帖前四3　神的旨意就是要你们圣别，禁戒淫乱。

　　弗一4　　就如祂在创立世界以前，在基督里拣选了我们，使我们在爱里，在祂面前，成为圣别、没有瑕疵。

　　神的旨意乃是要祂所救赎的人，就是在基督里的信徒，照着祂圣别的性情过圣别的生活，从神以外的事物完全分别出来归给神。为此，神正在全然圣别我们。（帖前五23。）（圣经恢复本，帖前四3注1。）

　　圣别的意思不仅是成圣，分别归神，也是与一切凡俗的不同、有别。只有神与一切不同，与一切有别。因此，祂是圣别的，圣别是祂的性情。祂拣选我们，使我们也成为圣别。神使我们成为圣别的方法，乃是将祂自己这圣别者分赐到我们里面，使我们全人被祂圣别的性情充满并浸透。对我们这些神所拣选的人，成为圣别就是有分于神的性情，（彼后一4，）并使我们全人被神自己所充满。…这使我们全人在神的性情和特性上圣别，像神自己一样。（弗一4注6。）

　　1 Thes. 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication.

　　Eph. 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love.

　　God’s will is that His redeemed people, the believers in Christ, live a life of holiness according to His holy nature, a life wholly separated unto Him from anything other than Him. For this He is sanctifying us wholly (1 Thes. 5:23). (1 Thes. 4:3, footnote 1)

　　Holy means not only sanctified, separated unto God, but also different, distinct, from everything that is common. Only God is different, distinct, from all things. Hence, He is holy; holiness is His nature. He chose us that we should be holy. He makes us holy by imparting Himself, the Holy One, into our being, that our whole being may be permeated and saturated with His holy nature. For us, God’s chosen ones, to be holy is to partake of God’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and to have our whole being permeated with God Himself….This makes our being holy in God’s nature and character, just like God Himself. (Eph. 1:4, footnote 3)

　　保罗在帖前四章…嘱咐圣徒要禁戒淫乱这种污秽人的罪。…保罗嘱咐圣徒怎样禁戒这罪？他嘱咐他们要用成为圣别的方式禁戒淫乱。他首先告诉他们，神的旨意是要我们圣别（或，圣化）。神的旨意是要我们在圣别上得以圣化、蒙保守、被护卫。禁戒淫乱最好的路，就是在神的圣别上得以圣化、蒙保守。

　　保罗在〔这里〕三次用到‘圣别’这辞。他在三节说，神的旨意就是要我们圣别；四节说我们应当晓得，怎样用圣别和尊贵，持守自己的器皿，就是我们的身体；七节说，神本是在圣别中召了我们。按照四节所说，我们应当用圣别和尊贵持守自己的身体。圣别是在神面前，尊贵是在人面前。每个犯淫乱的人，都失去他在人面前的尊贵。在每一个社会里，犯淫乱的人总是受藐视的，他们失去在人面前的尊贵。因此，我们需要保守自己的身体不犯这种罪，而圣别乃是保守我们的路。

　　保罗在五章二十三节总结的话里论到圣别。…我们的全人—灵、魂、体—需要得着圣别。我们需要和平的神圣别我们，不仅在魂与身体里，也在灵里。

　　按照二十三节，我们对于得以全然圣别需要负一些责任。一面，神会全然圣别我们。另一面，我们的灵、与魂、与身子需要蒙保守。虽然神保守我们，但我们需要负一些责任来蒙保守。

　　我们可以将‘蒙保守’看作是既主动又被动的动词。这意思是说，虽然我们是蒙保守的，但我们必须负起责任，主动的蒙保守。因此，‘蒙保守’含示主动和被动的意思。…神的心意是要保守我们，但我们愿意蒙祂保守么？我们可以用给孩子吃药这件事为例，说明我们需要在蒙保守这件事上负责。有时候孩子需要吃药，但他可能不愿意吃。…有时候我们不与主合作来蒙保守，这就逼着主作一些事叫我们降服下来，或是限制我们，使我们接受那些为着我们圣别并蒙保守所需的事物。

　　在帖撒罗尼迦前书这卷论到为着召会生活之圣别生活的书信里，保罗告诉我们，我们全人不同的部分都需要蒙保守。我们的心需要圣别，我们的身体需要在圣别上得蒙保守；至终甚至我们的灵，我们全人最隐密的部分，也需要成为圣别。（帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，二二五至二二七页。）

　　参读：帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，第二十二篇。

　　[In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Paul charges] the saints to abstain from the defiling sin of fornication…. In what way does Paul charge the saints to abstain from this sin? He charges them in the way of sanctification. First he tells them that the will of God is our sanctification. The will of God is that we would be sanctified, kept, preserved, and guarded in sanctification. The best way to abstain from fornication is to be sanctified, preserved, in God’s holiness.

　　In 4:3, 4, and 7 Paul uses the word sanctification three times. In verse 3 he says that the will of God is our sanctification; in verse 4, that we should know how to possess our vessel, our body, in sanctification and honor; and in verse 7, that God has called us in sanctification. According to 4:4, we should possess our body in sanctification and honor. Sanctification is before God, and honor is before man. Every fornicator loses his honor before man. In every society fornicators are despised; they have lost their honor before man. Therefore, we need to keep our body from such a sin, and the way to do so is in sanctification.

　　In 5:23 Paul gives a concluding word concerning sanctification….Our entire being—spirit, soul, and body—needs to be sanctified. We need to be sanctified by the God of peace not only in our soul and body, but also in our spirit.

　　According to 5:23, we bear some responsibility for being wholly sanctified. On the one hand, God will sanctify us wholly. On the other hand, our spirit, soul, and body need to be preserved. Although God preserves us, we need to bear a certain amount of responsibility to be preserved.

　　We may regard the words be preserved as an active-passive verb. This means that although we are being preserved, we need to take the responsibility, the initiative, to be preserved. Thus, be implies something active, and preserved implies something passive. God intends to preserve us, but are we willing to be preserved? We may use the matter of giving medicine to children as an illustration of our need to bear responsibility to be preserved. Sometimes a child may need medicine, but he may not be willing to take it…. Sometimes we do not cooperate with the Lord to be preserved. This forces Him to do certain things to subdue us or restrict us so that we may take in what is necessary to be sanctified and preserved.

　　In 1 Thessalonians, a book on a holy life for the church life, we are told that different parts of our being need to be preserved. Our heart needs to be sanctified, our body needs to be preserved in sanctification, and eventually even our spirit, the most hidden part of our being, also needs to be sanctified. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 189-191)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, msg. 22