Articles
For This is the Will of God
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication” (1Thessalonians 4:13).
The phrase “will of God” not only refers to God’s commandments, but also that in which God delights. Also, “We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1). He then proceeds to describe the kind of life in which pleases God.
Man was designed for holy living. He is to exercise self-restraint, abstaining from fleshly passions. God has not called us for the purpose of unclean living, but purity. This is God’s will! This is God’s delight!
The conduct of humanity must grieve God greatly. The history of man and his behavior is not a pretty picture. Sadly, man behaves with lewdness and uncleanness with greediness (Eph. 4:17-19). What an ugly portrait!
Even with man’s history there have always been a few who have faithfully sought to fulfill God’s desires. Though they are not perfect, they are living holy lives that please God. They are a work of beauty in a world of ugliness.
I am blessed to know many of those few individuals. The list includes teenage boys and girls who are keeping themselves from those defilements that are tempting their peers. It includes elderly men who come to the late stages of life full of joy, love, and hope instead of bitterness. And there are elderly women whose bright smile and innocence is a striking contrast to those who have lived the hard life of unrighteousness.
These shine as lights in a world of darkness! In these God must truly take pleasure!
