I am talking about the fruit of self-control. In the King James Version, the word used is temperance. The problem with the word temperance is that over 375 years or more, it has somewhat changed its associations.
In English today, the word temperance is often associated only with abstinence from alcohol. However, the Greek word includes abstinence in every area of our lives. It not merely prohibits excessive indulgence in alcohol, but just as much excessive indulgence in food, that is, gluttony or overeating.
Many American churches, are dead set against drunkenness, but say nothing whatever against gluttony or overeating. And when we see the members of those churches (unless it is hereditary), their physical condition makes it pretty obvious that they haven’t been dwelt with that as a sin.
However, the Bible normally puts drunkenness and gluttony very close together and condemns each equally.
Deuteronomy 21: 18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.
This is how parents under the law were to treat a stubborn and rebellious son.
Notice the charge against this son: he is stubborn and rebellious, a glutton and a drunkard.
Four things are put together: stubbornness, rebelliousness, gluttony, and drunkenness.
The first two, stubbornness and rebelliousness, are aspects of character and are causes-roots, but when the Lord searches our hearts, it goes deeper to seeds sown into our lives in the past.
The last two, that’s gluttony and drunkenness, are aspects of conduct and are results. We need to understand that both gluttony and drunkenness, and almost all forms of overindulgence and addiction, go back to two roots in our character, stubbornness and rebelliousness.
Now under the law of Moses, the penalty for both gluttony and drunkenness, when they expressed stubbornness and rebelliousness, was death. That’s God’s evaluation of those two forms of conduct.
So, we’re going to use the word self-control because of its much wider associations.
Now, many Christians Ignore or do not understand that God expects us to control ourselves. When we confront them with that kind of teaching, their answer is something like this: Well, I thought the Holy Spirit was supposed to control us. Yes, but that’s not the whole truth. The Holy Spirit will control us, but not without the active cooperation of our own will. There comes a time that we make a decision in the will of God to stop or start doing something and he transforms our will in that area.
We cannot do it without the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit will not do it without our laying hold of the provision of Jesus that He is imparting to us.
Philippians 2: 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
The word works in verse 13 is singular; it should be work, which means to be active, efficient, operative, active, to be effective.
The word will in the Greek means to determine, make a decision in his will(it means he puts it in our will, it is in the continuous sense, which means it becomes a mind-set).
The word do in the Greek is energeō, strong numbers this word G1754. Galatians 3: 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and worksG1754 miracles among you.
It means to produce an effect; it is the power of miracles. It means “to put forth power, be operative, to work”
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. The fear and trembling is realizing it is not our power or human ability we trust in. In and of ourselves we are powerless to do what God is calling us to do.
For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
The whole process of salvation originates with God. God works in us. He works in us both to will what is right and to do what is right. But as God works in us, He requires us to work out.
So, we work out and God works in. But the extent to which God works in is limited by the extent to which we work out.
So, the whole process of salvation has two aspects, God’s work, our work. God works in, we work out. This applies particularly to the fruit of self-control. It does not operate without the exercise of our will.
When Paul wants to illustrate what self-control is in the Christian life, he turns to the field of athletics. This is what he says in 1 Corinthians 9: Do you not know that those who are running in a race are indeed all running, but one receives the victor’s crown? Be running in such a manner as the one who won the race, in order that you may obtain the victor’s crown. Everyone who participates in the athletic games exercises constant self-control in all things.
Our modern Olympic Games are based on the Olympic Games that were familiar in the ancient world in the days of Paul.
Paul says, if we put in corresponding effort in our Christian life, if we exercise similar self-control, we will gain a crown that does not fade away.
When we consider all that Paul had achieved in his life and ministry, it should surely both warn us and humble us that he still viewed it as a possibility that he might ultimately be disqualified from the prize if he did not maintain control over his own body.
An athlete’s self-discipline affects every major area of his life. What he eats, what he drinks, the hours he sleeps, the things he reads. A major part of victory in athletics is having the right point of view. It affects his friends and associates. He mixes with people who will encourage him, people who have similar values not people who will distract him or tempt him into pleasures or forms of indulgence that will impede his chances of success. All these principles apply to us as Christians.
Self-control affects every major area of our lives: what we eat, what we drink, the hours we sleep, the things we read, the people we associate with.
Now an athlete’s success depends ultimately on his motivation. He has a specific goal to achieve. He wants to jump just one inch higher than anybody else has ever jumped or do a certain distance just a little faster than anybody else has ever done it. That’s his goal. His goal is his motivation. It’s what enables him to go through with his very rigorous training. The same applies to us as Christians. If we have the right goal, it will enable us to practice self-control. Without the right goal, we will fail.
What should be our goal?
Our goal should be to have every faculty and every area of our lives disciplined and trained to accomplish God’s highest purpose for our live, to be transformed into the likeness and image of Jesus Christ and to fulfill our destiny scroll that was written before the foundation of this world. That’s more than just getting to heaven. If we keep this objective before us, we will be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices that self-control demands.