15 Principles Reinforcing Sanctified Sex – 1 Thess. 4:1-8
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on June 29th, 2009
It is significant that the Apostle Paul chose this topic of appropriate sexual relations as the first practical area to address after his opening section defending his pastoral commitment to the believers at Thessalonica. God has a lot to say on this topic – not surprising since He is the Creator who designed our bodies and understands how we are wired; men and women are wired very differently. [Reference the full commentary and notes on this section.]
First we must understand the immoral conditions that were pervasive back in the culture at that time. We tend to think that our current state of morality is at an all-time low… but a case could be made that things were actually far worse back in Thessalonica:
- a port city with all of the transient problems associated with business and commerce
- no background of Judeo-Christian ethics and restraint
- temple prostitutes associated with false worship of the day
- rampant immorality of all types including blatant homosexuality
[One major difference today is the graphical content so readily available via different media sources like the TV and the Internet.]
Pressing on to Maturity, Part 4: Persevering in Progress – 1 Thess 3:9-13
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on June 14th, 2009
Today we are finishing a four part series from 1 Thess 2:17 – 3:13 about Pressing on to Maturity. The Apostle Paul went to great lengths to defend his ongoing commitment to encourage the new believers at Thessalonica on their pathway to maturity. He wasn’t out to take advantage of them. He hadn’t left town and forgotten about them. He talked about the importance of Family Fellowship; he reminded them of how he sacrificed his own security in sending Timothy to check up on them; last week we looked at his incredible joy over the good report that Timothy had brought back – energizing Paul as he fed on their faithfulness and spiritual stability.
Pressing on to Maturity, Part 3: Feeding on Faithfulness – 1 Thess 3:6-8
Posted by Paul Apple in Christian on June 8th, 2009
This past week has been a flurry of graduation activities – Julie graduating from HS along with her homeschool soccer teammates and then Steve receiving his English degree from Princeton. Graduation is a significant milestone because it means you have successfully passed a large number of tests. Lots of students didn’t make it this far. Think of all of the report cards that you have received down through the years. It started way back in elementary school – simple marks of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. Then it got more defined with letter grades with the ambitious students striving for those A’s. Lately Julie amazes me with grades like 105… How can you get over 100?? I guess it’s like athletes giving 110% effort.