem.).
. serves to take up again the . . .
The article may be omitted, because the predicate . . is not distributed (?): but in this case, . would be equally applicable, there being no danger of . being mistaken for the whole will, but rather specifying that which forms part of the will. This explanation is not to be abandoned, as Ellic., on account of the merely occasional omission of the article after a noun substantive, mentioned by Middleton and Ellic.: for the reason of that omission is to be sought rather in logic than in idiom. Rather perhaps should we say that there is in Greek a tendency to omit articles before predicates, even where such an omission cannot be logically pressed.
. . is in apposition with . . . as a locus communis, the will of God respecting us being known to be our sanctification, and then this, sanctification being afterwards specified as consisting in , &c. Therefore must be taken in the most general sense, and that which is afterwards introduced, , &c., as a part of our .
is the objective genitive, of you.
and are not the negative and positive sides of . . as Lnem. and Ellic.,-for the negative comes in again in 1Th 4:5-6,-but the latter ( to , 1Th 4:6) further specifies and ensures the former.
1Th 4:3. , a will) [a thing which God wills]. So ch. 1Th 5:18, without the article. There are many wills, Act 13:22.-) The mark of the subject.- , your sanctification) The word, your [i.e. present sanctification, as contrasted with the past], recalls to the memory of the Thessalonians their former profane condition. Sanctification especially includes chastity.- , from fornication) Exalted Christians as they were, yet they required to be admonished respecting this sin; for the Gentiles had no scruples as to carnal lewdness.
1Th 4:3
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,-All who have entered into Christ, and have thus obligated themselves to serve him are sanctified in him.
that ye abstain from fornication;-No man can be sanctified or consecrated to God who does not restrain all lusts, and direct them in a lawful channel. [The foul and heathenish vice of fornication was prevalent among the heathen and little condemned by public opinion. It was especially the great sin of Corinth, from which Paul wrote, the patron goddess of which city was Venus. The purity of the Thessalonian Christians was imperiled from the condition of society around them, and in many cases from former unchaste habits. The temptations to licentiousness assailing the first generation of Christians were fearfully strong, and Paul in all his Epistles gives urgent warnings upon this subject. The sense of purity had to be created in men gathered out of the midst of heathen corruption.]
this: 1Th 5:18, Psa 40:8, Psa 143:10, Mat 7:21, Mat 12:50, Mar 3:35, Joh 4:34, Joh 7:17, Rom 12:2, Eph 5:17, Eph 6:6, Col 1:9, Col 4:12, Heb 10:36, Heb 13:21, 1Pe 4:2, 1Jo 2:17
your: 1Th 4:4, 1Th 5:23, Joh 17:17-19, Act 20:32, Act 26:18, Rom 6:22,*Gr: 1Co 1:30, 1Co 6:11, Eph 5:26, Eph 5:27, 2Th 2:13, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 1:2
that: Mat 15:19, Act 15:20, Act 15:29, Rom 1:29, 1Co 5:9-11, 1Co 6:9, 1Co 6:10, 1Co 6:13-18, 1Co 7:2, 2Co 12:21, Gal 5:19, Eph 5:3-5, Col 3:5, Heb 12:16, Heb 13:4, Rev 21:8, Rev 22:15,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Lev 15:18 – unclean Lev 20:7 – General 1Sa 21:5 – the vessels Eze 33:9 – if thou Mat 6:10 – Thy will Rom 13:13 – chambering 1Co 5:11 – fornicator 1Pe 1:15 – so 1Pe 2:15 – so
GODS WILL FOR THE CHRISTIAN
This is the will of God, even your sanctification.
1Th 4:3
These nine words have an interest all their own; but taken in their immediate connection, they are truly momentous and soul stirring. In order that we may please God, He will have us like Him. This is the will of God, says the Apostle, even your sanctification.
