Self-control or Spirit-control?

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20

“Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

The Gospel has some seeming contradictions.  Salvation as universal (God wanting all to be saved), but exclusive (limited to only those who proclaim Christ as Lord) is perhaps the most interesting contradiction.

The one that used to puzzle me the most, though, was the call to live a Spirit-filled and controlled life as well as a self-controlled life.  It seems odd that God would want me to be in control but also wanting me to let Him be in control.  It seemed to me for the longest that these two instructions could not be reconciled.

But that’s not the case.  Rather than think of Spirit-control and self-control as opposites, it is better if we consider them as two sides of the same coin.  It is necessary to have one in order to have the other.

The Self-Controlled Life

There are many verses that speak on the matter of the self-controlled life (cf. Acts 24:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:6; 1 Peter 4:7, 5:8; 2 Peter 1:6), each of which is stressing that part of the Christian faith is to live a life of self-control.  Peter’s second letter states: “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” (2 Peter 1:5-8) (emphasis added).  From Peter’s list, we see that self-control is a key element of our spiritual growth and effectiveness in living out the Gospel.

But how does one practice self-control if one is to be Spirit-controlled?  As I said, self-control is one side of the coin of living the Christian faith.  The act of self-control is the ability to consciously decide I will set aside my desires and my will in order to let the will of God play out in my life.  Self-control is the ability to say “no” to self in order to say “yes” to God.

There are several New Testament passages that speak to the issue of conscious choices we make each day to let Christ live through us, to grow in Christ.  Romans 12:1-2 speaks of making ourselves a living sacrifice—a conscious decision.  Paul tells the Philippians in 3:7-14 that he makes daily choices to give up the things that were important in the past in order to gain a greater understanding of Christ and the faith life he has been called to live.  He also reminds the Philippians to work out their salvation, another conscious decision (Philippians 2:12).

Each day, we are urged to make the choice to let go of the things that hinder us and turn to Christ (cf. Hebrews 12:1-14). The daily decisions we make can allow us to grow in Christ or it can hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us ((1 Thessalonians 5:19).  The words quoted at the beginning of this passage speaks to some degree of a conscious decision to allow Christ to live through me as I seek to die to self. Think of it as Paul’s alternate way of encouraging us to make ourselves living sacrifices.

We are told in Colossians that we are to set our hearts on things above, to set our minds on the things above (see Colossians 3:1-3).  Later in that same passage, we are told to “clothe ourselves” (Colossians 3:12-17) with the attributes that are similar to Peter’s list in his second letter.  Paul also uses this passage to urge us to consciously choose to 1) bear with each other; 2) forgive; 3) let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts; 4) let the word of Christ dwell in us.

The point is that one of the most significant elements in our daily walk with Christ is the very real awareness on our part that we must take an active part in that walk.  It’s not enough to say to ourselves, “I’m a Christian” and assume that God is going to somehow and someway make us into spiritual giants.  The reason we are called disciples of Christ is because the walk we have with Him is a discipline, and it requires discipline on our parts to want to grow in Him daily.  Part of that discipline is the willingness to set aside my desires in order to discern God’s desires and plans, then let Him put them into practice through me.

How Do We “Do” Self-Control?

It’s one thing to talk about what we should do and what we actually do.  It’s easy to talk about being self-controlled in Christ, but it’s another thing to actually do it. God understands that.  I think that’s one of the reasons He inspired Paul to write Romans 7:14-25.  In this passage, Paul has just spent the majority of Chapter 6 reminding us that we are dead to sin and to Satan, but we are alive in Christ, free to serve Him and walk with Him.

Then comes Chapter 7, and Paul writes, “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members” (Romans 7:21-23).  Paul is writing about the daily struggle between the part of us that wants to God’s will and the sinful nature that still inhabits us through our sinful nature.

And the way we overcome this sinful nature is to be aware of it and make a conscious decision to no longer listen to it.  Sure, there are and will be times when, in a moment of weakness (stress, anger, frustration, depression, etc.) we will indulge that sinful nature.  But the solution to our problem is to hone that gift of self-control that comes from the Spirit of God.

When we look at the fruit of the Spirit, we discover that one element of that fruit is self-control: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a).  As Paul reminds us that God is working in us, transforming us (Romans 12:2) and shaping us into His likeness (Philippians 2:13), He is also giving us the ability to practice the self-control that enables us to be Spirit-controlled.

The other side of the coin is that God is working in us to give us the ability to say no to self and yes to Him.  We can have that confidence that each day as we exercise our conscious decision to follow Him that He is also working in us to be more willing to give ourselves to Him.

As we practice self-control, we need to always keep in mind that our self-control is not some great thing we are doing, but it is God working in us to will and to act according to His good purpose.  It is God making us more like Him as we learn to yield ourselves more to Him.  As we develop this self-control by relying on God more and more each day, we add perseverance, and to that perseverance we add godliness.  We are becoming more and more like Him.  Rather than seeing it as a “Look what I’m doing,” if we are walking in the Spirit, we will be able to say, “See what, by the grace of God, is happening in my life.”

Conclusion

It’s one thing to be a self-made person.  Our American culture takes great pride in such a thing.  But being self-made is not the same as living the self-controlled life that Bible speaks about.  When we learn to consciously decide to yield ourselves to Christ, then we allow His Spirit to take the lead, and the result is that we let our “light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

© 2017 Glynn Beaty