Walk Like a Christian

After a few rather long introductory chapters, Paul now gets to the heart of the letter, teaching his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica what he wasn’t able to teach them in person. From 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:22, Paul writes some specific instructions and admonitions.

Instructions and admonitions about how to live.

That word—live (peripateo)—is better translated as “walking.” "Walking” helps us visualize how the Christian life, the Christian walk is to be seen, visibly, as one behaves in a manner worthy of Jesus, that we would walk as Jesus walked.

“Walk Like a Christian” was the title I landed on early this week, and as such, I’ve been humming The Bangels’ “Walk like an Egyptian” all week (Whey oh, whey oh…)

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4. If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word:

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 NIV

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 honorable, 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.

This is the Word of the Lord!

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This morning, I want us to trace Paul’s argument together.

First things first, we need to see that Paul is writing to his brothers and sisters (adelphoi). Carried along by the Holy Spirit, Paul is writing this letter to them because he loves them; they are his family in Christ—brothers and sisters.

What he’s writing is directed toward the entire Christian community there in Thessalonica, not just the men. It’s for the combined church, male and female, young and old.

Paul begins by writing by telling them they need to:

Walk to Please God

These are instructions on how to live in order to please God.

That’s a pretty important topic—how to live in order to please God.

Paul assumes our bodies—our persons—belong to the God of creation…if we believe that God created us, then we remain obligated to do what pleases God. We do not belong to ourselves, and no amount of protest will make it so—a perspective that stands in sharpest contrast to the “ethic of the autonomous self” so popular in contemporary culture.

In other words, what Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 is a working assumption behind what he writes here in 1 Thessalonians.

He writes: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

Paul’s writing to his family, instructing them on how to live so as to please God.

This is something they are already doing—as in fact you are living, Paul writes—but he’s urging them to do so more and more.

Do so more and more. Excel still more.

I believe this is a good word for us in all areas of Christian living, in all the areas of the Christian walk.

The NT authors would say, “Keep serving, keep giving, keep loving, keep praying, keep walking. Do so more and more. Excel still more.”

Paul is instructing his brothers and sisters as to how they, Christians, can walk to please God. He’s not addressing non-Christians to tell them how they can please God. That is an impossibility.

“Without faith, it is impossible to please God...” Hebrews 11:6

The only way to please God is to belong to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. If you are not a believer, you will never—no matter your good deeds, no matter how good a life you try to lead—you will never be able to please Him.

You need Jesus. You need the salvation that is found ONLY in Jesus, and it’s freely offered.

In Christ, His perfect righteousness becomes our perfect righteousness; our sin is transferred to Jesus and Jesus’ innocence is transferred to us. Jesus is what we need to please God.

And then, in Christ, with His strength and the indwelling Holy Spirit, you will be able to please God with your life. In Christ, you will be enabled to walk in such a way that is pleasing to Him.

Walk to Please God.

Walk to Obey God

Paul’s writing to his family, instructing them on how to live so as to please God, and identifies his instructions to them as instructions given by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

That’s the definitive phrase, the operative phrase: by the authority of the Lord Jesus. All of this is written, all of this has its footing on the authority of the Lord Jesus.

That should settle it for us, no matter what we think about what Paul has to say, what he writes here and elsewhere is based on the authority of the Lord.

What’s more, it’s not just His authority (though that should be a-plenty).

These instructions/commandments given by Paul and Silas and Timothy, under the authority of the Lord Jesus, are marching orders for the members of the church.

The word instructions/commandments in verse 2—parangelias—was originally a military word. These are marching orders; our job is to obey.

Ours is too obey and please Him.

Warren Wiersbe writes this:

“Pleasing God means much more than simply doing God’s will. It is possible to obey God and yet not please Him. Jonah is case in point. He obeyed God and did what he was commanded, but his heart was not in it. God blessed His Word, but He could not bless His servant. So Jonah sat outside the city of Nineveh angry with everybody, including the Lord. Our obedience should not be with eye-service, as menpleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

What’s expected is not obedience for obedience’s sake, but obedience that flows from a desire to please God.

Paul’s train of thought is first, walk to please God, and flowing from that, walk to obey God.

It’s the logical progression. Obedience that comes from the heart, obedience motivated by love is the only true and proper obedience.

Paul’s writing to his family, instructing them on how to live so as to please God, identifies his instructions to them as instructions given by the authority of the Lord Jesus, and makes clear that this is God’s will for them.

Paul focuses here—1 Thessalonians 4:1-8—on a single aspect of what sanctification/being made holy encompasses.

Paul’s focus is on sexual morality/immorality.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NIV

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;

The topic of sexual immorality would have been of particular significance for anyone recently converted from pagan culture, in view of the wide range of sexual mores and practices that existed in Greco-Roman society.