I. The true nature of sanctification.It is sinful man changed and raised into the image of Eternal Purity! And the transformation is thorough. It takes place in the soul, and can be seen by God only; it is then exhibited in the life, that it may be seen of angels and men. It includes several things
(a) The abandonment of the worldnot the natural world, but the carnal;
(b) The crucifixion of the fleshits vain thoughts, unholy desires, unlovely actions;
(c) The consecration of the entire beingbody, soul, and spirit, to the service of the Divine Master;
(d) The adoption of the law of heaven for the government of the life on earth.
II. The efficient means of obtaining it.
(a) The soul must first be cleansed from all natural impurity; and how and where can this be done? (Isa 1:18; 1Jn 1:7).
(b) The Word of God as well as the Blood of Christ must perform its office in this wondrous change (Joh 17:17).
(c) The Spirit of holiness must operate in unison with the blood of Christ and the Word of God, and apply both to the soul of the believer (2Co 3:17-18).
(d) Prayer must ever ascend heavenward from the altar of the heart that this best and highest work may be divinely carried on, until the journey of life is over and the celestial Paradise is gained.
If this is Gods will concerning us, should it not be our will concerning ourselves?
Illustration
There can be nothing so great and blessed for any creature as to have Gods will perfected in it. Thy will be done is a prayer that pictures to us all struggle and misery at an end, and the sun shining down on a calm and green and fragrant world. Only in holiness are eternal life and blessedness possible. To have the thoughts pure, the life at every point and in all its interests set like music to the words of Gods law, the soul moulded into the image of Christ, that is to have eternal life begun. In the keeping of Thy commandments there is great reward.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
HOLINESS
It is Gods will, the great purpose that He has at heart concerning men, that they should be holy. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. Pardon and all other blessings are a means to this great end. The Great Sculptor would think and plan and labour only for a torso, in room of a statue, without this; the Great Builder would never see the topstone on His chosen temple without this; the Great Husbandman would never taste of the fruit of His vineyard without this. Now, if our sanctificationour growing holiness here and our perfected holiness hereafteris Gods will, then
I. Holiness is a great and blessed consummation.
II. God will spare no pains to create and perfect holiness in a mans soul.He has spared no sacrifice, in that He sent His Son; for it was the very essence and heart of Christs mission to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And still towards and in us He will direct His working to this great end. He will prune His vine, that it may bring forth more fruit. He will hammer the rude block, if need be, by the heavy strokes of that law of His which is both without and within a man, by the loving sternness of His Providence, etc., till the form of limb and feature stand out. He will cut and chisel and polish it till it becomes the fair image of Christ. And as we smart and weep, and wonder at our Heavenly Fathers severity, let us think of the great purpose on which He is bent, and hear in all our Saviour saying, This is the will of God, even your sanctification.
III. We are bound to co-operate with God in this great end.God wills it, exclaimed the Crusaders, and buckled on their armour for the conquest of the Holy Land. God wills it that we should fight and strive and pray for a purer and higher conquest, the attainment of holiness itself. And what a start God gives us in His full forgiveness through Christ! He thereby gives us freedom, gratitude, momentum; and in our whole warfare with sin He gives His Holy Spirit to inspire and direct and sustain. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, etc.
IV. We are assured of success.If it is Gods will, then Gods will must be done. If God be for us, who can be against us?
Illustration
Sanctification means to make holy. In the Old Testament, vessels of silver and gold are said to be sanctified; and it will be quite plain to every one here that vessels cannot be made holy, as dumb unintelligent things, in the same sense as persons. Vessels and other things for the use of the worship of God in Tabernacle and Temple were to be sanctified to God in the first sense of that word, as they were set apart from profane and ordinary to sacred uses. A golden cup may be used for common purposes of drinking, or it may be set apart to be used only in the celebration of the Supper of the Lord. In this case it is separated to holy uses. When, therefore, St. Paul tells us, This is the will of God, even your sanctification, he means that both in our bodies and in our minds we should be separated, not only from the particular evil spoken of by the Epistle, but, in the full meaning of the word, from all evil. As Christians, we are to be set apart from all that is profane, wicked, and ungodly, and to wear the white flower of a blameless life.
