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Pastor's Blog October 10, 2019
"A Perspective on Holiness"
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First Thessalonians 4:3-4 and 7 offer a provocative perspective on holiness, but they are hard to translate; no two translations of these verses perfectly agree with each other. The reason for this difficulty is the presence of three infinitives ("to be" verbs) in these verses that can be translated three different ways: as an exhortation or invitation, as a command or necessity, or as a simple continuation of the thought.
If this passage is an invitation, then it should be translated, "For this is the will of God: your holiness; let you abstain from sexual immorality; let each of you understand [how] to acquire his own spouse in holiness and honor....For God did not call us over uncleanness, but rather in holiness." The focus here would be an encouragement to abstain from sexual immortality by finding a spouse so you don't fall into sexual sin.
If this passage is a command, then it should be translated, "For this is the will of God: your holiness; you must restrain yourselves from sexual immorality; each of you must learn [how] to possess his own apparatus in holiness and honor....For God did not call us upon uncleanness, but rather in holiness." The stress here would be on the need to fight against lust by learning how to keep your desires and genitalia in check (for both genders!).
If this passage is a simple continuation of a thought from start to finish, then it should be translated, "For this is the will of God: your holiness, to be abstaining for yourselves from sexual immorality, each of you to have seen [how] to own the ship/habitation for his or herself....For God did not call us in uncleanness, but rather in holiness." The idea here is that we need to learn how to joyfully and exuberantly practice sex - and HOLINESS is the context for being a sexual creature.
No matter which translation we choose, holiness and human sexuality are linked, though never in a way that denigrates sex, humans as sexual beings, or sexual feelings. Instead, what is emphasized is that holiness is about the right use of what God has given - a proper education in how to celebrate all of God's gifts, if you will. As we worship God today, let us follow Jesus by staying away from sexual immorality and appreciate how to be sexual beings in the holiness God himself has given us.
God Bless.
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