Sexual fidelity/faithfulness was demanded of wives (in order to guarantee the parentage of legitimate offspring), and in some circles upheld as a virtue in husbands as well.

Married men regularly participated in “dinner parties” that included sexual services from slaves.

A wide range of pre-marital and extramarital activity was tolerated and occasionally even encouraged.

Young men were often encouraged to be sexually active prior to marriage. Ancient Roman literature contains numerous stories of adulterous males and even some married women who would pursue lovers.

Homosexuality was widely practiced, especially among the Greeks. Cities were famous for their prostitutes, especially cities on major trade routes (such as Thessalonica).

Bringing this passage into our generation is relatively straightforward, for two reasons.

The sexual ethic Paul sets forth here has a theological rather than cultural basis. That is, Paul offers in this passage what may be termed a “theological ethic.”

Paul works from the starting point of his understanding of God.

This theological basis gives a high level of authority to his instructions, because, as he points out in 4:8, anyone who rejects these instructions is not rejecting Paul but God.

It also means that his instructions are transcultural; they are not rooted or grounded in any particular culture or historical circumstances.

The circumstances of the church in the first century and today are relatively similar. Many have noted, of course, the extensive parallels between the sexual license of first century Mediterranean culture and contemporary Western cultures.

Where the Bible is concerned, many people say, “Well, that was written a long time ago. It was a different time.”

Yeah. Well, yes and no. It was a different time (1st Century A.D.), but what happened then is no different that what happens today. It was a different time, true, but it was very much the same. They didn’t have Teslas or TikTok, but they had the same level of sexual sin present in our day.

Just because the Bible was written a long time ago doesn’t mean it’s out-of-date. It’s so applicable, it’ll make your head spin.

It could not be assumed that converts brought with them into the church any common understanding or expectation regarding sexual behavior.

Amid such widespread licentiousness (that is, license to do whatever you want), the church’s pagan neighbors likely thought these Christians strange to refuse such behavior.

Indeed, some members of the church, having participated in such Roman sensuality prior to coming to Christ, likely still felt the addictive pull of such temptations.

This was an area where socialization into the norms of the new community was definitely a necessity.

Paul urges them to:

Walk Differently

Not literally walk funny, but to behave differently, to live differently, to be distinct from the culture surrounding them.

The Thessalonians needed Paul to write to them about this topic in particular. They need to hear from their brother-in-Christ what the Lord’s standards and expectations were.

A Holy God has a standard of holiness for His people.

On the other hand, the Thessalonians lived in a culture where just about anything went.

Against this backdrop, Paul counsels the Thessalonians to avoid sexual immorality, that is porneia, a general term for nearly any type of sexual sin, including prostitution, adultery, fornication, homosexuality.

Porneia—sexual immorality—is an umbrella term; all types of sexual sin are covered by this word.

Jesus uses this word during His earthly ministry:

Mark 7:20–23 NIV

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Some people like to say, “Well, Jesus never specifically mentioned homosexuality or anything about transgenderism.”

Just because Jesus didn’t name them one-by-one doesn’t mean He doesn’t include them. By using this word—porneia, the umbrella term—He’s encompassing the full range of sexual sin: anything outside the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman.

So here Paul: “You should avoid porneia [sexual immorality]. “Each of you,” Paul advises, “should learn to control your own body.”

After Paul says this, he sets up a couple of important contrasts.

He writes in verses 4-5: “Learn to control your body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God.”

And in verse 7: “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

Those are the contrasts. This is how we are to be different.

God’s people—Christians—are to control their bodies as holy and honorable as opposed to passionate lust and God calls His people to live a holy life not to be impure.

The point of the contrast is that we MUST

Walk Differently

God’s people are meant to be different from the peoples around them.

God's standard is different from the world’s standard (be it the 1st or 21st century).

God’s plan for sex, rooted in the creational joys of marriage (e.g., Gen 1:26–28; 2:24–25), had long been revealed.

Paul knew well both the seventh commandment prohibiting adultery (Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18; Rom. 13:9) and the various OT laws condemning fornication, adultery, homosexuality, incest, bestiality, and other forms of sexual immorality (e.g., Lev. 18:6–23; 20:10–21; Deut. 22:13–30).

Paul would also have studied the OT proverbial and prophetic pronouncements against such sexual sins (e.g., Prov. 2:16–19; 6:32; 7:1–27; Jer. 7:9; 29:23; Hos. 4:2; Mal. 3:5).

The early church also knew Jesus’ teaching on such matters (e.g., Matt. 5:27–32; 15:19; 19:9, 18).

The Jerusalem council, aware of the Roman practices surrounding them, directed Gentile believers to abstain from sexual immorality (Acts 15:20, 29; cf. also Heb. 13:4; Rev. 2:14; 22:15).

