1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 CSB

Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God—as you are doing—do this even more. For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Introduction

So far:

Chapters 1-3: Are Paul Encouraging the Thessalonians (saying they have done these things well), and

Chapters 4-5: Are Paul Empowering the Thessalonians (saying you need to focus on continuing to do these things)

Chapter 4 begins Paul telling Christians what to focus on doing:

1 Thessalonians 4:1–2 CSB

Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God—as you are doing—do this even more. For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

The focus for tonight is answering the question: How do Christians live to please God?

We get the one word answer in the first half of verse 3:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 CSB

For this is God’s will, your sanctification

Sanctification

What do you understand the word sanctification to mean?

Hagiasmos

It comes from the root ἅγιος (hagios), which means “holy” or “set apart.”

The suffix -σμός (-smos) turns it into a process or state.

So hagiasmos literally means “the process of being made holy, or set apart.”

1. Positional Sanctification – Happens at salvation. You are declared holy because of Jesus.

2. Progressive Sanctification – The lifelong journey of becoming holy through obedience, repentance, and the Spirit’s work.

3. Final Sanctification (Glorification) – When Jesus returns or we go to be with Him, and we’re made fully perfect.

Christianity is Event (Positional Sanctification), and then Process (Progressive Sanctification)

How many girls in here, already have many details of their wedding planned? (Pintrest board, saved reels or tiktoks, etc)

A marriage is not just about the wedding, even though sometimes it can seem that way (Event) but about the relationship, (process)

Paint the picture of a wedding with all the details, and then the scenario where the bride and groom go their separate ways and they don’t hang out or talk to each other after

That isn’t how it works, right?! There was a wedding, and now there are all these new things that come from it. Now you have to go on the journey of learning how to live together, how to sacrifice for each other’s benefit, how to spend intentional time together. There was this Event, and now this Process continues where your life starts to look different because of it.

In the same way, you Christian, had an event where you surrendered everything to Jesus, and now you have a lifelong process that we call sanctification, where you are being made holy, or set apart.

“Sanctification means God didn’t just save you to leave you where you were—He’s setting you apart for something more.”

Using the same analogy, when I entered into a marriage relationship, I was called away from certain things, and I was called towards certain things.

Now that I am married, I am called away from flirting with other women. 

And I am called towards loving and cherishing my wife.

Now that you are a Christian - a Christ follower, God has called you away from certain things, and called you towards certain things.

“Sanctification means God didn’t just save you to leave you where you were—He’s setting you apart for something more.”

There are plenty of areas all over scripture where we are called to live certain ways, but tonight we will look at two that Paul specifically tells us in our text.

One thing that God calls us away from, and one thing that God calls us towards.

Called From: Sexual Immorality

1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 CSB

For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

So remember, Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, a group of new believers and he is answering the question: “How do Christians live to please God?”

He tells us the answer to that is to focus on our sanctification. Then he spends the rest of the book telling us how to grow in our sanctification. But he does is using three seemingly random topics: Sex, work, and the end times. Why?

Think of magazines or what article headlines are almost always about, and that falls into a lot of this. If you really stop to think about it, you start to realize these are some really prevalent subjects that encompass a lot of what people spend a lot of time thinking about.

Work - you spend 1/3 of your time doing your job.

End times - People want to know what happens after we die, and how that changes what we do now.

Sex - When I poll our student leadership team on what they want to hear from our sermon series the number two answers are always, 1. Anxiety, and 2. Dating

I don’t have to tell you that sexual immorality is rampant in our culture.

Recently finished reading The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman where he laid out how the culture has been moving further and further away from Christian values involving sexuality. What is normal to us now, would have been nonsense to our parents, and unheard of from our grandparents.

Let’s just break this down verse by verse:

What is sexual immorality?

Paul here is using the word “porneia.” It is a broad term that covers any sexual activity outside of God’s design for sex, which is between one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage.

Premarital sex, Adultery, Prostitution, Pornography, And even lust in thought (see Matthew 5:28)

So, “sexual immorality” isn’t just about what you do physically—it includes your desires and mental engagement too.

Verse 4-5: Holiness = set apart for God. Honor = treating your body and others with dignity, not as objects for gratification. Paul makes a stark contrast between believers and the culture.

The culture follows lust; believers follow the Lord.

The way you live sexually is one of the clearest markers of whether you’re shaped by culture or by Christ.

This doesn’t just mean the only standard is are you sleeping around.

What music are you listening to? What does that music say about the dignity and value of men or women?

What media are you consuming? Is the show you’re watching advertising healthy relationships, or is it focused on damaging sexual encounters?

What language do you use with other people? Are you lifting each other up, or are you in the locker room talking about women with demeaning language?

The way you live sexually is one of the clearest markers of whether you’re shaped by culture or by Christ.

God takes this seriously: verse 6 shows the relational damage of sexual sin.

Sexual sin isn’t just personal—it hurts others (your “brother”), even if it’s “consensual.”

Paul warns: God takes this seriously. He is the avenger—a righteous judge who defends the wronged.

Many think sexual sin is harmless or private, but God sees every act of impurity as a relational wound—against others, yourself, and Him.

Paul circles back to our calling. Verse 7 — “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.” We’re not saved to remain in sin but called out of impurity and into holiness. Holiness isn’t just avoiding bad stuff—it’s living into something better, something higher.

Are you being shaped by God’s calling or cultural pressure?

Paul moves on:

Called To: Love Others

1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 CSB

About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia. But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

How many of you have a job? After Dalton asked me if I’d come speak, he gave me the text, I read it and texted him “You asked me to come speak to your group and talk to teenagers about sex (which is never fun) and work, which most of them won’t care about cause they don’t have a job”

But as Paul moves to his next point of growing in sanctification, he focuses on loving other people. And he makes clear that the Thessalonians already know this, because they have been taught by God!

1 Thessalonians 1:4–6 CSB

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance. You know how we lived among you for your benefit, and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.

When the gospel came to you, the spirit of God changed you from the inside out and teaches you to love people.

But, he urges them to do it more and more.

So you may think if he’s saying you already know this so let me give you more advice, it’s going to be this huge, epic, life changing advice and he says “this is how you love better:”

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you

He says If you want to be a Christian who loves others well: be quiet, mind your business, and get a job.

So it’s not the most passionate text.

What does that have to do with work, and loving others?

He’s saying that when Christians are out in public, they are to be a productive source, not a disruptive source.

A source of blessing, not drama.

When you walk into your classroom, your church, are you a source of life and blessing, or are you a source of discourse and disharmony.

Daniel

Invitation

So you might say this all sounds great. I would love to be someone who does not have any sexual immorality, and is known for being kind to other people. But I’m not sure that I can fully live up to this.

Christian:

How do you live in a way that pleases God? 

Pursuing god, by the power of God, for the glory of God.

Non-Christian:

We can only do these things with God. We cannot do this without him.

Will you rely on God’s strength to help bring you away from sexual immorality?