Don’ts and Dos and Done

David Bahn-Reflections Podcast

 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. ² For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

³ God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. ⁴ Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— ⁵ not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. ⁶ Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. ⁷ God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. ⁸ Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. ¹⁰ Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.

¹¹ Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. ¹² Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others. – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-13 [NLT]

Whatever you do, don’t touch that red button.

You mean this button? (Not touching it, but putting his finger dangerously close to it)

Don’t touch the red button.

OK. You don’t have to be so touchy.

Don’t. Touch the button.

Later, as K and J are trying to catch an interplanetary villain, K tells J, Push the red button!

Now?!?

Yes. Now…

You want me to push the button now?!?

Push the button now!

I betray my love for a rather shallow movie, Men in Black. But there you have it: a don’t and a do.

Do you have a list of dos and don’ts? Do you follow that list? Do take your vitamins. Don’t eat fried foods. Do exercise. Don’t be a couch potato. Paul, here speaks of some very important and significant don’ts and dos.

He says, “stay away from all sexual sin. ⁴ Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— ⁵ not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. ⁶ Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife…” That’s the don’t. Don’t lose control of your body. Don’t give into sexual temptation. Don’t live like the pagans do. Don’t harm a fellow believer. There was apparently sexual immorality so blatant as to involve outward public actions. Paul knows of this. So must have the others. This is not just a one-off forray, evil and sinful as that is. This is a lifestyle that flagrant and immoral. Scandalous. 

That’s the don’ts. The dos: “show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more. Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.” 

And the reason for this is not so that you’re good enough to be saved. You’re not. Neither am I. But God is gracious enough to save us. And he has. Jesus has come, forgiven our sins, and promised us eternal life. When we sin we repent. But we live this kind of life so that…”people who are not believers will respect the way you live.” We do that so that we might gain the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus with them. And that good news isn’t do or a don’t. It’s a done. It’s all been done by Jesus. And we do need to share that with others.