How to Live in Order to Please God

Paul begins in chapter 4 by writing, “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. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus” (1 Thess 4:1-2). The NIV reads: “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.”

One of the principal motivations for holiness is the pleasure of God.

• 2 Cors. 5:9, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”
• Cols. 1:10: “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
• Cols. 3:20, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
• 1 Thess. 2:4: “but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
• Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
• Hebs.13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
• 1 Jn. 3:22, “and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”

 Over and over, more than a dozen times in the New Testament, we have this motivation. We ought to be generous. We ought to be godly. We ought to love and live a certain way. Why? Because it pleases God.

We will note three ways in particular whereby Paul instructs them on how to live to please God.

1. A Walk in Holiness Regarding Sexual Morality Pleases God

In our text, Paul introduces all these practical matters with an appeal to continue growing in the Lord. Specifically, we learn: To grow in your walk with the Lord, seek to please Him by learning and obeying His commandments.

Note this phrase in 4:2, “For you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus…” These were not suggestions from the pen of Paul. Although the ESV uses the word instructions, they were commandments from the Lord Jesus, and must be received that way. This is the usual word for the commands given by the officer to his men and is thus a word with a ring of authority.

Yes, it’s true that all of God’s commandments are summed up in the two great commandments, to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40). But those imperatives of Pauls’ letters, 431 of them, are not there by accident; they are there as signposts for our souls to see how we are doing in the deeper process of transformation. They help us; they don’t get in the way. And the Holy Spirit uses the specific commands like “show hospitality,” “don’t use coarse language,” “flee fornication,” and 400 plus others as litmus tests to see whether our efforts at transformation are, in fact, bearing good fruit.

A. The Command to be Sexually Pure – 4:3 – “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;” Paul gave these commands to a first-century Roman culture that was marked by sexual immorality. At this time in the Roman Empire, chastity and sexual purity were almost unknown virtues. Nevertheless, Christians were to take their standards of sexual morality from God and not from the culture.

The ancient writer Demosthenes expressed the view of sex in the ancient Roman Empire: “We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day needs of the body; we keep wives for the faithful guardianship of our homes.”

The Greek word translated sexual immorality (porneia) is a broad word, referring to any sexual relationship outside of the marriage covenant. The King James Version translates sexual immorality as fornication. “Fornication is used in its comprehensive meaning to denote every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.”

Paul's first principle, then, is that heterosexual and monogamous marriage is the only context in which God intends sexual intercourse to be experienced, and indeed enjoyed. The corollary is that it is forbidden in every other context, whether with a heterosexual partner before marriage ("fornication “) or outside marriage ('adultery'), or in a homosexual relationship.

One would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to realize that we live in a sex-mad culture. Pornography is a $55 billion dollar annual business! John MacArthur writes: 'We live in a culture that is indulging itself in every conceivable and inconceivable sexual activity.' Not only is sexual sin tolerated in any form by any one with anyone else at any time, in any place, in any way; more than that, it is advocated, promoted, encouraged, and aggressively marketed through every media we can possibly think of on the basis of freedom of speech.. .whose freedom?

The statistics are truly frightening. According to industry studies, 70% percent of 18–24-year-old men visit pornographic sites in a typical month. These young men represent something like one-fourth of all visitors to pornographic sites on the internet. The next largest group of users are young men in their 20’s and 30’s, 66% of whom report being regular users of pornography….

B. Reasons for the Command to be Sexual Pure

1. Because the Lord is the avenger in all these things – 4:6b: This is the first of four reasons for sexual purity. We can trust that God will punish sexual immorality, and that no one gets away with this sin - even if it is undiscovered. John MacArthur sums up how “sexual sin disregards God; it ignores his holiness; it spurns his will; it defies his commands; it rejects his love; it flaunts his grace; it abuses his mercy. It is disobedient; it is selfish; it is ingratitude; and God will avenge it.”
   
   
2. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness: This is the second reason why Christians should be sexually pure - because of our call. That call is not to uncleanness, but to holiness; therefore, sexual immorality is simply inconsistent with who we are in Jesus Christ.
   
   
3. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God: The third reason for sexual purity is because to reject God’s call to sexual purity is not rejecting man, but God Himself. Despite the petty ways many rationalize sexual immorality, we still reject God when we sin in this way.
   
   
4. Who has also given us His Holy Spirit: This is the fourth of four reasons for sexual purity given in this passage. We have been given the Holy Spirit, who empowers the willing, trusting Christian to overcome sexual sin. By His Spirit, God has given us the resources for victory; we are responsible to use those resources. 

2. A Walk in Harmony Regarding Relational Quality Pleases God - 4:9-10

Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they are "taught by God" to love one another (4:9). Grasping this truth will affect how we relate to all people, including those who seem unlovable.

a. Your Love Will Show - 4:9 – “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,”

b. Your Love Will Go – 4:10a – “for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.”

c. Your Love Will Grow – 4:10b – “But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more,” Because we are progressing continuously in our personal sanctification, our love will always be growing.

3. A Walk in Honesty Regarding Vocational Responsibility Pleases God – 4:11-12

a. You Should Lead a Quiet Life - 4:11a – I think Paul is encouraging the whole community of believers to live restful, quiet lives free from anger, conflict, or hostility.

b. You Should Mind Your Own Business - 4:11b - A person who minds his own business has little time to meddle in the affairs of others. Few things present a more distorted view of the Christian faith than a group of Christians who make it their business to get in everyone else's business.

c. You Should Work with Your Hands - 4:11c - Apparently, some of the new believers in the church misunderstood the doctrine of Christ’s return and gave up their jobs to wait for His coming. This meant that they were supported by other Christians.

d. You Should Make a Difference in Your World - 4:12a – “…so that you may walk properly before outsiders…”

e. You Should Not Take Advantage of Others - 4:12b – “so that you may … be dependent on no one.” Paul's concluding instruction, to "not be dependent on anyone" (4:12), fittingly sums up this section. A church that is a drain onits city is not going to make a positive impact inits city. Lazy, non-working, unproductive, and inconsiderate Christians who depend on others to meet their needs will be doing little to meet the needs of others. Paul's corrective to this kind of lifestyle is straightforward: love each other genuinely, do your work diligently, and live your life purposefully.