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The Fruit of the Spirit Is Self-Control: A Disciplined Life

By Andreas Kostenberger — 5 months ago

The Bible urges us to exercise control over our minds and bodies. We should be deliberate and intentional, and maintain control rather than being controlled and led astray by our passions and desires. What do you and I need to do to get control over that which we currently don’t control?

“The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.” We’ve arrived at the final fruit of the Spirit in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. It’s been a joy and privilege to walk through this list of important character traits in the Christian life with you. The most important bedrock principle in this entire series has been that each one of these attributes is a fruit of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who works in us each of these attributes, and he does so in increasing measure as part of his work of sanctification.
If, as a next step, you’re interested in working through a good book on the Spirit’s sanctifying work, may I recommend my wife Marny’s short but substantive study, Sanctification as Set Apart and Growing in Christ. As you read this book, you will develop a deeper appreciation for our holy God and the way in which he works holiness in us. That said, let’s now tackle the final fruit of the Spirit, which most English Bibles render as “self-control.”
An Interesting Observation
When I recently taught a life group lesson on this passage, I was in for a surprise: The word used for “self-control” in Galatians 5:23 is not the more common term for self-control in the New Testament, sōphrosynē, which Paul uses when writing to Timothy and Titus with reference to women (1 Tim. 2:9, 15; Titus 2:5) as well as older (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 2:2) and younger men (Titus 2:6; cf. 2 Tim. 1:7), but the rare word egkrateia, which occurs in the New Testament only four times.
Apart from Galatians 5:23, egkrateia occurs twice in the virtue list in 2 Peter 1:6 (“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love”; note the reference to the Spirit at 1:4) and in Acts 24:25, where Paul speaks to the Roman governor Felix about “righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.”
Exercising Self-Control
This observation raises a set of important interpretive questions: Why did Paul not use the more common word for “self-control” in Galatians 5:23 but instead employed the rare word egkrateia? And what is the difference in meaning between those two Greek words, both of which English translations render as “self-control”?
The verb form, “to exercise self-control” (egkrateō), is used in two important passages in 1 Corinthians. In 7:9, Paul writes about men, “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” In 7:5, he says a couple should not refrain from sex so Satan won’t tempt them due to their lack of self-control.
And in 9:25, Paul writes, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? … Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. …
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Want to Be a Better Theologian? Realize Your Idiocy.

By Thaddeus Williams — 5 months ago

Great theologians never set out to be the next big name. They set out to make God’s name big. Pursue the true first thing—God’s glory—and you might, but most likely won’t, find some kind of glory in the eyes of men. Pursue self-glory first and you’re guaranteed to miss God’s glory and find your own turned to dust.

I’m blessed to know one of Time magazine’s top 50 living thinkers. He has been my personal mentor for more than 20 years. He’s a die-hard Chiefs fan. He has been a sage through seasons of deep doubt and a friend through bouts of deep anxiety. His name is J. P. Moreland, and he thinks I’m an idiot.
How do I know he thinks I’m an idiot? Because he regularly reminds me. Our office doors at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology are about a first down apart, and we cross paths often. Before you conclude that J. P. belongs on Time magazine’s Top 50 Living Insensitive Jerks list, let me tell you why his regular reminders are a blessing. It’s what G. K. Chesterton sought when he said, “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly . . . [but] Satan fell by the force of gravity.”
If we want to be better theologians, we must take ourselves less seriously to take God more seriously. When it comes to our knowledge of God, we need to realize we’re all idiots.
Realizing Our Idiocy
A good definition of a theologian, then, may be one who realizes what a total idiot he or she is about the deepest things of God yet who seeks to mitigate that idiocy as much as possible by bringing it often to the sacred Scriptures. (Perhaps theology conferences should be called idiot conventions.)
Charles Spurgeon made the point in a sermon when he was just 20 years old: “Theology,” Spurgeon argues, “is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. . . . No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.” There’s something unique about the study of God on account of the sheer magnitude and infinity of its Subject.
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Amber Thurman Died Because Of Amber Thurman

By Samuel Sey — 5 months ago

One of the consequences of taking your baby’s life through the abortion pill is that it might make you lose yours. Therefore if you are abortion-minded, for your baby’s sake—for your own sake, please do not take the abortion pill or pursue any form of abortion. Amber Thurman’s mother says her last words were: “Promise me you’ll take care of my son.”

When Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, Georgia’s heartbeat law went into effect. The heartbeat law bans abortion after the pre-born baby develops a heartbeat, which happens around six weeks into the pregnancy.
Weeks later in August 2022, a woman in Georgia named Amber Thurman wanted an abortion. She was a single mother to a six-year-old son and nine weeks pregnant with twins. Since she couldn’t have an abortion in Georgia, she drove four hours to a North Carolina abortion “clinic.”
However, because of the “clinic’s” busy schedule that day, they gave her a chemical abortion (the abortion pill), instead of a surgical abortion.
A few days later at her home in Georgia, Amber Thurman became severely ill. She vomited blood and passed out. Her boyfriend called for an ambulance and she was sent to a hospital that evening. She was diagnosed with severe sepsis and died the next morning.
Two years later—Kamala Harris, abortion activists, and the media are blaming Amber Thurman’s death on Georgia’s pro-life bill and Christians.
A couple of days ago, MSNBC published an article saying:
“If the Christian right had not had its way at the Supreme Court, Amber Nicole Thurman would be alive today. She would have been able to get the medical care she needed in 2022…The true crime is that Thurman’s life was cut short because of ideologues who for 50 years trumpeted ‘biblical’ values as they sought to make women pay for unwanted pregnancies, even with their lives.”
The author’s hatred for Christianity is clouding her judgment. Amber Thurman didn’t die because of Christians or Georgia’s pro-life laws. She died because people like MSNBC refuse to tell the truth about the abortion pill.
The article said: “It was not Thurman’s legal use of abortion pills that caused her to die. Deaths stemming from the use of abortion pills are exceedingly rare.”
But that is demonstrably false. Amber Thurman’s cause of death is severe sepsis—a common side effect of mifepristone (the abortion pill). The MSNBC article admits that 35% of women who have died from the abortion pill in America developed sepsis before their death.
A study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute says 20% of women who take the abortion pill experience adverse events that send them to the ER. And of the thousands of women in America who suffer these adverse events every year, 75% of them are listed as “severe or critical” cases.
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“Judge Not”

By Kevin DeYoung — 5 months ago

Judge according to the Word of God, yes, but never indulge in self-righteous, hypocritical, hypercritical, prejudiced, merciless judgmentalism. That is never the way of Christ, and it should not be the way of Christians either.

Matthew 7:1 is one of the most needed and one of the most abused statements in the Bible. It is not uncommon to meet people who seem to know only three verses from the Bible: “Judge not” (Matt. 7:1), “God is love” (1 John 4:16), and “Let him who is without sin…be the first to throw a stone” (John 8:7). These people—professing Christians or not—are not really interested in understanding the Bible on its own terms. They are happy to sloganize the Scriptures if it suits their purposes.
Yet just because people can misuse a verse does not give us a reason to throw out that verse. The fact is that Matthew 7:1 is a necessary corrective that many Christians need to hear. If we can first clear away the false claims, we will be in a position to let Matthew 7:1 shape us as Jesus intended.
A Misused Command
So what does this verse not mean? First, “judge not” does not mean that we suspend the rule of law. God has ordained officers in the state (Rom. 13:1–2) and in the church (Matt. 18:15–17; 1 Cor. 5:9–13) to exercise judgment when the members of each institution fail to do what is right. We do not judge in the sense of exercising individual vigilante justice because we trust that God will exercise His justice through the proper authorities (Rom. 12:17–21).
Second, “judge not” does not mean that we turn off our brains. Elsewhere in Scripture, we are warned not to believe every spirit (1 John 4:1). We must be a discerning people, judging with right judgments (John 7:24). There is simply no way that we can read the Bible and conclude that godliness entails accepting everything all the time and affirming everyone no matter what. The same Jesus who preached about not judging also rebuked the church at Thyatira for tolerating false teachers and sexual immorality (Rev. 2:20).
Third, “judge not” does not mean that we suspend all moral distinctions. The Sermon on the Mount does not forbid theological and ethical evaluation. Jesus does not prohibit harsh criticism when necessary. Think about it: the Sermon on the Mount is full of moral judgment. Jesus calls people hypocrites (Matt. 7:5). He tells the people to beware of false prophets (v. 15). Just a few sentences after the command to “judge not,” Jesus expects us to understand (and discern) that some people are dogs and pigs (v. 6). It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I don’t want you to be censorious, but neither do I want you to be simpletons.”
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The Doctrine of God and a Pastor’s Ministry

