Last Words - almost Part11

Last Words – almost Part 11

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.   (2Pe 1:5-7)  ESVOuch!  SELF-CONTROL ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

ἐγκράτεια, egkrateia:  Thayer Definition:

• self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites).
• This word group takes its sense from the stem krat- denoting power or lordship. Thus enkratḗs means 'having power over all things and the self,' enkráteia means 'dominion over the self or something,' with the nuances of 'steadfastness' and 'self-control' (opposite akrasía), and enkrateúesthai means 'to compose oneself.'  KTD

Note:  For those who follow The Way (Acts 24:14) life is directed by God's command, so there is no place for autonomous self-mastery.  KTD

Sealed with the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, fed on the Word of God and then our willing efforts to conform to their assurance, knowledge and influence

The key here is, “no place for autonomous self-mastery.”

Oh but think of all the books with steps, stages, disciplines and other doings.  Yeah, they’re really good if you want to fail.  NONE of these popular works are worth the match it would take to set them on fire UNLESS you accept that YOU aren’t going to EVER get it done on your own!

This “discipline” is the intentional, determined, supplicatory and humble yielding to and dependence upon the power and promises of God!  PERIOD!  Make all the promises, lists, programs and processes you want – YOU are NOT going to “get ‘er done!”

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Php 1:6)  ESVWhat part of this don’t we “get?”

What about:Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:1-2)  ESV

This does NOT mean that we just sit around and wait.  The word is filled with things we can do – BUT none of these things are to be or can be done effectively APART from the power of God working in us through His Spirit!

WikiP doesn’t do a bad job of helping us here:In its original sense, discipline is systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or any other activity which they are supposed to perform, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order".

What a great picture here!  We must SUBMIT – that’s our discipline and in that submission there are things we can and should do so we might be well trained.

In our culture we have a real hard time with the concepts of King, Kingship, Lord and Lordship.  I mean – well – we dumped our “king,” over 200 years ago.  But we have to do the hard work of accepting that it is NOT the Republic of Heaven but the Kingdom.  Jesus is not our elected leader He is our God anointed Lord.  No votes – sorry.

We have a hard time bowing our knees – maybe we’ll do it in prayer – but outside of that – not gonna happen.

But – our lives in Him must be lived on our knees – in humble, fearful, awesome and submitted supplication to and for Him. 

We really love “doing.”  We’ll make lists, programs, processes – we love to “do.”  It’s the “being” that’s tough.  We have to understand, accept and appreciate that we are His “slaves.”  Yeah – that’s a tough one but what do you call someone who has been purchased?  John MacArthur has written a good book dealing with this topic - Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ. For our “doing” to be efficacious our “being” has to be in line with the truth.  No amount of AUTONOMOUS SELF - discipline will “get it” – EVER.

The two ends of our “stick’ are submission and rebellion.  Autonomy and autonomous efforts are rebellion.

Now understand – we are gonna have to fight for submission – even if we want it really really bad!  Paul makes that so very clear in Romans.  But he also makes it clear – very – that it is by the Spirit and not the Law that we can hope to submit and even then it’s gonna be a fight.Holy Spirit + feeding on the Word + submission (discipline) = good – very good stuff!