Sanctification
1Th 4:3-7; 1Th 5:15-28
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The doctrine of sanctification has been abused, but that does not mean that we should steer clear of God’s message concerning this great definite work in the believer’s heart and life.
There are so many who excuse all kinds of actions among Christians. They seem to think that a Christian, since he is saved by grace, can live any way he may desire, and get away with it.
God never permits us to use “grace” as a leeway for lewdness. He says, “I write unto you, little children, that ye sin not.” The Apostle Paul, on one occasion, said that he had no confidence in his flesh; but he did not mean by that that the new man which was begotten of Christ Jesus was left a dupe to the power and sway of the flesh. The Lord Jesus rather taught that, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” How can he who is dead to sin live any longer therein? The Christian may stumble, and fall, but he has the promise of every victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
1. Sanctification does not mean the improvement of the Adamic nature. The old man, the carnal nature, received by natural birth is corrupt. Its works are described for us in no uncertain terms. Sanctification does not mean that this old man must be cleaned up and beautified.
On the other hand, sanctification is the impartation of a new man which is begotten in righteousness and true holiness.
Sanctification, therefore, is the putting off of the old man, and the putting on of the new. It is the empowerment of this new man by the Holy Ghost.
We heard some one compare sanctification to an egg, which takes twenty-one days to hatch. During the three weeks, this preacher said, there was less of the viscus every day, and more of the chick. We could not accept this statement. Sanctification is not the gradual purification of the old man, but it is the rule and reign of the Spirit in the new man.
2. Sanctification is not regeneration. Regeneration is the creating of a new man, and not the rebirth of the old man. Regeneration, therefore, while distinct from sanctification, certainly paves the way for sanctification. Sanctification recognizes regeneration. It closes its ears to the voice of the old man, and its lusts; it opens its ears to the new man, and its Holy Spirit domination.
It is the purpose of this message to impress the deep Scriptural meanings of the word, sanctification, and also the method by which sanctification may be realized.
I. SANCTIFICATION IS THE WILL OF GOD (1Th 4:3)
Where is he who does not desire the will of God more than anything else which is obtainable in this life? Jesus Christ said on one occasion, “Who is My mother? and who are My brethren?” “Whosoever shall do the will of My Father.”
Epaphras was a mighty man of prayer, and he prayed for the saints that they might stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
It was David Livingstone who said, “I would rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God, than to be anywhere under Heaven out of that will.”
The will of God is widely inclusive, but there is one thing that is distinctly stated: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”
God does not want us to walk in the desires of our flesh. He does not want us to follow after the ways of the world. He wants us to know how to possess our vessels in sanctification and true holiness.
It is the sanctified Christian alone who can give real honor and glory unto his adorable Saviour and Lord.
II. SANCTIFICATION DEFINED (Joh 17:17)
Perhaps the best way to understand any great Scriptural term is to study its use throughout the Bible. When we come to the word “sanctification,” we find that it is used throughout the Bible with one chief purpose. Let me give you a few suggestions.
1. “God * * rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” The word here certainly suggests that He set the seventh day aside from the other days of the week. He hallowed the seventh day because on that day He rested.
2. We read that the Tabernacle was sanctified. The various utensils used in its rites were sanctified. The word here includes their being cleansed; it also suggests that they were set aside for holy and Divine service.
3. Jesus Christ is spoken of as being sanctified. We see this in our text. He was, of course, holy, but the word suggests that, being holy, He set Himself apart in behalf of His people.
4. The Church is spoken of as being sanctified: “That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.” Cleansing is included in the sanctification, but along with the cleansing is the separation of the Church by the Lord unto Himself.