By Andreas Kostenberger — 5 months ago

By engaging in God-centered preaching and pastoral ministry, we will redirect people’s natural inclination to focus on self and lead them to turn their eyes upward to contemplate and worship a holy, loving, and righteous God.

Pastoral ministry is exceedingly demanding and requires us to tackle a large number of tasks, such as preaching, administration, counseling, and many more. Preaching, in particular, is an enormous challenge and serious responsibility, as pastors must weigh what, when, and how to preach, among many other questions that confront them in their ministry. In the present series, I will discuss ten major doctrines that every pastor should address, starting with the doctrine of God. How does the doctrine of God inform a pastor’s ministry?
Why God Matters
It is hard to think of a doctrine that matters more than the doctrine of God. A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” God is the Alpha and Omega. He is the eternal, infinite, self-sufficient God, one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. God is the Creator, revealed in the Old Testament as Israel’s covenant God who redeemed his people from bondage in Egypt and gave them the law at Sinai. He is the “I am” who is without rivals; there is no other God (Exod 3:14; Isa 45:5).
All creation is oriented toward God. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe and worthy of all glory and praise. Thus our preaching, like our praying, should be theocentric rather than anthropocentric. As Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9–10; cf. Luke 11:2). Jesus’ followers should “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added” to them (Matt 6:33).
7 Truths to Teach about God
Developing a theocentric focus in our preaching is crucial for providing a proper theological framework for our congregation. Starting with God will be vital in helping the people in our church think rightly about God and relate rightly to God. While the following list is far from exhaustive, here are seven suggestions regarding how pastors can help their congregation think more about God and think about God in light of biblical revelation.
1. Consider not merely God’s works, but also his being.
Counteracting our natural tendency to view God from our self-centered human perspective, pastors should consciously seek to redirect and reorient people’s thoughts to God’s person and character, even apart from any of his works. God is an awesome person, a beautiful, majestic being. We cannot fully comprehend our eternal God, but we can pause in wonder at such a glorious, mysterious, infinite being. That’s certainly the right place to start, and to return to often.
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Should Christians Be Sad When a Fellow Believer Dies and Goes to Heaven?

By Derek J. Brown — 5 months ago

Written by Derek J. Brown |
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Christians should grieve over the death of a fellow brother or sister in Christ. It is good and right to feel the weight of sorrow when our beloved fellow Christians are taken home. It is not a grief without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), but it is a grief, even a “sorrow upon sorrow.”

If we are citizens of heaven, awaiting a future of glory and an eternal inheritance—someday to be forever in the presence of Christ and again among our earthly brothers and sisters—then why should we grieve over our brethren who die and go on to heaven before us?
Isn’t it a sign of earthly-mindedness to grieve over such things? Isn’t it unspiritual to be sad when a fellow Christian dies? If so, wouldn’t it then be even more unspiritual for a Christian to rejoice when a fellow brother or sister is healed and allowed to live longer here on earth? The answer to all these questions is a resounding “no.”
To live is Christ and to die is gain.Philippians 1:21
The apostle Paul proclaimed, “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He reminded the Philippians that they were citizens of heaven, someday to receive new bodies like the body of their Lord (Philippians 3:20). Yet, Paul was also grateful to God for sparing his brother and fellow worker Epaphroditus from death. Philippians 2:25-27 explains:
I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus by brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
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Why Are We Scared to Teach Our People Theology?

By Stephen Kneale — 5 months ago

There is nothing stopping the majority of pastors from teaching basic systematics and biblical theology in their churches. Most could have a reasonable stab at historical theology and ecclesiology too. Assuming they’re able to teach the Bible at all, I’d imagine hermeneutics are going to be there too.

