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. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
(1 Thessalonians 4:1-8)
In my converations with youth today, I often remind them (and myself!) that we were not saved by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross just to stay out of hell. That would be "fire insurance". We are saved from sin in order to have an intimate one-on-one relationship with our loving God and Savior! Such a relationship is active and on-going throughout a believer's life; growing closer day-by-day, month-by-month, and year-by-year.
Dr. Charles Stanley says it this way:
"Did you know that God didn't save you just to keep you from hell and get you into heaven? His top priority while you are here on earth is to shape you into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). But at this stage of our sanctification, He doesn't do it all for us. We have a responsibility to cooperate with Him and actively participate in the process. Yet many Christians have a passive attitude about the life of faith. They tolerate sin and smooth it over with the age-old excuse, "Nobody's perfect!"
When you received Christ as your Savior, you took the first step in your walk with Him--a walk that will last the rest of your life."
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