---

by Reverend Adrian Richard Kelly

March 2, 1969

---

Luther has at times been accused of teaching: "Go ahead and sin boldly; just so long as you also believe boldly." Luther did at times employ vivid language, and perhaps he was at times guilty of using extravagant expressions. However, it is certainly a false accusation to accuse Luther or the Lutheran Church of teaching indifference to sin. One needs merely to take a look at the Lutheran Confessions to see this. Article VI of the Augsburg Confession and Article IV of the Apology to the same will quickly show that Lutherans do not believe that it is allowable for a Christian deliberately to sin. In the Smalcald Articles, another of the Lutheran Confessions, which Luther himself authored, we find these words: "Upon such faith, renewal, and forgiveness of sins, good works follow.... We say further also that where good works do not follow, faith is false and wrong." This from Article XIII.

Lutherans believe that the Bible is our only source and norm for doctrine. It serves as our absolute guide in all matters. It does not lie. It bears internal evidence that it is the very Word of God. Our implicit trust in the directives of Scripture demands that the Church of the Reformation emphatically believe in the need for a Christian to fight and avoid sin daily, and to continually strive for growth in holiness. In today’s Epistle we have such A CALL TO HOLINESS.

This call which the Apostle Paul presents here is not directed indiscriminately to all people. It is a call to sanctification, or holiness. This is something of which the unregenerated people of the world, those who have hot been reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit, are not capable. Quite naturally, if one has not made a beginning in something, he cannot progress, or increase, in it. Sanctification is not just the exchange of a few bad habits, for any man who has not entirely undermined his will powers can to some extent change his external behavior. Holiness involves a change in a man's heart in his relation with God. Thus, if a person has not progressed beyond the first step of becoming a Christian, by the working of the Holy Spirit, he cannot have within him one spark of holiness.

That's why Paul starts out in our text by calling those whom he is addressing, "Brethren." Specifically, he is speaking to the people who have been converted, who are now Christians. His words are directed to the Thessalonian Christians, whom he calls "the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." In the text he indicates that they are people who are living so as to please God. They are persons who recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They rejoice in God's goodness and mercy to them through the blessed Redeemer.

Now what Paul said of the Thessalonian Christians could also be said today of the Christians who gather for worship at this church. And what he said to them could also be said to these same Christians here. Further, the nature of what God demanded of the Thessalonians is the same as that which He demands of the Christians present today. This may be summed up in one word, "Sanctification" or as we choose to say, "Holiness." We do of course understand that the word sanctification is used in two senses. In the one, it embraces all that the Holy Ghost does for us, as we recall it in the Third Article of the Apostles' Creed. It involves every part of our being brought to faith and our remaining in faith.

In the sense in which the Apostle uses it in our text, however, it refers to that phase of the Holy Spirit's work by which He incites and directs believers to lead a godly life. This is not a static condition or an inactive state of the Christian, but rather it is a continuous process. It continues on from the moment a person becomes a Christian till the moment on his deathbed when he departs this life. Though it is certainly true that holiness in Christians varies according to the strength of faith, yet no one can ever say "Now I have attained perfect holiness.

The call to holiness involves our response to all of God's Commandments, but in this case, Paul specifically refers us to the matter of sexual purity. Such an admonition was especially in place for it was in this particular area of practical holiness that even the highest pagan morality fell far short of the standard set in Christianity. In the Graeco-Roman world fornication was regarded on about the same level of indifference as food and drink. The pagan attitude toward improper sex relations was very tolerant, with the result that sexual impurity was rampant in the Roman Empire. It was for this reason that the Council of Jerusalem, of which we read in Acts 15, instructed the brethren who were Gentiles to abstain from "meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication." Experience has shown that warnings against adultery were not idle words blowing in the wind, and there is a clear need for Christians today to keep God's precepts concerning this ever before them.

Lest you who are parents think that this matter is an area best left untouched in a public sermon, let me remind you that, perhaps in part because the homes of our land have not done the job they should have done, more and more we are finding the matter sex education introduced into the curriculum of the schools. Now I'm not talking about college or high school courses, but courses on the elementary level of education.

