The Activity of Self-Discipline

God’s holy calling for the believer in Christ includes personal responsibility for self-discipline, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live in a manner worthy of his or her high position as a new creature in Christ. God’s vision of discipleship, moreover, requires recognition of the war that rages within the believer as indwelling sin fights to maintain the dominance it once enjoyed prior to conversion. Therefore, we must recognize that the transformation the Holy Spirit continues to make in our lives involves the renewing of the mind by the Word of truth, the repenting of inner desires by the indwelling Spirit’s power, and the replacing of sinful habits by the practice of godliness. In a nutshell, a return to the apostolic pattern of maintaining a connection between sound doctrine and the discipline of godly living is indispensable to the ongoing process of sanctification. However, the late James Montgomery Boice observedthat Christians are lazy and unwilling to persevere on the hard road of godliness. Instead, we tend to look for the easy way out. As a result, spiritual growth is often lacking. Boice suggested three ways in which we try to avoid the struggle against sin.

1. We tend to seek out formulas, simple recipes for spiritual success. Slogans such as “Let go and let God” or “Just let Jesus take control” are attractive to our spiritual slothfulness.
2. We are prone to look for a new experience, a charismatic-type of “second work of grace” that immediately transforms us from being a defeated Christian to a victorious one.
3. Total avoidance of the struggle against sin is a common response.

All these have one thing in common: they are ways of seeking to find spiritual victory in the Christian life without the daily grind of discipline, but that will never happen. Scripture repeatedly links progress in godliness to the disciplined effort of the disciple:   Continue at Paul Tautges