1 Thessalonians: KEEP GOING!

"Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more." 1 Thessalonians 4:1

What instruction does the Bible give for those who are mature in the Lord? Many times and in many places, the Bible deals with the believer who is idle, the believer who is doubting, and the believer who is weak. But what about the believer who is strong? Is there further instruction for him in God's Word, or has he "arrived" and has he nowhere else to go? Well, the book of 1 Thessalonians answers that question for us.

The Thessalonian church was a great, faithful, and God-honoring church. In fact, Paul was so proud of this church that he spent 3 whole chapters in his short, 5-chapter book admonishing them and praising God for the evident work of grace in their lives. Yet, Paul knows that they still need encouragement. Though they needed not strong, doctrinal teaching as many of the other churches did to which he wrote, Paul knew that the church could still be edified by his words. Thus, he writes to the church to simply "do so more and more" what they were already doing, specifically in the areas of sexual purity (4:2-8) and love (4:9-10). Amidst a people that was doing good, Paul was thankful for them but didn't leave them off the hook. He encouraged them to do even better.

This is certainly both encouraging and convicting for us today. Many times, I think we "take the day [or perhaps the week, the month, or the year] off" in our Christian walks, as if we've "arrived" at the place where God wanted us in that particular season of our lives. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for Christian rest. The Sabbath principle is one that ought to be observed greatly, for we were created to rest. Yet, that is not what I am speaking of here. "Rest" does not translate into moral relaxation, rather, rest ought to be used to energize us to do the work of the Lord. Nevertheless, let me get back on track here: none of us will ever "arrive" at perfect Christlike-ness on this side of eternity, thus there is always a place to go, always an opportunity to do so "more and more."

For the Thessalonian church, and for us as well, this specifically looked like continuing to follow the Lord's instruction in two specific areas: sexual impurity and love. I find it interesting that of all the topics Paul could have chosen to speak about, he chose these two. Sexual impurity and love. Why these two? Perhaps its because it is the two sins we as humans struggle with the most. Especially in our American, sex-craving culture, we certainly fall into sexual impurities a lot. Though the ultimate sexual sin of adultery may not be present in our lives (though, let us take heed, lest we fall!), the sins of lust and coveteousness abide in our lives way more than they should. Furthermore, how often are we tempted to hate our fellow brother in Christ rather than love him? How often do we go out of our way to love our Christian brother? Surely, though we may be sanctified as the Thessalonian church was, we can all grow in sexual purity and love.

So, let me encourage you today to keep it up. Just because you've "checked the religious box" for today doesn't give you an excuse to slack off on the rest of God's commands. Like I often say, the Christian walk has no "offseason." It's 24/7, 365 days a year. Thus, even for us who are mature in Christ, we must keep going. We must add to our faith more and more each day, striving for the goal of complete Christlikeness (5:23), by which we will see the Lord.