Sometimes the charges from Saint Paul seem unattainable.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 4.3-8)
Sanctification!? Purity!? Is Saint Paul serious? Clearly he did NOT live in the 21st Century!
Indeed he is serious and whether the 1st or the 21st Century, we have been called to a life of holiness and God has blessed us with the ability to endure the suffering that will come when we commit to this life. Saint Paul says, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2.13-14)
We must not forget that the Comforter has been given to us and that God will never allow any temptation more than we can endure so long as we remain in Communion with Him. (1 Corinthians 10.13)
This is all cause for great joy and hope that we will be saved by God. In the meantime Saint Paul commands us to, “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands.”
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