Cramer, in his Greek lexicon, says that the word sanctification comes from “hagios,” which means “clean, free from stain.” He admits, however, that the use of the word carries with it the thought of dedication. Webster’s new International Dictionary says that sanctification means “the state or quality of being sacred or holy.” He also says that it is the act or process of God’s grace by which the affections of men are purified. Webster gives the truth, but not all of the truth, because sanctification, beyond doubt, goes farther than mere holiness or purification.
III. SANCTIFICATION MEANS SEPARATION (2Co 6:17)
To our mind one of the most beautiful Bible definitions of the word sanctification is our present text, in which there are three suggestions:
1. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate.”
2. “And touch not the unclean thing.”
3. “And I will receive you.”
The first call is to separation; the second is to cleansing, and the third is to a dedication, received and accepted of God. Our part is to speak of separation. In the context of 2Co 6:17, the Spirit is asking, “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” He also asks, “What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”
When God called Abram to become His servant He called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. Later on, God called Israel out of Egypt. The message of the whole Bible is the message of the separation of light from darkness, of the saint from the sinner.
God has said, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Again, God said, “Go not in the way of evil men.” Yet again, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
There is no affinity between the Church and the world, nor can there be any affinity between the saint and the sinner. Their lords are distinct and opposite. Their ideals of life are distinct and opposite.
We are not of the world, even as He is not of the world.
IV. SANCTIFICATION MEANS CLEANSING (Isa 52:11)
Hear the thunderous tones of God’s Word: “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.”
God calls for separation, but He calls for more. He calls for cleanliness. He says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” The Apostle could truthfully say, “I know nothing by myself,” yet he added, “Yet am I not hereby justified.”
A clean man, as we understand it, is a man who knows nothing against himself, a man who is not walking in any known sin.
We read in Isa 6:1-13, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the Temple.” Then it was that the Prophet cried, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, * * for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.”
No sooner did the Prophet utter his prayer and plea than an angel touched his lips with a coal from off the altar, and said, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Do you marvel that immediately the Prophet heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
It was thus that David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” and he added, “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.” God demands cleansing of those who would be serving.
V. SANCTIFICATION IS DEDICATION (Rom 12:1-2)
We well remember the old consecration services that were held in our home church in the days of our boyhood. They were monthly affairs, and every month the saints were supposed to reconsecrate themselves to God.
We have no criticism save this: that saints should make their consecration definite and decisive-once for all.
Dedication, or, if you prefer, consecration, is included in sanctification. However, sanctification is a far bigger word than either of the others. The yielded life is a consecrated life. The sanctified life is also a consecrated life, but it is likewise a separated and a cleansed life.
We wonder how many there are who stand ready to bring their all and place it upon the altar. The Bible says that we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. The Bible also says, “Yield yourselves unto God, * * and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
Sometimes we may wonder why our gift is not acceptable unto God. We seek to bring our life, our body, and its members and give them all to Him. Then He seems to say, “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” In other words, God will not receive us, if our lives are entangled in sin, and not separated from the world.
VI. SANCTIFICATION’S GREAT “HOW” (1Th 4:3-4)
We have already learned that sanctification is the will of God. Now, we wish to emphasize that it is also the will of God, that we should know how to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor. A great many persons place all the work of sanctification upon the believer, as though we, of our own selves, could sanctify ourselves.
Our text says, however, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” The next verse adds, “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” We may take up the attitude of separation, but God must perfect it in us. We may stand before the Lord desiring to be clean, but God must cleanse us. We may want to yield ourselves unto God, but God must give us the enabling.
If we would know how to possess our vessel in sanctification and honor, we must know the Spirit’s power in our life.
God has said, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” He has also said that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc.
If we would seek to follow God in the energy of our flesh, we would utterly collapse in the attempt. Our defeat, however, may be turned into glorious victory the very moment that we recognize in Christ the power of the new life, and see in the Holy Spirit the power of that life made effective in us.
