20. self control
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Slides to accompany the y GRWP podcast in the series 'The Christian Experience of God - Self Control' found here: http://WelshRev.buzzsprout.com (please allow 24 hours to produce & upload)
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20. self control
- 1. Welcome to Grace Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13
- 2. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction
- 3. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation”
- 4. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation” • Because of all that flows from the PREVIOUS ‘therefore’ v. 1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death … v. 5 “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” v. 11 “… 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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
- 5. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation” • Because of all that flows from the PREVIOUS ‘therefore’ • Because of all that the previous ‘therefore’ FLOWS from
- 6. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation • Interpretation “but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.”
- 7. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation • Interpretation • Revelation – warning “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die” •
- 8. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation • Interpretation • Revelation – warning “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die” • Revelation – promise “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” •
- 9. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation • Interpretation • Revelation – warning “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die” • Revelation – promise “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” • Orientation – led like children “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” • •
- 10. Romans 8:12-14 – self control • Introduction • Observation • Interpretation • Revelation – warning “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die” • Revelation – promise “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” • Orientation – led like children “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” • Conclusion •
Editor's Notes
- In the 1960s, Walter Mischel tested four-year-old children for self-control in "The Marshmallow Test": the children were each given a marshmallow and told that they can eat it anytime they want, but if they waited 15 minutes, they would receive another marshmallow. Follow up studies showed that the results correlated well with these children's success levels in later life Years later Dr. Mischel reached out to the participants of his study who were then in their 40's. He found that those who showed less self-control by taking the single marshmallow in the initial study were more likely to develop problems with relationships, stress, and drug abuse later in life. Reviews concluded that self-control is correlated with various positive life outcomes, such as happiness, adjustment and various positive psychological factors. We’re coming to the conclusion of this section of the Christian Experience of God where we’ve been looking at what the Holy Spirit does to us as He indwells us, and as God’s people actually WALK with Him, and today we’re looking at how God living in you puts self- control in you AS YOU WALK WITH HIM … that last bit is, of course, key to it. Edward Welch, “Self-Control: The Battle Against ‘One More.’” In The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Vol. 19, No. 2, Winter, 2001, p. 30:“As the Hebrews were promised the land, but had to take it by force, one town at a time, so we are promised the gift of self-control, yet we also must take it by force.”AsJohn Piperputs it (http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-fierce-fruit-of-self-control):“The very concept of “self-control” implies a battle between a divided self. It implies that our “self” produces desires we should not satisfy but instead “control.” We should “deny ourselves” and “take up our cross daily,” Jesus says, and follow him (Luke 9:23). Daily our “self” produces desires that should be “denied” or “controlled.” That path that leads to heaven is narrow and strewn with suicidal temptations to abandon the way. Therefore Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24). The Greek word for “strive” is agonizesthe, in which you correctly hear the English word “agonize.”He goes on:“But the Christian way of self-control is NOT “Just say no!” The problem is with the word “just.” You don’t just say no. You say no in a certain way: You say no by faith in the superior power and pleasure of Christ. ” And he helpfully concludes the article like this:“Fundamental to the Christian view of self-control is that it is a gift. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23) How do we “strive” against our fatal desires? Paul answers: “I labor, striving (agonizomenos) according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Colossians 1:29). He “agonizes” by the power of Christ not his own. Similarly he tells us, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live” (Romans 8:13). “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). We must be fierce! Yes. But not by our might. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD” (Proverbs 21:31). And how does the Spirit produce this fruit of self-control in us? By instructing us in the superior preciousness of grace, and enabling us to see and savor (that is, “trust”) all that God is for us in Jesus. “The grace of God has appeared . . . instructing us to deny . . . worldly desires . . . in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12). When we really see and believe what God is for us by grace through Jesus Christ, the power of wrong desires is broken. Therefore the fight for self-control is a fight of faith. “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” (1 Timothy 6:12).” None of that is remotely contestable … it’s absolutely true. And it brilliantly puts the overall Biblical perspective to the three verses we’re looking at briefly here today … which are utterly relevant to our culture which is absolutely addicted to control, but is utterly unable to control its self and justifies such personal indiscipline by saying that it’s wrong that we should do so. Now, that DIRECTLY clashes with the teachings of Romans 8 …
- Moral sense perceives ‘ought’ … we KNOW we have obligations. We have an obligation. Why for?(There’s a ‘therefore’ there, so we’re asking WHY for?)
- The previous ‘therefore’ is found in 8:1 in this glorious verse that we cling to – so often in an utterly un-contextual way! (We’ll come to that!) In the first place please notice that in THIS context Paul is reasoning that there is now (because of the precursors to this conclusion) NOW no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus. There are two camps, each defined by its ‘mind set’ … see v. 5. There’s the line of demarcation … mind set. Is your mind set on what your flesh desires (not just sexual sin but arrogance, self-sufficiency, personal or intellectual pride (all come into Paul’s description of the works of his own flesh in Philippians 3) or alternatively is it set on what the Holy Spirit living in you as a believers desires? Now that’s the demarcation line, but the consequences of being thus demarcated are these: (v. 11) That sounds more like a promise than an obligation? It IS a promise. It is a GREAT & GLORIOUS promise. But the significance of the promise obliges us to live within that promise and those that live within it are those who (v. 5) no longer set their minds on what their flesh desires. On the contrary, they set their minds on what the indwelling Holy Spirit desires. Do you? Because THOSE are the ones who find He gives life t their mortal bodies, because of His Spirit Who lives in them. And that blessing entails responsibility … obligation … to live this way to reap its great benefit and to live this way IN VIEW of the benefit we already have in Him.