One of the great things about believing the Holy Spirit works in God’s people to help them understand the scriptures, and of believing in the perspicuity of the scriptures themselves, is that we ought to recognise all believers are capable of reading and understanding God’s Word. I won’t run through all the caveats (that I’m sure you’re familiar with) about what perspicuity actually means and how we might understand what the scriptures have to say. Let me just leave the bald statement here: all believers ought to be able to understand the scriptures for themselves in some measure.
Most pastors not only believe this, but reckon their job is therefore to show people what the scriptures say, what they mean and how they apply to us. I was talking to someone who was going to be leading a bible study at our church about this. We both recognised you could run any bible study armed only with these three questions: (1) what does this say?; (2) what does it mean?; and, (3) how does that apply to us? Even in our sermons, nothing should really come as a surprise to any of our people as we’re speaking. Everything we say they ought to be able to see in the pages they’re reading.
We tend to recognise that bible study and sermon prep is often much more complicated than it needs to be. I’ve heard more than a few pastors say something similar to what I said above concerning bible study. The emphasis is always on the fact that our people can understand this and they can teach the bible. They’ve convince themselves they can’t and that they need the experts to come and tell them, but the truth is, they can make observations on the text, work out what it means and then apply it too. Most of the time they just lack confidence. Lots of pastors actually spend their time trying to build that confidence in our people, showing them how we do it so that they can do it for themselves. We’re aiming to show them that they can read and understand the scriptures and don’t need the experts to tell them; they have the greatest interpretive expert dwelling inside of them!
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Is Watching Porn a Sin?

By Tim Challies — 5 months ago

As the one who created this world and the people who live within it, God is the one who gets to determine what is a sin and what is not. It doesn’t really matter what you or I believe about it, but it matters an awful lot what God believes about it.

I’m so glad you are asking this question because it’s an important one. Maybe you will find it comforting to know you are not the only one asking it—more people come to this site by searching “Is watching porn a sin?” than any other question.
I think I know what you are hoping for. You are hoping I will say “No, watching porn is not a sin.” You are hoping I will say that because you want to watch it and that answer will give you a little more freedom to indulge in something that tempts you, draws you, and offers you a kind of satisfaction.
But it’s not quite that simple, is it? I think there is a part of you that also hopes I will say, “Yes, watching porn is a sin.” You are hoping I will say it’s a sin because that answer will address the sense of guilt you feel, that part of your inner self that nags you when you watch it. Human beings are complicated that way—different parts of us can desire different things or even opposite things. It’s possible to long for something with one part of yourself and hate it with another.
I am glad you used the word “sin,” because it is the key to a good answer. When we consider whether watching porn is a sin, we are essentially holding it up to a set of morals to ask, “Does it violate this standard of morals or is it consistent with it?” But here’s a follow-up question: whose morals are we comparing it to? This is where the word “sin” is so helpful, because when we commit a sin, we are violating God’s morals. As the one who created this world and the people who live within it, God is the one who gets to determine what is a sin and what is not. It doesn’t really matter what you or I believe about it, but it matters an awful lot what God believes about it.
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“Disqualified”: What It Means and How a Pastor Gets There

By Jesse Johnson — 5 months ago

“Disqualified” means is that…conduct, traits, or sins come to light in the elder’s life that are not in keeping with the qualifications, and the elders realize that the person is no longer qualified…When that happens, the person is no longer a pastor or elder.

I’m always ultimately thankful when the Lord uncovers things that are hidden. God is light, which means he reveals. Sin exists in darkness, which means it hides. When God causes things to come to the light, he does so to expose, change, warn, judge, and transform. While having sin exposed is never pleasant, it does always lead to God’s glory being vindicated.
With that said, a few questions I was asked at church yesterday which I want to answer today and tomorrow here:

What does it mean that a pastor has disqualified himself?
How does that happen?
Why would God allow a pastor to fall morally?