Try as we may, and strive as we will, we will still drag with us a body of death, until we have learned that Christ is made unto us sanctification. When we would do good, evil will be present with us. When we would refuse the evil, we will find ourselves bound down to the evil, until we cry out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Remember, beloved, that sanctification is made possible and practical only in the God-empowered life.
VII. SANCTIFICATION MAKES US VESSELS OF HONOR (2Ti 2:20-21)
Our verse tells us that in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
He who would become a servant of the Living God must flee youthful lusts: and “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
When God is looking for a vessel which He may use, He seeks primarily for a vessel that is clean. Whether it be a vessel of gold, or of silver, of wood, or of stone; whether it be a believer with oratorical power, and rhetorical phrases, is not the main thing. These things do not matter so much. However, the vessel must be clean, and the believer must be clean. “For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, * * therefore thy camp shall be holy.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
This story is told of J. Sterling Morton, President Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture: “When Mrs. Morton died her husband had a tombstone erected on her grave, and on that stone he had this inscription: ‘Caroline French, wife of J. Sterling Morton, and mother of Joy, Paul, and Mark Morton.’ Then he took his three sons to the cemetery and as they stood by the grave of the mother of the boys, J. Sterling Morton pointed out the inscription and read aloud: ‘Mother of Joy, Paul, and Mark Morton,’ and then he solemnly said, ‘If any one of you boys ever does anything that would cause your mother grief or shame if she were alive, I will chisel your name off the stone.’ I am glad to say that the newspaper reported that the names were still on the stone.”-The Moody Institute Monthly.
1Th 4:3. The Thessalonians were Gentiles in the flesh, and had formerly lived in the indulgences of carnal pleasure, prominent among them being that of fornication; some even mixed it with their idolatrous exercises. Sanctification is from HAGIOSMOS, which Thayer defines, “consecration, purification.” Act 15:9 says that the hearts of mankind are purified by faith, and Rom 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the word of God. All of this shows that sanctification is the result of hearing (in the sense of heeding) the word of God, thus giving another name for righteousness.
1Th 4:3. For this. The reason why the precepts had been given and were to be kept, was that God desired their sanctification.
The will of God. It is this which God desires and intends when He calls you by the Gospel. What God wills and intends, He also makes provision for: hence the encouragement the Christian has in knowing that all his efforts after holiness are in accordance with that will which accomplishes all it designs.
That ye abstain from fornication. This is the particular virtue in which their sanctification was to be manifested. And here and elsewhere emphasis is laid upon purity of life, because licentiousness was bred in the bone of the converts from heathenism, and fornication was in Greece considered a venial transgression.
This is the will of God, even your sanctification: that is, this is the will of God, eminently and emphatically revealed in his word, that Christians should be holy and pure, chaste and clean: not indulging themselves in those impure and filthy lusts of the flesh, fornication, and all manner of uncleanness, which the Gentiles, who knew not the true God savingly, were addicted to, and, in a most beastly manner, guilty of; but that every one should know how to possess and make use of his body, and all its members, as the vessel and instrument of the soul, in holiness and honour.
Observe here, 1. How the apostle descends from general to particular duties: he exhorted the Thessalonians, 1Th 4:1, in the general, to walk so as to please God; here he exhorteth them in particular, to purity and chastity, both of heart and life, and to watch against all the violent eruptions of concupiscence in their earthly members; teaching us, that the ministers of God must not satisfy themselves with giving general exhortations to a good life, but must treat of particular sins and duties, and endeavour to put men upon the practice of the one, and to reclaim them from the other; thus doth our apostle here.
Observe, 2. The particular duty exhorted to, sanctification; a comprehensive word, and of a large extent; in the general, it consists in a conformity of our natures to the nature of God, and in a conformity of our lives to the will of God.
In particular, sanctification here stands in opposition to all bodily uncleanness, as the next words do plainly shew, that ye should abstain from fornication, that is, all filthiness and uncleanness contrary to chastity; intimating to us, that as there are no sins that human nature is more inclined to, than the lusts of the flesh; so there are no sins that a Christian should more guard against, and strive to mortify and subdue, as being contrary to that purity of nature and life which the gospel directs, and the Holy Spirit assists unto.
