Did you know that sanctified means set apart from sin? Separated and set apart from sin. It is the will of God that we be so, and it’s His aim for our lives so the work is all His, you just have to trust Him and count on Him to change that about you, to sanctify you.
1 Thessalonians 4 – Amplified Bible
Sanctification and Love
Please read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2
1Finally, believers, we ask and admonish you in the Lord Jesus, that you follow the instruction that you received from us about how you ought to walk and please God (just as you are actually doing) and that you excel even more and more [pursuing a life of purpose and living in a way that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation]. 2 For you know what commandments and precepts we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
How we walk out this life is important. It pleases God when we live in a way that expresses gratitude to Him for our salvation.
Please read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
3 For this is the will of God, that you be sanctified [separated and set apart from sin]: that you abstain and back away from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from things profane], 5 not [to be used] in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God and are ignorant of His will; 6 and that [in this matter of sexual misconduct] no man shall transgress and defraud his brother because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we have told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness [to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him, whether in public or in private]. 8 So whoever rejects and disregards this is not [merely] rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you [to dwell in you and empower you to overcome temptation].
The will of God is for us to be sanctified which is to be separated from sin, and to be dedicated to Him in our behavior whether in public or in private. This is how we walk close to Him. Even if most of this section was in what not to do or how not to behave.
Yet the will of God for us to be sanctified is clearly stated here.
Please read 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
9 Now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write you, for you have been [personally] taught by God to love one another [that is, to have an unselfish concern for others and to do things for their benefit]. 10 For indeed you already do practice it toward all the [a]believers throughout Macedonia [by actively displaying your love and concern for them]. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, that you excel [in this matter] more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to live quietly and peacefully, and to mind your own affairs and work with your hands, just as we directed you, 12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders [exhibiting good character, personal integrity, and moral courage worthy of the respect of the outside world], and be dependent on no one and in need of nothing [be self-supporting].
Love is the command. Living in a way that shows love to others and is quiet and peaceful while also minding our own affairs. Reread verse 12. That’s why we are to do it for the world outside.
Those Who Died in Christ
Please read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way—by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede [into His presence] those [believers] who have fallen asleep [in death]. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the [b]archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! 18 Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].
Be Sanctified
This section is a favorite one of mine. Let’s break it down.
We don’t grieve as others who have no hope beyond this life.
Jesus died and rose again so God in the same way will bring with Him those believers who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Verse 16, ‘the dead in Christ will rise first’.
For we will all hear the shout of command and the voice of the archangel with the blast of the trumpet. And Jesus will return. Then those dead in Christ (I love how Scripture calls it asleep), will rise first and then those of us still alive on earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air so He will remake us all and maybe earth at that time too. Encourage and comfort one another with these words. Absolute reason to be sanctified. We will see those who have preceded us in faith. Death is not the end for we of faith. There is so much more ahead. Come, Lord Jesus.
Footnotes
[a] 1 Thessalonians 4:10 -all the [a]believers throughout Macedonia – Lit brethren.
[b] 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -the voice of the [b]archangel- Only Michael is identified as an archangel (Dan 10:13; Jude 9).