Jerry C. Brewer
Introduction
Solomon wrote, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls” (Pro. 25:28). One normally thinks of the withdrawal of fellowship when speaking of the church and discipline, but that final action is never necessary when each member of the body of Christ practices Biblical self-discipline or rules “over his own spirit.” Self-discipline is “self-control,” which is the meaning of temperance in the New Testament. According to Steve Hamilton:
“Self-control” (or “temperance”) is derived from the Greek word enkrateia, (Strong’s #1466) (transliterated as egkrateia in some sources), meaning “mastery of one’s appetites and passions, power over oneself in the sense of persistence or restraint,” or “the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions.” It is also interesting to note that egkrateia… would be listed as one of the described traits of an elder in Titus 1:8, 6 and would ultimately even become the source of names and foundational beliefs of latter emerging groups. “Egkrateia” appears in three instances in the New Testament (Acts 24:25, Galatians 5:23, and in 2 Peter 1:6) and is translated “temperance” in the KJ version and “self-control” in the NASB (some argue that “temperance” is a more Biblically accurate definition of the original intent of the word).
Of such self-control, Paul wrote:
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
Self-discipline begins with the decision to follow Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mat. 16:24). To deny self is self-discipline, and one who is unwilling to place the Lord ahead of his own desires cannot be a follower of Christ. To deny self is to cultivate the traits of those of whom Jesus spoke in the Sermon on The Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (5:3). Of this passage, Foy E. Wallace, Jr., wrote:
The word poor is usually descriptive of what a man has, or does not have, but the expression poor in spirit refers to what a man is. It carries the idea of dependence on something other than one’s self. Jeremiah declared, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23). The one who is poor in spirit depends upon God for direction, and that will lead him into the kingdom. It is opposite of the command of the world’s resources which breeds the independence of self-sufficiency and human wisdom…The kingdom of heaven which had been announced was a sphere of divine grace which only the obedient spirit could enter, and the phrase “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” are words which pointed to Pentecost when the kingdom that was drawing nigh was established. A prophetic description of the character of its constituents is set forth in the metaphors of Isaiah 35:8-10: “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” The wayfaring men are men who fare by the way and are not acquainted with the territory through which they are passing, and they must be guided. The fools of the passage are not simpletons but are descriptive of men who realize the need of guidance, who know that they cannot guide themselves (12-13).
The poor who lack material necessities are dependent upon others for those things. So it is with those who desire salvation. They must first recognize that they are spiritually poor—utterly bereft of the means to save themselves. The recognition of that fact and the determination to deny self is the beginning of salvation.
Self-Discipline in the Church
The key to self-discipline in the church is Paul’s statement, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection” (1 Cor. 9:27). Self-discipline begins with the inner man, or the spirit, for that is where all decisions begin—whether to serve God or to serve Satan. The inner man controls all actions of both the alien sinner and the Christian, and those actions are expressed through the body. R. L. Whiteside observed:
Obedience is from the heart. The spirit expresses itself through the body. Hence, we are commanded to present our “members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” And so also does the spirit sin through the instrumentality of the body. Though committed through the instrumentality of the body, sin comes from the heart. “For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23) (136).
The man who rules “over his own spirit” is self-disciplined, and he makes his body either a servant of righteousness or a servant of sin. The key is: “his own spirit.” The spirit—the inner man—is that which is converted to Christ by being born again (John 3:5-8), and it is the spirit of man which controls all his actions. In his comments on Romans 6:12, brother Whiteside wrote:
Paul addresses that part of man which has the control of the body and which is, therefore, responsible for what the heart does. The body is a mere instrument to be used by the inner man, the spirit, for good or bad. The spirit is charged not to let sin control the body…God gave the human being certain appetites and passions for his own preservation and for the perpetuity of the human race; but the purpose to hold them in check, or the plans to gratify them either in a lawful or unlawful way, are formed in the heart (135-36).
Self-denial in becoming a Christian must continue in every Christian’s life if the church is to function properly. No entity is stronger or healthier than its constituent components, and a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. The human body is composed of individual cells, and when any of those fail to function, the body suffers. So it is with the church. It is composed of individuals. Peter said: “…ye also, as lively [or “living”] stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5).
Any stone, or priest, in the house of God that is weakened or spiritually sick adversely affects the entire body. That was demonstrated in the sin of Achan, who took forbidden spoils from Jericho (Jos. 7).
Ours is an age of individual irresponsibility, which accounts for much of the weakness and apostasy that is rampant in the church today. The idea that members of the church can corporately fulfill their personal obligations to the Lord is irresponsible and is manifested in the proliferation of unscriptural organizations to do the work that individuals should and must do. For many Christians, money is the means of doing the Lord’s work. It is easier for the individual to contribute a few dollars to some cause than to expend time and energy to attend to the needs of others himself. The Christian parent often shirks his personal responsibility to bring up his children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4) by delegating that duty to a “Youth Director.”
In some churches, elders delegate their personal responsibilities to the preacher, creating a “pastor system,” in which the preacher is responsible for overseeing, shepherding, and restoring wayward, weak members. The elders are charged with those things, not the preacher (Acts 20:28). Christians fail to study the Scriptures themselves, allowing error to creep into the church because it is easier to listen to the preacher and accept his word than to “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). These few examples indicate a lack of self-discipline by individual Christians that weaken the church and lead to apostasy.
Christianity Begins and Ends With the Individual
Every person on earth is individually responsible to God and accountable to Him for the life he lives. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). I cannot obey the Gospel for my children or my parents, nor can they obey the Gospel for me. Obedience to God is an individual matter. Being a Christian begins with self-denial in obeying the Gospel and between that and the judgment is mandated a life of self-discipline for each of us.
Self-discipline is not the responsibility of the elders, Bible class teachers, or the preacher. As self-discipline in the church begins at conversion, it continues and matures in individual spiritual growth. Peter commanded, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2). It is the Christian’s responsibility to discipline himself to maintain the spiritual vitality of the church and fellowship with his brethren. Without self-discipline, there is no fellowship with God and, consequently, no fellowship with our brethren. Biblical fellowship is first vertical—with God—then horizontal—with each other—and that is attained and maintained only by walking according to the Truth.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:6-7).
The cells of our physical bodies remain healthy and function properly when we take care of them by providing proper nourishment and exercise. The individual Christian is a spiritual cell in the body of Christ. For that spiritual body to function and remain sound, the Christian must discipline himself by ordering his life according to the Scriptures. God provides all of man’s physical needs for healthy bodies.
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mat. 6:31-33).
Likewise, God has provided everything in His Word that the Christian needs to function as a healthy component of the church. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
He who disciplines himself according to the Word of God lacks nothing.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Pet. 1:3-10).
Each member of the church must discipline himself for the church to remain pure. When we do that, we “shall never fall,” and “an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (1:11).
When the Christian fails to discipline himself and refuses to repent, a spiritual cell in the body of Christ malfunctions and will affect the entire body, if it is not corrected. It then becomes the responsibility of the church to remove that member, as one would sever a gangrenous limb and to withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us…note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed (2 The. 3:6, 14). They who will not discipline serve themselves. Paul said to, “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly” (Rom. 16:17-18).
Conclusion
A refusal to practice self-discipline begins in the heart and ends with a full withdrawal of fellowship by the church—a public recognition and declaration that the impenitent one is not walking “in the light.” When self-discipline is practiced by every member of the church, that final action is never necessary.
Works Cited
All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.
Hamilton, Steve. “Temperance.” Battle Creek Church of Christ. 25 Jan. 2018.
Wallace, Foy E., Jr. The Sermon on The Mount And The Civil State. The Foy E. Wallace, Jr. Library Digital Edition. Fort Smith, AR: Richard E. Black, Publisher, 1997.
Whiteside, R.L. A New Commentary on Paul’s Letter to The Saints at Rome. Denton, TX: Miss Inys Whiteside, Publisher, 1945