Observe, 3. The argument which our apostle here uses to enforce his exhortation to purity and holiness; This is the will of God; ’tis both the command of God that we should be holy, and the will of God to make us holy; now the signification of God’s will ought to be a sufficient inducement to us to desire it, and endeavour after it. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication.
Observe, 4. The remedy prescribed against all bodily uncleanness, and that is, a careful preserving the vessel of the body free from all fleshly pollution, and in that measure of purity and chastity which is suitable to the honour put upon it by God, in being made a temple for the Holy Ghost, That every one should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.
Where note, the title given to our body, it is called a vessel; it is, first, the Spirit’s vessel, he resides in it as in his temple; and accordingly, it seems to be an allusion to the consecrated vessels of the temple, in which a more than ordinary cleanness and purity was found:
Secondly, it is the soul’s vessel, ’tis its vessel or receptacle, in which, for a time, it is preserved; and it is the instrument of the soul, by which it acts and performs its office and function.
Now, it is every person’s, every man and woman’s duty, to possess their body, and to be masters of it, not to be possessed by it, or enslaved to it, but to keep it in subjection to, and as the instrument of, the soul; the body is God’s curious workmanship, ’tis Christ’s precious purchase, ’tis the soul’s receptacle, ’tis the Holy Ghost’s temple; therefore, to be kept holy, pure, and clean, like the consecrated vessels of the temple.
Observe, 5. Our apostle exhorts the Thessalonians, not only to abstain from the outward act of uncleanness, but to mortify and subdue the inward lust of concupiscence, 1Th 4:5, or, as the word signifies, the feverish fit, or violent passion of burning desire, which boileth within, through all the members of the body without.
There is a divine art in the exercise of chastity, and no small skill required to keep a man’s soul and body free from fleshly uncleanness; in order to which, inordinate desires must be resisted, the outward senses guarded, enticing and ensnaring objects avoided, wanton company declined, meat, drink, and sleep, soberly used, our lawful callings diligently followed, the first motions to uncleanness suppressed, prayer to God renewed; and, if these prevail not, marriage, God’s special remedy, holily made use of. Thus may Christians possess their vessels in sanctification and honour, not in the lusts of concupiscence.
God’s Desire for Men to be Set Apart for His Service
Sensual fulfillment was, by the idolatrous people of Paul’s day, considered to be an acceptable goal. Since they did not have a close relationship with God, they gave themselves fully to the pursuit of desires brought on by leaving passion uncontrolled ( Rom 1:24-27 ). Christians, knowing the true God of heaven, could not follow such a course. Sexual immorality defrauds the innocent. By taking advantage of them, the seducer sins against God. Further, other parties, like an innocent mate, can be hurt when one participates in such sins. Certainly, God had avenged such wrongs wrought by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah ( 1Th 4:3-6 a; Gal 6:7-8 ; Col 3:6 ).
