If you were at
Philippi last Sunday morning you heard Pastor Brad talk about the will of God.
Many people make this will out to be a mystery, which it is not. God’s plans
may be a mystery, but His will is pretty clear. Romans 12:1 tells us that we
can know God’s perfect will (if we present our bodies as a living sacrifice),
so this devotion is adapted from last Sunday morning’s message.
I Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God: your sanctification…” God’s will is not a mystery because this verse clearly tells us that God’s will is for us to be sanctified. What does it mean to be sanctified? Read on. It says, “…that you abstain from sexual immorality; not in passion of lusts like the Gentiles, who do not know God…for God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”
We cannot argue with these verses. God’s perfect will for our lives is that we totally abstain from anything unclean. To fail to do that is to be outside the will of God. But that is not it; let’s look at what Jesus said about those who do not do the will of God.
Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”
So every person must first turn from their sin and turn to God for salvation, for this is God’s will. Then that person will automatically want to stay away from uncleanness because they have been changed. If they do not, they probably have not been changed by God. Have you? Are you doing God’s will?
I Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God: your sanctification…” God’s will is not a mystery because this verse clearly tells us that God’s will is for us to be sanctified. What does it mean to be sanctified? Read on. It says, “…that you abstain from sexual immorality; not in passion of lusts like the Gentiles, who do not know God…for God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”
We cannot argue with these verses. God’s perfect will for our lives is that we totally abstain from anything unclean. To fail to do that is to be outside the will of God. But that is not it; let’s look at what Jesus said about those who do not do the will of God.
Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”
So every person must first turn from their sin and turn to God for salvation, for this is God’s will. Then that person will automatically want to stay away from uncleanness because they have been changed. If they do not, they probably have not been changed by God. Have you? Are you doing God’s will?
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