Holiness – Living it Out - 1 Thessalonians

First Thoughts

Societies throughout the world live according to some ‘code’. At a basic level, we acknowledge it every time we drive a car and stop at red traffic lights, go on green, and travel the correct way around a roundabout. We’re aware when the ‘code’ gets broken, by ourselves or by others. Even in today’s so-called ‘secular’ society, where men and women have supposedly shaken off the shackles of religion, people still get upset when someone steals their money, spouse, or parking space. Most people live according to some code, which provides a framework for their life, decisions, and relationships. For Christians, being a follower of Jesus involves much more than changing a few features of our lifestyle here and there. It requires a complete reordering of the whole of our existence in loving service to Christ himself, whose call embraces every area of our lives and every relationship with others.

Read – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honourable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: you should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Focus on the Theme

1. What is one area where you are aware that being a Christian has made a significant difference to your life? What Does the Bible Say?

2. How does Paul’s prayer that their love would increase and that the Lord would enable them to be blameless and holy (3:12-13) prepare us for the concerns of this passage?

3. The words ‘live’ (4:1) and ‘daily life’ (4:12) translate the word ‘walk’. What is it about ‘walking’ that makes it such a good metaphor for the everyday living of the Christian life?

4. In sexual matters, what are some of the ways we might ‘wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister’ (4:6)?

5. How does the call to love one another (4:9-10) relate to what comes before (4:3-8) and what comes after (4:11-12)?

Going Deeper

6. According to what Paul says throughout 4:3-8, what is the motivation for avoiding sexual immorality? How do these reasons compare with the grounds Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20?

7. How does Paul fill out what he says about work in this passage (4:11-12) in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15?

Living it Out

8. Like the Thessalonians, we live in an age of different views about sex and sexual morality. What does sexual holiness look like in today’s world?

9. What might loving your brothers and sisters in Christ (4:9-10) look like in practice?

10. To what extent are the instructions in 4:11-12 significant for Christians in workplaces today?

Prayer Time

As a group, confess any failings to God in these areas, and ask for grace for ongoing struggles.

Perhaps share in twos or threes situations where you are seeking to win the respect of people who don’t know Jesus – at work, at home, in the neighbourhood, at college – and pray for God to enable you to live as those who love God and others.

Give thanks for the amazing privilege of knowing how to please God (4:1), and for his gift of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live holy lives (4:8)