Thus it is not surprising that Paul frequently instructs believers throughout the Roman Empire to practice sex only in the context of heterosexual marriage (e.g., Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:1–13; 6:9–20; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3, 5; Col. 3:5; 1 Tim. 1:10).

For Paul, sexual activity is not just an inconsequential private moment involving a couple of consenting adults.

On the contrary, sexual activity has an impact on both one’s relationship with God and with other people.

Sexual activity ought to be exercised in a way that is respectful of both—obedient to God, pleasing to God, honoring the other person. This cannot happen outside the confines of heterosexual marriage.

Young people, keep watch where your relationships are concerned. Put some very real boundaries in place; better yet, have your mom and dad set boundaries for you.

Young ladies, until you are married and committed to a man who loves the Lord and loves you; young men, until you are married and committed to a woman who loves the Lord and loves you, let nothing happen that would displease the Lord or be disobedient to what He commands.

Do nothing that dishonors the other image-bearer in the relationship.

The common trend is living together as husband and wife before you fully commit to one another in marriage. We see this across all ages (from young adults to senior citizens who don’t want to lose their individual social security checks).

Bottom line: living together is wrong. It’s sin. It is sexually immoral. It is not “preparing you for marriage”; it’s preparing you for divorce (all the statistics bear this out, even the secular studies).

If you’re living with your boyfriend or girlfriend, even your fiance, you’re being disobedient to the Lord.

You are not walking to please Him. You are living for yourself and your own pleasure, and you’re damaging your future relationships.

For those who are married already, it means faithfulness to one’s spouse, and treating one another with respect and honor. A lifelong commitment, of mutual submission, of steadfast faithfulness.

When we live/walk according to God’s standard of sexuality, we will be seen as different. Maybe even odd by worldly standards.

Our knowledge of God and our respect for others will make us different from people who have no knowledge of God and who are content to take advantage of others for personal pleasure.

Paul’s urging the Thessalonians (and us) to

Walk in Holiness

God’s will for His people is that they are sanctified, made holy, and that they walk in holiness.

How we relate to one another matters. It’s a matter of holiness, of being set apart to God.

Illicit sexual encounters create injury. That is, sex outside the realm of Biblical marriage between one man and one woman, is a form of transgression against the other person.

It’s wrong. There are dire consequences that come from failing to abide by God’s precepts concerning sex.

In marriage, sex is a joyful gift. Outside the marriage of husband and wife, sex brings injury to others as well as judgment.

God avenges those who are injured and judges those who break His righteous law.

The call for Christ’s Church is to abstain from sexual immorality; to be sanctified, made holy. This is God’s will for us.

This is God’s will for us: our holiness, specifically here in the area of sexuality.

The problem is, the church, now and then, faces the challenge of holding a biblical, sexual ethic when people come into the church with no standard or set of expectations regarding sexual behavior.

The church often has a wavering and uncertain voice on the subject of sexuality, if it speaks at all on this topic.

I get it. This is not the sermon I enjoy preaching. I’m just enough of a coward that I would avoid passages like this like the plague, which is the reason I’m committed to preaching through a book of the Bible at a time—all the way through, every sentence, every word.

The church has a wavering and uncertain voice on this, if the church speaks at all.

Contemporary culture, on the other hand, is clear in its message of sexual behavior (“Do what you like. Whatever makes you feel good. It’s your body, your choice.”) and they hammer us with this message through movies, TV, music, books, art.

If I haven’t been clear enough throughout the sermon, let me be clear now: we must abstain from all forms of sexual immorality—porneia—and control our own bodies.

We are to behave differently than those who don’t know God. We are to live holy and honorable lives, to walk as Jesus walked and taught us to walk.

Let it also be said: absolutely everyone is welcome here. No one is prohibited from attending our church.

Every single person will, however, in the course of our teaching and preaching, hear their particular brand of sexual immorality called sin (because it is, not because we say so, but because the Bible says so).

We will call sin “sin” and we will plead and beg and pray for people to repent, to flee from sin, and run to Jesus.

At the end of our text, we read this:

1 Thessalonians 4:8 NIV

8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Those who set aside or reject these instructions are not just rejecting Paul or Silas or Timothy. Those who set aside these instructions aren’t just rejecting human instruction; they are rejecting God.

In other words: Don’t reject this! Don’t reject what God has said. Don’t reject with your life, with your walk, with your body what God is saying.

Walk to please God.

Walk to obey God.

Walk differently.

Walk in holiness—this is God’s will for us, in Christ Jesus, with the help of His Holy Spirit.

It is God’s will that God’s people live in God’s way.

Walk like a Christian.