“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.”
I Thessalonians 4:3-4 KJV
God desires our sanctification. Sanctification is a progressive work of divine grace in which the believer is gradually cleansed from the corruption of his old nature, and is presented “unspotted before the throne of God.” How great is that? To stand before God holy and clean. And that is God’s will for all mankind. But the sanctification process cannot begin until a person is quickened by the Holy Spirit of God and made spiritually alive. That “quickening” happens the moment a person accepts Christ into his life.
II Thessalonians 2:13 says, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
It’s God’s will to sanctify each and every one of us, and He does that through His Son, Jesus.
It’s also God’s will that “…ye should abstain from fornication:..” This word is used in Scripture to refer to the sin of impurity between unmarried persons, for idolatry, and for all kinds of infidelity to God. Abstaining from fornication is the first step toward sanctification. “…That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.”
To possess one’s “vessel in sanctification and honor” means that we are to be in control of our bodies in a way that sanctifies and honors them. Sanctify means pure or free from sin, and honor means to respect highly. How can we highly respect our bodies and keep them pure if we engage in fornication?
So what is God’s will for each of His children?
- “Even your sanctification…
- That ye should abstain from fornication…
- That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.”