“the Lord is the avenger in all these things…” (1 Thessalonians 4:6)
The Thessalonian congregation was coming out of a very different world – one where idolatry, sexual sin, and lust were commonplace and culturally-acceptable. To treat their bodies with impurity and to objectify others was commonplace.
I imagine Thessalonica’s cultural arguments were similar to the ones we hear today: What’s wrong with sexual freedom if it makes you happy? Shouldn’t folks be free to love whom they want and when they want? Monogamy is so old-fashioned.
There is nothing new under the sun, and all the new arguments for sin are just old ones repackaged, but sin still causes suffering, and the Lord is the avenger of these things. Sexual sin still leads to misery, and uncontrolled lust will always wreak havoc on lives. A society that embraces promiscuity and sensuality also embraces divorce, broken homes, shame, and generational pain.
There is a price to pay for sexual impurity, and the toll is not light.
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites