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24th September 2006  AM

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – SELF-CONTROL  -  Alastair Currie

Bible reading Gal5:1, 13-26 + Joshua 24:14-18

INTRO

So we have finally arrived at the last segment of the fruit of the Spirit. The first four segments seem to relate to our inherent character which reflects the character of God, in that he is perfect love, joy, peace, and patience. The second four relate to the fruit in relationships. We have seen that through the Holy Spirit we can display kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness towards others just as God shows these attributes in his relationship with humanity. We then come to the final segment – self control. Clearly this is not an attribute of God since he is perfect and unable to sin and hence has no need for self control. We have seen on a few occasions in the past two months that God is slow to anger but this is certainly not the same thing.

WHAT IS SELF CONTROL

But what is self control. The Greek word used by Paul here is “egkrateia”. This is only used in 3 locations in the NT and derivative words a further 3 times. The NIV translates this as “self control” while the KJV translates it as “temperance”. In the latter part of the 19^th and early part of the 20^th centuries there was the Temperance League in the UK. This was involved in teaching the evils of alcohol and aimed at its abolition. So is this the meaning of self control = abstinence. If I asked the man in the street what self control was, I wonder what response I would get. That is taken away from the current context of the fruit of the spirit what would self control mean to the average person. Does it mean refraining from punching somebody in the nose when we are angry? Does it mean not getting frustrated or anxious and losing it? Probably where society would consider this concept most frequently is in the idea of giving up something like cigarettes or alcohol or when it comes to dieting. There are people who would like to quit smoking but can’t. They have tried but just can’t succeed. It doesn’t simply seem to be a matter of saying “No, Gary, No!” To them it is seen as a lack of self control or of will-power. Sure there are some addiction issues with cigarettes but to most people they view their failure as a lack of will power. Is that what Paul is referring to here in this passage? If we have self control through the Holy Spirit that we will be able to stop smoking or stop abusing alcohol or leave that last piece of chocolate cake on the plate? Well let’s explore the meaning and context of this word and see if will power is the right idea for this word.

MEANING

Read the entire book of Galatians if you have the chance to see the context of this passage regarding the fruit of the spirit. In summary, Paul writes to the church in Galatia about the freedom they have in Christ. Judaizers had come to the church and told them that they needed to adhere rigidly to the OT law including circumcision. Paul seeks to explain that that was not the case but rather that Christians have been redeemed for freedom. That they are no longer bound by the law but are free by the spirit. So here we find in chapter 5 of Galatians that Paul points out the way of the flesh ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and 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. He then goes on to explain the fruit of the spirit. So is self control simply the ability to NOT do these acts that reflect a fleshly life. Where we might have the desire for a certain activity but refrain from it. A bit like the idea of willpower when thinking about smoking. NO! Rather we should be known as Christians not by what we don’t do but rather by what we do do. That is we exhibit kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.

SELF CONTROL = CHOICES

Self control is about choices. As people, God has given us freedom to choose. We can choose to follow the desires of the sinful nature or we can choose to follow Christ and aim to become more like our father. A bit like how the song “refiner’s fire” goes that we sometimes sing,

My heart's one desire is to be holy

Set apart for You, Lord.

I choose to be holy,

Set apart for You my master,

Ready to do Your will.

In the OT we find the story of Joshua, the person who led the children of Israel into the promised land after their exodus from Egypt. Just before he dies, as recorded in Joshua chapter 24, Joshua encourages the children of Israel to renew their covenant with God. He says to them   

 ¹⁴ "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

 ¹⁶ Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled. ¹⁸ And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God." (Joshua 24:14-18).

For Joshua to choose the Lord demanded a rejection of the other foreign gods and a life of service to God. But it should be out of a desire to please God. The people chose to serve the Lord because of his nature and faithfulness and kindness towards them. Similarly in this passage in Galatians Paul is urging us not to desire and follow after sinful lusts but to live a life of service worthy of God because this is our desire. But is this possible I hear you say. When we are tempted it is just so easy to give in. In life it is easy to not do something we don’t enjoy and a lot easier to do the things we do enjoy. It is much easier to eat or do what we enjoy and easy to ignore the things we don’t enjoy. What we are now as people is an accumulation of past choices and what we become in the future will be a reflection of our choices and the consequences of those choices. Unfortunately in our modern society this is a message that although said at times is rarely listened to and mostly ignored. For example health promotion messages are given by the relevant authorities but seem to be rarely heeded. People still eat too much, drink and drive, and don’t bother with sun protection in spite of the warnings. We so often try to blame others for the situations we find ourselves in rather than seeing it as our choices that led us to this point in time. The courts are full of people who blame others for their problems. Councils are blamed for not putting signs up pointing out danger when it is obvious to blind Freddie. Doctors are sued because people refuse to follow up on advice. Hotels are blamed for serving alcohol to people who then drive drunk. Ultimately we make our own choices and have to live with the consequences of our actions. As Paul warns us in Romans “the wages of sin is death”. And that is what this word self control points to. We have choices in life and we need to exercise self control to choose the right thing. Through the Holy Spirit, God helps us develop this self control. I have noted earlier that it is easier to do the things we enjoy and ignore the things that we don’t enjoy. But what drives us to do things. There are many psychological explanations that can be provided for this but I like to look at it as the 4Ps. That is purpose, passion, pleasure, and poverty. If there is a long term goal in sight and hence a purpose for certain actions then we will do them. If something is what life is all about, if it is a passion then we will always want to be doing it. If we find something really enjoyable, a pleasure, then we will happily do it. If something is missing in our life and we need it to survive, and hence we are in poverty, we will seek it. For example, the simple act of reading the Bible. If one of the 4Ps exist then we are likely to read the Bible but if not it will accumulate dust on the shelf. Students at theological college will read the Bible because they need to pass their exams. There is a purpose in their action. (I hope if isn’t the only P). For others there is a real desire to communicate with God and they want to spend every moment with him. They have a passion for his word. Some get enjoyment out of reading how God dealt with the people in history and relating this to their own lives. They get a pleasure out of reading the Bible. For others they turn to the Scriptures in need looking for answers to their current problems. They have a poverty that drives them to read. Think why are you at church this morning. Which of the Ps brought you here. Is it easy to miss church? And so Paul writes to the Galatians saying that they once were involved in the acts of the sinful nature since they were driven by their desires. They were involved in these activities because they were fulfilling one of the Ps. The consequences were that “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God”. But rather christians should live a life of victory free from the law living by the spirit and displaying the fruit of the spirit. It is easy to be kind, good, faithful, and gentle if we have purpose, pleasure, passion, or poverty when we act like this. Christians are not a bunch of boring wowsers but a group of people who enjoy serving God and humanity. They should be less driven by desires for the acts of the sinful nature. In the book “A layman’s Guide to the Fruit of the Spirit” by T. David Sustar there is a quote ascribed to Bud Robinson, a well known holiness preacher who was taken to New York by some friends and shown around the sights. In his prayers that night he said “Lord , I thank you for letting me see all the sights of New York. And I thank you most of all that I didn’t see a thing that I wanted”. But it is not just our actions that should change but our way of thinking.

Paul writing in Romans 12:1-2 notes ¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual  act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.    

And again in Philipians 4:8    ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things

As our thinking becomes more in tune with that of God so we will begin to discern God’s will more clearly. As we discern his will more clearly so we will begin to act more in accordance with his nature. So we will display the fruit of the spirit and take much delight in it.

PAULS DILEMMA

However this will not happen overnight. We don’t wake up in the morning holy never wanting to again sin. As the bumper sticker says “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven”. We are not perfect and we will not live a life of pure holiness devoid of wrong actions this side of heaven. The apostle Paul was also well aware of the fact that life is a constant struggle against sinful action. He wrote in Romans 7:14-20.     ¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Therefore, when we sin, and we will, we should not regard ourselves as failures but turn to God and repent and as he promises he will forgive our sins. When we become christians we don’t obliterate our sinful nature but through the renewal of our way of thinking and learning self control from the Holy Spirit we will become more like Christ. We can grow. This growth is a partnership between ourselves and the Holy Spirit. As we allow the Spirit to work with us and change us, so our desires and actions will become more in keeping with God’s nature rather than our sinful nature. And so we have the fruit of the spirit singular. As we become more loving, so we will display more kindness. As we show more kindness we will have more joy and peace. This will cause us to be more faithful and gentle etc. As one facet is grown so all the facets will grow.

I don’t believe it is an accident that Paul lists self control as the final facet of the fruit of the spirit. As we learn and experience self control so we choose to make the right choices. As we learn and experience self control so we choose love over jealousy and hatred. Se we choose joy over factions and envy. We choose peace over discord and fits of rage. Patience over selfish ambition. We seek to choose and display kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness over sexual immorality, drunkenness, orgies, impurity, and debauchery. As the writer of Ps 119 wrote     ³⁰ I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.

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