Paul & the will of God: Anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:8

The second missionary journey was a longer journey than the first and was not without dangers; and while probably in the city of Corinth, where the apostle preached for more than a year, Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians. The Church of Thessalonica had been founded by Paul after passing through Derbe and Lystra in Asia Minor and from there to Philippi, the first Greek city he visited as an apostle. According to the Book of Acts, Paul preached for three Sabbaths in a synagogue in Thessalonica, but then had to flee at night, leaving behind a Christian community with insufficient training.
In his letter, Paul expressed his desire to revisit the community, but to avoid further inconveniences, he sent Timothy, who returned with good news, as he wrote. And Paul, in his letter, highlighted the importance of leading a life of holiness, a holiness that is a progressive and gradual path towards God. In Paul's thinking, a life of holiness is a life dedicated to doing God's will. And Paul highlighted this path as a path linked to spiritual love with these words: "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you" 1 Thessalonians 3:12.
And then the apostle Paul continued his teaching and explained that this spiritual love should serve to avoid sin, and in particular the sin of lust. Because whoever makes sin a habit or a custom cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And so Paul explained God's will for believers in Jesus: "It is God's will that you should be sanctified" 1 Thessalonians 4:3. And Paul addressed this issue in his letter because he was very concerned that new believers in Jesus might return to that worldly life, which is contrary to wisdom, the good judgment, and God's desires.
This is why, to give greater force to his teaching and conclude with the topic of the importance of the purity of life, he concluded his spiritual teaching by warning the believers of Thessalonica with these words: "Anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit" 1 Thessalonians 4:8.

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