1Th 4:3-6. For As we solemnly assured you, and charged you to keep continually in remembrance; this is the will of God, your sanctification That, as God hath chosen us from the rest of the world to be a people dedicated to his honour and service, we should not pollute ourselves with those abominations which are so common among the heathen, but that we should be perfectly holy in heart and life; and therefore, to mention one single branch of the contrary; that ye should abstain from fornication And every other kind of lewdness, so commonly practised among those who are unacquainted with the true religion. This beautiful transition of the apostle, shows that nothing is so seemingly distant, or below our thoughts, but we have need to guard against it. That every one of you should know Should learn and accustom himself to exercise that holy skill; how to possess his vessel His body; for this word in some other passages signifies the body, (1Pe 3:7 🙂 Giving honour to the wife as the weaker vessel. That is, as weaker in body. (1Sa 21:5,) And the vessels, bodies, of the young men are holy. The body was called by the Greeks and Romans a vessel, because it contains the soul, and is its instrument. The apostles meaning may be, Let every man consider his body as a vessel consecrated to the service of God, and let him dread the impiety of polluting it by any vile, dishonourable indulgence whatever, or by putting it to any base use. Or, as some think, by his vessel, he may mean his wife. In sanctification and honour In a chaste and holy manner, answerable to that dignity which God has put upon it by making it his temple. Not in the lust of concupiscence , in the passion of lust; not indulging passionate desires; as the Gentiles The heathen; who know not God To any saving purpose; and are ignorant of that pure and sublime happiness which arises from contemplating, adoring, imitating, and having communion with him. That no man go beyond
The bounds of chastity, or of matrimony; or overreach, as some render ; and defraud Or, exceed toward, his brother, in any, or in the, matter Namely, of which the apostle had been speaking. Beza, Le Clerc, and some others, understand this as a prohibition of injustice in general; but the context seems to determine its meaning to that kind of injury by which chastity is violated. Probably the apostle intended here to prohibit three things; fornication, (1Th 4:3,) passionate desire, or inordinate affection in the married state, and the breach of the marriage contract. Because the Lord is the avenger of all such Will severely punish all such gross misdeeds; as we also have forewarned you, &c. As I formerly testified to you when I preached to you in Thessalonica. For God hath not called us In so extraordinary a manner, and separated us from the rest of the world; to uncleanness To leave us at liberty to defile ourselves with any kind of sin; but unto holiness Of heart and life. He therefore that despiseth The commandments we give by authority from God, and according to his will; despiseth not man Only or chiefly; but God Speaking in and by us; who hath also given unto us Who are his divinely-commissioned teachers; his Holy Spirit To guide us in what we deliver. What naked majesty of words! how oratorical, and yet with how great simplicity! a simplicity that does not impair, but improve the understanding to the utmost; that, like the rays of heat through a glass, collects all the powers of reason into one orderly point, from being scattered abroad in utter confusion!
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication;
4:3 {2} For this is the will of God, [even] your {b} sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
(2) This is the sum of those things which he delivered to them, to dedicate themselves wholly to God. And he plainly condemns all filthiness through lust, because it is altogether contrary to the will of God.
(b) See Joh 17:17 .
2. Sexual purity 4:3-8
This section opens and closes with explicit references to the will of God.
The will of God for the Christian is clear. Positively it is sanctification, namely, a life set apart from sin unto God. Negatively it involves abstinence (self-denial) from all kinds of sexual behavior that is outside the prescribed will of God including adultery, premarital sex, homosexuality, etc. Rather than participating in these acts the believer should learn how to control his or her body and its passions in sanctification and with honor. We should not behave lustfully like Gentiles who do not have special revelation of God and His will. The Greeks practiced sexual immorality commonly and even incorporated it into their religious practices.
"Pagan religion did not demand sexual purity of its devotees, the gods and goddesses being grossly immoral. Priestesses were in the temples for the service of the men who came." [Note: Robertson, 4:28.]
"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." [Note: Barclay, p. 231.]
"Chastity is not the whole of sanctification, but it is an important element in it . . ." [Note: Bruce, p. 82.]
Another less probable interpretation of "possess his own vessel" (1Th 4:4) sees the vessel as the wife of the addressee. [Note: Thomas, p. 271; footnote in NIV.] This view takes ktasthai ("possess") as "acquire," its normal meaning, and skeuos ("vessel") as "wife." The use of skeuos, "vessel," to describe one’s body is more common in Greek writings, and its use to describe a woman or wife is more common in Jewish writings. Elsewhere Paul never used skeuos to describe a wife but gune, "woman." [Note: Martin, p. 125.] He used skeuos of one’s own body elsewhere (Rom 9:22-23; 2Co 4:7; cf. 1Sa 21:5). Ktasthai can refer to one’s treatment of himself as well as his wife.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)