In 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 we are told that the gospel preached by the apostle was not only preached in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit in 1 Thessalonians is revealed as the reality of the gospel preached by the apostles. Verse 6 tells us that the believers accepted the gospel with joy of the Holy Spirit. The gospel was in the Spirit, and the joy with which the believers accepted the gospel was of the Holy Spirit. On the preacher’s side the gospel was in the Spirit, and on the receivers’ side the joy was of the Spirit. If there were no Spirit, there would be no reality of the gospel and no real joy to receive the gospel. If I did not have the assurance that my ministry of the Word was in the Spirit, I would not do it. If I minister the Word outside the Spirit, my ministry is in vain. When I speak in the Spirit, however, it can never be in vain because the Spirit is the reality of my speaking.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 we see that the Spirit is given by God to the believers for sanctification versus fornication. This sanctification is in the Spirit. We may say that the sanctification is to make us holy. We also have to realize, however, what it is to be holy. You may be very moral, very ethical, very pure, very clean, and living for others, but you still may not be holy. To be holy is to be absolutely for God. You may be good, moral, ethical, pure, and kind, but if you are not for God you are not holy; instead you are common. You must be absolutely for God to be holy.
Fornication is to use the body for something other than God, while sanctification is to use the body absolutely for God. Sanctification is versus fornication. No one could commit fornication if they were using their body absolutely for God. We may not commit fornication physically, but spiritually speaking every one of us has committed fornication. The reason for this is because we do not use our being for God but for something else. Spiritual fornication is not using yourself for God. You use yourself for things other than God.
How could we be a person who is not for anything else other than God? Seemingly, this is impossible, but we can do this in the Spirit. When you exchange words with your wife or husband, you have to realize that in principle this is committing spiritual fornication. Your lips, your tongue, and your entire mouth should be absolutely for God. It should not be used for exchanging words with the other party in the marriage life. If you use your mouth for something else other than God, this is spiritual fornication. Your mouth should be absolutely for God and not for anything else. To gossip is a kind of spiritual fornication. The only way to escape this kind of spiritual fornication is to be in the Spirit. When we are in the Spirit, we would never use our mouth to gossip and we would never let our mouth exchange words with the other party in our marriage.
First Thessalonians 4:3-8 is a strong portion of the Word telling us that sanctification in the Spirit is versus fornication. To use our entire being for God is only possible by being in the Spirit. When we are in our mentality, we have many things to gossip about. When we are in our emotions, we are impelled to speak about things other than God. To use our mouth for something other than God is a kind of spiritual fornication, and the only way to be sanctified unto God absolutely is by being in the Spirit.
First Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Before we were saved, we did not have any kind of feeling that someone was moving in us. Since we have been saved, however, it seems that we have someone else within us all the time. Sometimes it may seem that someone is watching over you or “tailing” you. Wherever you go He goes, just like a shadow. Before you were saved you were really alone and nobody was with you. Since you have been saved, though, One is with you all the time. You may like to go to a movie, but someone within you says, “Don’t go.” It seems as if there is always someone around you, above you, behind you, or within you speaking to you. This is the wonderful One, the Savior, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son, as the embodiment of the Triune God, including the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in His humanity and with His human living as the all-inclusive Spirit. This One is the best detective; He knows every detail of your life. Even before you speak a word He knows what you will speak. The Apostle Paul told us not to quench this Spirit. This Spirit makes our spirit burning (Rom. 12:11) and our gifts flaming (2 Tim. 1:6), so we should not quench Him. We need to go along with this Spirit.