Few matters roil contemporary sociopolitical waters more than issues related to sex. Sex education, mandatory contraception coverage, abortion, single parenthood, same-sex marriage, divorce…the list goes on. You might think that these issues are modern, that in ancient times, the moral lines were more clearly drawn and more consistently observed. You’d be wrong. In many ways, the first-century social world in which Christianity was born was as polymorphously perverse as our own. One writer, known to classical historians as Pseudo-Demosthenes, stated his culture’s mores this way: “Mistresses we keep for the sake of pleasure, concubines for the daily care of our … Continue reading Sexual Holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)

Ethics consists of three elements: an authoritative rule, a desired outcome, and a manner of life or habit. Each of these elements is present in 1 Thessalonians 4:1–2. As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. The authoritative rule is the easiest element of ethics to understand. Paul, Silas, and Timothy wrote, … Continue reading Ethics as Rule, Outcome, and Manner of Life (1 Thessalonians 4:1–2)