Proverbs 25:28
“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”
Galatians 5.22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
The message today is one we addressed several years ago in our study of the book of Galatians: Discipleship requires discipline.
Discipleship is the process of doing the necessary work to grow progressively more mature in Christ. It is the process of musar that the book of Proverbs speaks of repeatedly. In today’s Christian world, it is called various things: spiritual formation, spiritual development, spiritual growth, and the fancy theological phrase “progressive sanctification.” Whatever description you use, it is the disciplined process of musar. Do the work to develop and grow in your relationship with Jesus so that you know God more deeply, obey him more consistently, and bear more fruit in the work that you do every day.
Paul prayed for exactly this in Colossians 1.9-10: “We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
Spiritual growth is not an automatic process; it’s a disciplined process. Believing in Jesus and being saved doesn’t magically produce growth. In fact, you can be stuck on salvation. You can be satisfied with merely being saved. You can be a Christian who doesn’t develop. You can be saved and fail to grow.
The reason some Christians don’t grow isn’t because they can’t. It isn’t because they lack resources. It is because they are not trusting God and doing the faith-driven work that spiritual growth requires. They are not developing and applying the self-discipline the Holy Spirit provides. Again, I am not talking about self-driven self-discipline; rather, I am talking about the self-control that is the fruit of the Spirit. I am talking about Spirit-driven self-discipline.
As Christians, we have all the resources we need. The Lord has saved and redeemed us through Christ, he indwells and empowers us through his Spirit, he instructs and directs us through his word, and fellow Christians are available to encourage, support, and hold us accountable. It is therefore our responsibility to respond with faith and Spirit-empowered discipline.
“We have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 1.3)
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1.3)
Ephesians 3:8 says we have access to “the unfathomable riches of Christ.”
Clearly, we have everything we need for consistent, effective spiritual growth. The final element in spiritual formation, then, is how we respond to the riches, blessings, and power that are available to us in Christ. The necessary response is faith + discipline. If we do not trust God and exercise self-discipline, then we will not grow.
This is a central message in Proverbs, and it is the key factor in the battle between “the works of the flesh” and “the fruit of the Spirit” referred to in Galatians chapter 5. The sin nature wants you to do one thing, but your new nature wants you to do something else. You must choose between the two natures. You must choose between the impulses of your sin nature and the promptings of the Spirit. You must choose between what feels good and what is good. You must choose between what is wrong and what is right.
Please understand: The Holy Spirit empowers you, but you must make the choice. Self-discipline is the moment-by-moment process of training yourself to make the Spirit-driven choice. This is precisely what it means to be discipline-driven. To put it another way, self-discipline is all about what you do at life’s decision points. It is discipline at defining moments. And like Proverbs 25:28 says, “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” When we lack self-discipline, we fail to make the right choices at life’s decision points, and we are “broken into” by the enemy and the impulses of our sin nature.
Let me say it again: Self-discipline is all about what you do at life’s decision points. No discipline, no discipleship.