In some cases, these courses may well be good; they may be properly taught and be productive of Christian attitudes. But in too many cases it is a program of sexuality without Christian morality. People talk about the new freedom today, and this carries over directly into this area. Young people are taught that they have a choice and that there are risks involved, but the Christian morality is eliminated. Sexual matters become a game, and when children note the tacit approval of people who should know, they will, in most cases, choose to experiment and pay the price. It's like giving someone a recipe to discourage him from cooking.

God's Word on the Sixth Commandment is clear, but the thinking of many so-called leaders is so warped as to make one think of the sex worship of the ancient Incas or primitive African tribes. As example, Dr. Mary Calderone, head of the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States, spoke to 320 boys at Blair Academy in New Jersey. When a Blair student asked, "What is your opinion of premarital sex relations among teenagers?" she answered, "What's yours? Nobody from up on high determines this. You determine it...I don’t believe... the old 'Thou shalt nots' apply anymore." Numerous examples of this type of thinking can be cited, including some who claim to represent the church. One such, Dr. Joseph Fletcher, says, "For me there are no rules at all., anything and everything is right or wrong according to the situation - what is wrong in some cases is right in others."

Parents, you face a tremendous responsibility. God's call to holiness by abstaining from immorality is meant for all. And woe be to you if by your indifference or poor example, you do not teach your children how a Christian lives in relation to this requirement of God for holiness of living.

Paul's words apply equally well to you young people of junior and senior high school and college age, you who have become acutely aware that it's nice for a boy to be around a girl, and a girl around a boy. He says, "that each one of you know how to take a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God." It is in the normal course of events, and is God's own design, that young men and women should become acquainted with members of the other sex, and ultimately seek to find that special one to be a life partner. Dating and courtship are a part of this process; in fact, it would be considered somewhat unusual if one approaching manhood or womanhood had no friends of the opposite sex. But be sure of Paul's words, that this is to be done in holiness and honor. That’s a tough assignment for you, for we are living in an age when sex indiscretions are not even considered minor sins. Sex is the theme wherever you look, in the novels, the plays, the movies, advertising. Loose views on marriage and chastity are widely spread. When you are in a private situation with someone you think you really love, all this background makes things extremely difficult for you and makes it easy for lustful passion to take over. You do not escape the environment in which you live. Let's face it, it’s hard for you, at a moment like that, to live up to what God expects of you. It's right then that you need to pray for a full measure of the Holy Spirit so that you may cooperate in growing in holiness. Do that and you will never regret it, for you will have an attitude which thinks of marriage as God intended it to be, not simply as an opportunity to satisfy your personal cravings and desires.

Now, you who are already married, did you think that you were left out of all this, that it does not apply to you, since you are already married? Not at all, our text speaks to you just as well as to anyone else. It is not necessary that Paul should add at length what those should do who are already married. It follows quite properly that if a marriage is purified at its beginning, that this purity is not to be lost later on. In all this he is urging the Scriptural legitimate marriage of one man with one woman. Christians are to honor the body as something sacred. When love and reverence for man and woman disappear, they become not sons and daughters of God, but things to be made use of for purely selfish ends. When passion governs, a marriage is headed for difficulties, for with little cause, that passion may cease, and then the marriage is wrecked, or the passion finds another woman or man. As witness to this degeneration of marriage in our modern society, we need only think of the wife-swapping parties of which we have heard in recent years. What would you tell a young person who comes to you with such a story about his or her parents?

Make no mistake about it, our text is a distinct call to holiness of living. It is the will of God that Christians should make progress in this. A true child of God tries to please God. Luther says, "A Christian must walk in his Baptism all his lifetime." As a Christian you must realize that God has no pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with Him. It is His will that everyone whose sins are forgiven should cleanse himself from, and sweep out, those sins that he observes within himself.

This does not come from an enthusiasm within. We cannot keep God's Commandments by our own power. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that we can please God. We pray that He may grant to each of us an increased measure of the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can truly heed the call to holiness. Amen.

 Download this sermon to your device for printing or editing. See usage allowances at page bottom.