I’ll cover the first two today, and the third tomorrow.
What does it mean that a pastor has disqualified himself?
The term “disqualified” comes from 1 Corinthians 9:27 where Paul says that as a pastor and preacher he takes care to maintain his self-discipline so that, after preaching to others, he does not himself become disqualified.
While 1 Corinthians was written before 1 Timothy, the concept of elder qualifications were already in Paul’s mind. He understood that the gospel is validated from the transformed lives of its ministers. The holiness of preachers is foundational to the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12). In fact, the lack of holiness of some of the leaders in the church in Corinth was responsible for much of the turmoil in the church (1 Corinthians 5).
This is why Paul eventually lays out what “qualified” means for elders. In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, he lists qualifications of elders, preachers, and deacons. Some of them are general—“above reproach” and “blameless” are examples of these general qualifications (1 Timothy 3:2, 10). Then there are more specific qualifications—“one-woman man” or “not a drunkard” are examples of those.
Nowhere does the New Testament teach that everyone who meets the qualifications should be an elder, but the New Testament does clearly teach that everyone who is an elder needs to meet those qualifications.
The typical way a person becomes an elder is by expressing to the other elders their desire to be one (1 Timothy 3:1). Then over a period of time that person’s life is examined. As their leadership grows in the church, and as they shepherd God’s people, their ability is tested (1 Timothy 3:10; 5:22). Eventually the elders might get to a place where they affirm the person as a fellow elder. This act might look different in different congregations (congregational vote, public affirmation, laying on of hands, etc.). But the bottom line in every congregation is that the act proclaims that the church finds this person “elder qualified.” They are a one-woman man, their household is in order, they are gentle, they manage their money well, they are hospitable, and so forth.
What “disqualified” means is that sometime after that, conduct, traits, or sins come to light in the elder’s life that are not in keeping with the qualifications, and the elders realize that the person is no longer qualified. They have become “disqualified.” When that happens, the person is no longer a pastor or elder.
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Why Paul Is a Complicated Missionary Model

By Elliot Clark — 5 months ago

We should note that Paul, writing with apostolic authority, repeatedly instructs churches to imitate him (Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). He specifically charges church leaders to follow his pattern of life, both his faithful teaching and his sacrificial suffering (Acts 20:17–35; 2 Timothy 1:8–2:3).

In the world of evangelical missions, it’s common to appeal to Paul’s example when developing or defending missionary praxis. Many seek to articulate a Pauline approach or critique others for diverting from it. While Roland Allen wasn’t the first to do this, his classic work on Paul’s missionary methods presented them as the plumb line for contemporary missions.
More recently, some missiologists have questioned the degree to which we’re called to follow Paul’s example, but I’m convinced we have much to learn from the great apostle to the nations (Rom. 11:13). However, whenever we seek to construct missionary methods based on a Pauline model, we encounter various challenges.
Much of Paul’s life and ministry isn’t revealed in Scripture. Even when we can observe what he did, we don’t always know why he did it. Most challenging of all, missiologists must come to terms with how Paul’s calling and world were far different from ours. This doesn’t negate the possibility, or even necessity, of following Paul’s missionary example, but it suggests we must be careful when trying to reconstruct a Pauline approach.
Critical Differences
Any attempt to build a methodology from Paul’s ministry must reckon with the reality that he wasn’t your average missionary. Paul was uniquely called and specifically commissioned by our Lord. While the Bible can use the term apostolos for a variety of people, the church has long acknowledged a defined group of individuals who hold unique authority to transmit Christ’s teaching and thus serve as the foundation for his church (Eph. 2:20). Paul was one of those apostles.
No missionary today can claim a similar apostolic position. We don’t speak on behalf of Christ with the same authority, nor should we expect churches to receive our teaching in the same way. While this truth is rarely debated, it means we can’t always assume a one-to-one correspondence between Paul’s ministry and ours. It’s like comparing a foundation stone to a roof rafter.
Paul didn’t only have a unique role in the founding of the church; certain historical factors also make his example rarely replicable. From what we know, Paul never had to learn another language. Wherever he went, he could operate in Greek or Aramaic or Hebrew. And although culture wasn’t monolithic in the Roman Empire, Paul wasn’t a cultural outsider in the way many missionaries are today. He possessed a deep awareness of social dynamics and could quote popular sources, bringing the gospel to bear on the various groups he encountered.
For most cross-cultural missionaries today, attaining a similar fluency and aptitude in their context could easily take more than a decade. They can’t walk into a global city or a tribal village and immediately communicate the gospel as clearly or effectively as Paul.
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