by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
Paul stayed only a short time in Thessalonica and thus left a fledgling group of disciples in a very ungodly situation. Thessalonica was a rather typical Roman city, with a very loose moral code, and one very far from God’s.<\/p>\n
While many things were permitted and practiced in this city (and across the Empire), Paul could state emphatically:<\/p>\n
“Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 4:1-3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
From the beginning, God’s instruction for sexual intimacy has been in a committed one-on-one relationship, one male and one female, with a complete dedication to being a connected and intertwined unit – the two shall be one. Then Jesus added: “What God has joined together, let man not put asunder<\/em>” (Mark 10:9).<\/p>\n
Yet from the beginning, men have lived in ‘the lust of concupiscence<\/em>‘ (KJV – just because I enjoy the sound of reading it – ESV = “the passion of lust” – NASB95 = “lustful passions). Lust is desire, but that ‘sexual desire’ is to be restrained and limited to the one spouse. This is not a suggestion! This is God’s Will<\/strong>. This is the commandment of the Lord. Our society is no different than Roman society in this regard; we (as a society) have rejected God’s will and made our own moral rules. In this regard, our cultural battle as disciples is not far different from that of these first-century disciples in Thessalonica.<\/p>\n
The encompassing warning for us<\/strong> as disciples: “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:4).<\/p>\n
We are God’s people. We have been set apart from the worldly culture (sanctified). On an individual level, this demands self-control, the reigning of our desires, the changing of our mindset on the relationship within marriage. We are not to be conformed to the cultural moral thinking, but to walk by God’s will. The conclusion of this section: “So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you<\/em>” (I Thessalonians 4:8).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Hugh DeLong Paul stayed only a short time in Thessalonica and thus left a fledgling group of disciples in a very ungodly situation. Thessalonica was a rather typical Roman city, with a very loose moral code, and one very far from God’s. While many things were permitted and practiced in this city (and across…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1572,90,972,156],"class_list":["post-96174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fornication","tag-god","tag-gods-will","tag-lust"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96270,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/its-not-fair-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":96174,"position":0},"title":"It’s Not Fair!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong Text: II Thessalonians 1 It's not fair!\u00a0I thought God loved us! We are striving to follow His instructions! Yet, what we live with is persecution, trouble, and being ostracized by the people! I don't know if that is how I would react if I were one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42038,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-aim-of-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":96174,"position":1},"title":"The Aim of Preaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frank Himmel Churches that are all about numbers gladly alter their activities to accommodate popular demand. While music usually gets special attention, preaching is no less targeted. Perhaps it would be timely to remind us all what God intends preaching to accomplish. Preaching is to Instruct In His wisdom,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/arrow-and-target-203x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58162,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/more-fair-minded\/","url_meta":{"origin":96174,"position":2},"title":"More Fair-Minded","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bryan Matthew Dockens \"Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 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Maybe you are supposed to love the Lord your God enough to check behind every teacher and preacher to see if they are telling the truth, and your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88883,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-apostasy\/","url_meta":{"origin":96174,"position":4},"title":"What Is Apostasy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Pope via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 The word apostasy means, \"1) Abandonment or renunciation of one's religious faith or moral allegiance... 2) By extension, the abandonment of principles or party generally\" [Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1, p. 390].\u00a0It is derived from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46696,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lay-aside-the-old-self\/","url_meta":{"origin":96174,"position":5},"title":"Lay Aside the Old Self","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse Addressing the Christians in Ephesus, Paul wrote:\u00a0\"So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind\"\u00a0(Ephesians 4:17).\u00a0 The apostle begins by aligning his authority with that of the Lord; in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}