Christians, stop trying to control other people’s bodies – 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8, Part 3

This week on the blog, we’re studying 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8, and in that passage, Paul’s main theme is that Christians are people who are living more and more to please God. The theological word he uses is that we are to be sanctified. In the previous post, I talk about what “sanctified” means. In today’s post, Paul discusses a very specific area of life in which Christians will be sanctified. Here’s what he writes in verse 3, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality;

The Greco-Roman world of the first century was very sexualized.  Not unlike much western culture in the twenty-first century.  Different, for sure.  But clearly, Paul, is concerned about how these Christians will handle their sexuality. 

The word Paul uses is “porneia,” which is the Greek word from which our English words “porn” and “pornography” are derived.  But Paul is not referring to the contemporary English idea of explicit images or video.  One scholar I researched writes that in Paul’s day, the concept of “porneia” referred to “engaging in sexual immorality of any kind, often with the implication of prostitution.” (Louw & Nida)

When it comes to human sexuality, therefore, Paul says, “abstain from all immoral actions.”  My interpretation of the Bible teaching about human sexuality is that it is to be expressed only in marriage between one man and one woman.  I realize that many disagree with that viewpoint, including some Christians. My purpose in this post is not to debate marriage, but instead to attempt to focus on what Paul says about sexual expression.

Notice the ways Paul describes how to avoid sexual immorality, starting in verse 4.

“Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.”

First control your own body.  So much of contemporary Christian approaches to sexuality are about controlling other person’s bodies.  Telling other people how to act.  Battling our culture to make our culture behave a certain way.  But notice Paul’s focus.  “Control your own body.” I appreciate how Paul says we should focus on ourselves, on our own thoughts, words, and actions.  That is called self-control.

Self-control is one of the Fruit of the Spirit. Notice that the control is described as holy and honorable.  “Holy” has the same root word as “sanctify”.  When we practice self-control, we treat our body as a vessel that is to be set apart for God.  “Honor” carries the idea of respect.  We respect and honor our bodies, because they truly are not our own.  Hopefully when you are borrowing something that someone else owns, you treat it with respect.  Same with your body. 

Self-control means treating our bodies how he would want them to be treated, because he wants what is best for us.  That relates to the food we eat and what we drink. It also relates to exercise, medical check-ups, and good sleep.  It relates to mental and emotional wellness.  And as Paul writes here in 1 Thessalonians 4, we practice self-control sexually. 

Second, Paul says in verse 5 that we avoid passionate lust.  He points out that people who do not know God indulge in passionate lust.  Paul is talking about desire.  Lustful desire is strongly wanting to have that which is not yours to have.  Our culture constantly bombards us with images and ideas designed to attract our desires.  Generally accepted statistics say that the average person sees a couple thousand ads every day.  

I tried to count how many I ads was seeing the other day, and I didn’t make it very long.  There were far too many.  From yard signs, to bumper stickers, to billboards, to buildings, to TV, internet, phone, and so many more.  I fully believe that stat when it suggests we see thousands of ads each day.  All of those ads tap into our desires and want us to indulge our desires. 

Paul writes that followers of Jesus are people who have self-control, who do not indulge in those desires.  Particularly, we have self-control and do not indulge in lustful desire. Men, we work hard at looking at women in the eyes and keeping our gaze right there.

As Paul says in verse 5, we Christians are different because we know God.  Some people do not know God, but we Christians know God. Other people might be okay with indulging their lusts, not Jesus followers.  But why? Assuming the Christian doctrine of creation, why would God create us with inner desires, and then forbid us from acting on those desires?

Is God is a prude who wants to control us?  You hear that kind of argument from time to time.  “Isn’t Christian sexual ethics antiquated and legalistic?  What’s the big deal with indulging our lusts?  It doesn’t matter.  Why do you Christians have to kill the enjoyment of life?” 

Christians disagree with that perspective.  We believe that God’s approach to sexual ethics leads to human flourishing.  We believe that the wonderful gift of intimacy between husband and wife is the best possible way to express sexuality.  But we hold that view with a gracious heart.  We do not become sanctimonious.  We do not try to control other people’s bodies.  We focus on controlling our own.

There is a third way that Paul describes how we should avoid sexuality immorality, and we will learn about that in the next post.

Photo by Lidia Nemiroff on Unsplash