Sunday, August 7, 2011

Get More Purer - (My mom would hate the uses of "Purer" - 1 Thessalonias 4-5

My mom was a Junior High English teacher for over 25 years. That was back in the day when you learned to diagram sentences to discover the verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjective, etc. She used to make us to this at home at the dinner table. Especially if we used one of these in an improper manner. So, if I was sitting at the dinner table and told my family that the point of Paul's Words in 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is to get more purer ... it wouldn't matter that I hit a home run theologically. It would only matter to mom that I struck out grammatically. And, I would agree with her. But, in truth, that is what Paul is trying to tell us. He is stating that because God saved us and gave us the power of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us (4:8) that our "sanctification" is a matter of urgency and necessity. He wants us to "excel" in sanctification (killing sin and become pure for God)! (see 4:1 and 4:10) He outlines for them what he means by using the word sanctification in 4:3-7. He uses, as an example of sanctification (I don't think this is meant to be an exclusive list of sanctification issues) sexual areas of our lives. That is a great area to look at in regard to sanctification. He doesn't want us to use our bodies like the unsaved world does in regard to sexual things. This serves as an example of the process of sanctification. He wants us to "excel" even more in that regard. Our sanctification IS the "WILL OF GOD" (4:3). If we refuse to pursue sanctification (purity in our lives) it is walking outside God's will and a "rejecting" of God and His Spirit that dwells within us. We struggle to know what God's will is in our lives and here it is right in front of us ... Sanctification toward purity ... or more planner; get more purer! (Sorry Mom ... I'll diagram that out later today.)

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