- But the idea that we are subject to no condemnation now if we’re in Christ sits in its OWN context, and it’s a fascinating one. The therefore at the start of this chapter arises directly out of the despair, longing and hope of chapter 7. What happens there? Romans 7:21 ff.“I find this law at work: although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Paul is utterly realistic about his nature. But he is also utterly realistic that God is going to deliver him through Jesus His Lord. So his MIND SET is that of a servant of God’s Law, but his remaining human nature still acts like it’s a slave of sin and he wrestles it. But God is going to deliver Him – God’s power at work in him fights back the enemy – and will prevail … which is the CHRISTIAN’s experience of God. THEREFORE there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It is that utter saved-ness from our battles and the reliability of the Spirit we look to for help in our struggles that reinforces the Christian’s sense of his or her moral obligation. We – living in the Spirit by God’s grace – certainly have a moral obligation …
- But that obligation is NOT to the flesh to live by it. Two ways of looking at this: Our sinful human nature tells us that we simply can’t help it, we HAVE to behave like this because its natural and inevitable … we DO NOT HAVE TO LISTEN to that nonsense. We owe this sinful human nature that’s talking NO OBLIGATION. Now this is INCREDIBLY relevant to things that are tearing up the church in our age and are about to bring the wrath of the state down upon us.Our society THRIVES on the idea we’re obliged to live according to our flesh. ‘I can’t help it, it’s the way I am, I have to do this’ ‘ This is ME, I am THIS, I OUGHT to do it’. ‘It is WRONG to say this is wrong, because this is ME.’ Yes we do have moral obligation … but it is a devilish perversion of thought to say that our moral obligation is to do what our flesh tells us … AND THAT’S WHERE OUR SOCIETYISjust now. We have NO moral obligation to live according to our flesh. But Paul is speaking here to believers who should have realised this. I’m persuaded there’s something else going on here too … especially in the light of chapter 7. 2. We aren’t obliged to keep this moral obligation either in the way of the flesh Paul’s previous Pharisaism taught him of. We are obliged to keep this moral obligation walking by grace and in step with the Spirit. There is a sinful world of difference between those two approaches to ‘in church’ moral obligation. Yes, brothers and sisters we have an obligation. But it is NOT to the flesh … to live according to it! There’s a stomping great reason we have REALLY got to get this thing right …
- Two pieces of Biblical revelation elucidate the point … Firstly, if you live according to the flesh you will die. Now we know Biblically, and also from the context of Romans 3, where this argument stems from. So Romans 3:23 goes for it like this:It describes idolatry and its product which is immorality; then it describes religion and its product which is self righteousness and hypocrisy. BOTH of these characterise our times. But then the point couldn’t get made any more clearly (Romans 3:23) ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … and where’s that going to get you? Romans 6:23 “…the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.” Everyone does this by nature. If you carry on living with that mind set you will DIE … which is exactly the point reiterated here. There’s the warning. We live under moral obligation. It isn’t to the flesh to obey it, though. And the warning that goes with this is STARK … just go on the way you’re going and you’ll die. No reprieve. But there’s a promise revealed that runs alongside this very stark revelation …
- Notice this: If you try to put death the misdeeds of your body in the flesh … you fall outside this promise from God. Paul knew that so well because he’d BEEN there. That is exactly the battle ground where Pharisaism had been destroying him. But by putting to death the misdeeds of the body that were killing him, in the way of the Spirit, Paul found the fulfilment of his moral obligations and he found life. By the Spirit … leaning on Him, trusting in Him, entrusting the outcome of his conflicts to the Saviour … walking – let’s face it – with GOD through it … by that means putting to DEATH the misdeeds of the body (noble conflict) then (simply three words) YOU WILL LIVE. This makes it plain we’ve really got to watch where we’re going in life …
- Salvation’s CLEARLY a matter of orientation … the way we’re pointing. We had been led by the Spirit of our sinful nature. We are now led now by the Spirit of God. There’s the demarcation line again laid down in another way, so as to warn of the dangers of religion in particular perhaps? It’s not those who create a huge humanitarian profile, or who get a big religious name for themselves, or wear vestments and uniforms and have titles. It’s those who are LED by the Spirit of God that are the children of God … it’s all about authority and leadership, submission and following. The key to controlling your SELF, which is so much stronger than you alone in a straight fight, is to be LED by the Spirit of God … just like the child of God into which the Father makes His people.The original says: “For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.”
- Jerry Bridges: “Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions. People seldom fall suddenly into gluttony or immorality. These actions are savoured in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality.” It’s THERE, Bridges says, that we must be sure to get to work on them! Self control replaces these weedlings as they break the surface with the leadings of the Spirit of God. Be very careful that you don’t, in defiance of God’s promises, put your disappointments, wounded pride, shattered dreams and other self-focusing considerations onto the throne of your heart … where they will become idols to you. This just leads to resentment, to bitterness and self-pity. Intellectually you may be clear that in all things God works for your good and that nothing can separate you from His love. But in defiance of these God-given promises, you chose to feed your mind on things that dishonour God and destroy your own spiritual health … THAT’s the sort of ground self-control must operate in! Bridges comments: “Keeping a tight rein on our emotions is just as necessary to our godliness as keeping the appetites and desires of our bodies under control.” Self control. We get it from the God Who is absolutely in control of His choices … though not of His ‘self’ in the NT sense because God’s identity is not describable using the word we use for the sinful human ‘self’. It’s the fruit of His Spirit living in us, as we CONTINUE to be led by the Spirit of God.