Self-Control

These days, everyone is obsessed with self-control.

This morning we conclude our sermon series with the topic of self-control. Have you noticed how everyone is obsessed these days with self-control? Maybe you are trying to lose weight, exercise more, or curb your spending. Of course there are more grave matters. Maybe you're trying to break an addiction, or perhaps you feel consumed by anger, hatred, greed, or lust. You want this power to say "No" and walk away.

In Genesis 4:7 (NIV) we find the famous words God spoke to Cain after he killed his brother Abel in a murderous rage. "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Genesis 4:7 seems to play like a Nike advertisement. "Just do it! Or it plays like a drug ad. "Just say no! Just master it! Do the right thing! Suck it up." But can we really master our sin?

We spend our lives trying to master our sin. The problem is that sin is too powerful. The Bible even says that we are slaves to sin when we are apart from Christ. Sin is like those Chinese finger traps. The more you try to twist and pull and escape its grasp, the tighter sin's hold becomes. The anger wins, the greed, the sugar, the alcohol, the Krispy Kreme donut, the Taco Bell fourth meal, the nicotine, the caffeine, or your pillow win control.

What does the Bible say about self-control?

What would you say if I told you that the Bible never speaks of "self" control? No, I'm not joking. I'm serious. The word "self" control that we find in our modern English translations may be a bit misleading. In the Greek language (from which all English translations come) there is absolutely no mention of "self" as in "self" control. In fact, your older translations of the Bible such as the King James Version and the American Standard Version, use a different word altogether. They use the word "temperance".

Now why does all this matter? It matters because in scripture, self is never the starting point. The Christian isn't called to be under self-rule or self-control. Rather, we're called to be under God's rule, Christ's authority, and Christ's lordship, under the control of the Holy Spirit.

Look back at Galatians 5:16-18 (NIV). "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law."

Christians are to be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

From a biblical viewpoint, you are either under the control of the Spirit of the living God, or you are under the influence of your sinful nature. Notice that the key to self-mastery in these verses isn't really the self at all, but rather the Spirit of the living God. We're to live by the Spirit, and be led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NIV) says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." If we're led by the Spirit the fruit will be, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (temperance)." See Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).

But if we live according to the flesh Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) says, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Over in Ephesians 5:3-4 (NIV) Paul uses different language. He says, "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."

And he continues in Ephesians 5:15-18 (NIV). "Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

When someone drinks alcohol, they come under the control of alcohol. Have you noticed people are never more out of control and living according to the flesh, than when they're drinking alcohol? Prince Harry, perhaps?

The Bible's injunction is to be filled with the Spirit and to be controlled by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13 (NIV) says, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."

2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV) says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

In Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV) God promised, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees."

In John 4:10 (NIV) Jesus tells woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." Instead of being controlled by her lustful passions, she could drink of living water, which is the promised Holy Spirit, and be refreshed.

Speaking of Christ, one of his greatest feats of self-control comes after his baptism by John the Baptist. But what appears to be a feat of self-control isn't really self control at all. Mark 1:10 (NIV) describes how at Jesus' baptism, "...he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove." In Mark 1:12-13 (NIV) he tells us how, "At once the Spirit sent (drove) him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan." Jesus mastered sin not because he was self-controlled, but because he was led by the Holy Spirit. And now that same Spirit lives in us.

Paul's teachings speak of grace and of overcoming the sinful nature by letting the Spirit control.

Consider Paul's teaching in Romans 8:1-4 (NIV). The first four verses speak of grace. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."

The rest of the chapter is about being controlled by the Spirit. Romans 8:5-14 (NIV) continues by saying, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

Peter reinforces Paul's teachings and encourages us to keep in step with the Spirit.

2 Peter 1:3-11 (NIV) says, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "

The fruit of the Spirit does not grow in our lives overnight.

So here we are, standing at the finish line of another series of messages. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This kind of fruit doesn't grow in our lives overnight, nor does grow in a single season.

If you are a new believer, you are like an apple seed. The moment an apple seed germinates, a miraculous kind of power is unleashed. It's shell gives way as new life emerges. Roots form. It begins stretching toward the light. It begins receiving grace upon grace-- water, nutrients, and warmth.

But it takes years for that seed to grow from seed, to seedling, to tree, until it ultimately produces fruit. And even after it becomes a tree, it still needs to be nurtured and pruned in order to maximize its fruitfulness. We all have a bunch of growing to do, don't we?

Our journey doesn't begin from deep within self. It doesn't begin with changing our own behavior. It begins by opening ourselves up to receive God's Spirit, just as Christ, just as the Church at Pentecost, just as the Church down through the ages. The Bible says that we become the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in our life! He begins to convict us in regard to sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment. And with conviction comes great power. It's the power to break the grip of sin and death for all eternity.

Let us keep in step with Spirit!