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Called To Holy Living
Contributed by Rick Boyne on Jul 13, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: God did not call us to satisfy our pleasures, but has called us to holiness.
Called to Holy Living
July 13, 2025, Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: God did not call us to satisfy our pleasures, but has called us to holiness.
Focus Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
Supplemental Passage: What may we say, then? are we to go on in sin so that there may be more grace? In no way. How may we, who are dead to sin, be living in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2 BBE)
Introduction: Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in '71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn't call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a "genius mind" when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team.
Roger later said, "I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory." Source Unknown.
I. Walk in Obedience to Please God (vv. 1–2)
a. Paul reminds believers they already know how to walk in a way that pleases God because they’ve received instruction.
b. Obedience isn’t optional; it’s essential for a growing relationship with God.
c. We’re commanded not only to make disciples, but to teach them to obey.
i. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB)
d. The Christian life is about receiving truth and passing it on in obedience.
i. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2 NASB)
e. Spiritual maturity is demonstrated through practiced obedience and discernment.
i. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14 NASB)
II. Pursue Holiness as God’s Will (vv. 3–7)
a. Paul clearly states God's will: your sanctification. He highlights sexual purity as a specific area of holiness.
b. Present your body as a living sacrifice, transformed and set apart.
i. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 NASB)
c. We used to be slaves to impurity; now we must serve righteousness and grow in sanctification.
i. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. (Romans 6:19 NASB)
d. Avoiding sexual immorality isn’t merely moral behavior—it’s an act of worship to a holy God.
III. Rejecting Holiness Is Rejecting God (v. 8)
a. Paul makes a sobering statement: to reject this call to holiness is to reject God Himself, who gives us His Spirit.
b. Neutrality toward Christ is not an option.
i. "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)
c. Obedience is the proof of love for Jesus.
i. "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 NASB)
d. When people reject God’s truth, they fall into impurity and idolatry.
i. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:24-25 NASB)
Application/Invitation: God's call is clear: walk in obedience, pursue holiness, and take His call seriously.
You cannot claim to follow Christ while rejecting His authority over your body, mind, and soul. Let the Holy Spirit examine your heart today. Is there an area of disobedience or impurity, including words, attitudes, or prejudices, that needs to be surrendered? Will you heed God's call to holy living?