1 Thess 4.1
Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God
It’s true that there’s nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make him love us less. It is a powerful truth to meditate on again and again — that we are unconditionally accepted by God as his children through the righteousness of Christ.
On the other hand, it’s clear that there is much we can do to please him, and, therefore, also to displease him. God’s pleasure over us, then, IS conditional. Conditional upon how much we live out his will — his will being that we be sanctified (v. 3), for God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (vs. 7). In fact, Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians to do these things more and more. To never stop. To keep stretching and increasing in our capacity to live self-controlled, holy, and loving lives. To never become “weary of doing good” as he told the Galatians (Gal 6.9).
So many people make minimal effort to actually please God, yet claim God’s favor, and feel quite assured of their status as fine christians. They regard any calls to holiness with a scoffing attitude, rolling their eyes. Many christians seem uninterested in the moral vision God has for their lives. There seems to be very few calls for repentance from pulpits. But I think the Apostle Paul would say that this amounts to rejecting the instructions of scripture, and in so doing, rejecting the “authority of the Lord Jesus” (vs. 2 & 8).
A big part of loving someone is doing things that please him. The fight against sin, against sexual immorality, the battle against the body … the struggle to love my brothers … all these efforts are valuable to God. They please him. I think this is a powerful thought to keep in mind as we, with our rebellious flesh, strive toward holiness.
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