2 Peter 1:6 (NKJV) 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
We have been looking at Peter’s second letter to the church in which he points out some very powerful things that are available to us as believers. As with everything else in the Kingdom, we access them by faith. However, Peter also points out that if we want to be effective in walking in the promises of 2 Peter 1, we are going to have to add some things to our faith. If we do, we will be useful and fruitful in the Kingdom of God, our Christian walk as well as in life itself. What must we add to our faith to come to a place where we will never stumble?
We have studied two of them already. First, we add virtue, which is a lifestyle that leads us away from sin and compromise and instead leads us closer to God. The next thing we must add is knowledge. The knowledge Peter is talking about is not the knowledge that comes from God as revelation. It is knowledge we must add to our virtue. The idea is that we must study to gain it. As we do, we acquire a framework wherein God can speak to us on increasingly mature levels.
The next thing in our list of additions to faith is self-control. Self-control, or temperance, differs from virtue in one major way. Virtue involves daily choices and patterns of living that keep us where we belong so we will walk right before God. Virtue speaks to continual character. If we apply the power of virtue consistently, we will encounter less temptations as we walk through life. We will need to exercise the power of self-control less.
The problem is that we still must live in the world. Even if we cultivate virtuous living, we are going to be confronted with temptations. Virtue will help us be ready. Nevertheless, we will face temptation, trials and troubles. We may think we are invulnerable to temptation. If we do, we are foolish. Our adversary will see to it that temptation will come in the worst possible time and it will be directed at the places we are weakest. In those times we must add self-control to faith, virtue, and knowledge.
As is true of each of these characteristics, self-control is not something that God does for us. In Galatians we find a list of the fruit of the spirit. Self-control, or temperance, is also listed there. The fruit in Galatians are characteristics of the Holy Spirit that grow in our spirit after salvation. We are not left to simple will power to overcome temptation. There is a power of temperance that comes from within that enables us to overcome whatever temptation we may face.
The same word is used in Galatians 5:23 as in 2 Peter 1:6 but the context in which they appear tells the difference in how they are used. Galatians says that self-control is something that comes from within. It is a fruit. The whole point of 2 Peter 1:5-7 is that we must add things to our faith. We must add them. They are things we do. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. It is also a set of actions we must take in order to release the fruit so it will strengthen us to resist what we must.
Think of it this way. My wife loves tomatoes. We are not gardeners, but one year in particular my daughter decided to plant some vegetables for us while we were away on vacation. We were home for most of the summer, but in August we left for nearly two months. We did not get back home until October. My wife’s tomatoes grew very well. She did some work weeding and whatnot to cultivate them, but that is not something we know much about. The truth is the tomatoes just grew!
Before we left, she managed to pick some of them, but they were mostly green. By the time we got home the vines were full, but it was too late. The fruit had been there, but my wife was not around to put in the work required to pick them. She did not get much out of those wonderful tomatoes. The same would have occurred if she were home and just never went and put in the effort to pick the fruit from the vine. Picking is not really hard, but it must be done. The ground, the seed and the Lord did the hard part, but she had to do her part to partake of the fruit that was provided.
The same is true for all these things, especially self-control. There is a power within us that will help us overcome the temptations we face every day. However, we must add the actions related to self-control to access the fruit. If we do not, we will fall under temptation. We will stumble. When we stumble, we do not lose God’s love or his grace. We do make ourselves vulnerable to the infection of sin.
If we yield to temptation we can easily repent, and God promises to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That does not mean the devil will simply forget about it. He will use it against you. Because there is some physical truth to the accusation he brings, he will have leverage. You can overcome that, but if you do not sin at all, you will not have to.
The other problem with stumbling is that we reveal our vulnerability. For most of us, there are not many temptations that are a real danger. I am a man, old but not yet dead, designed to be arouse sexually by sight. Today we are bombarded with visuals that no man needs to see. If there is any temptation that comes to me at all, it has very little power. I love my wife. Outside of Jesus, she is everything to me. She is a great wife, a great mother and a wonderful lover. I have no need of any other woman in my life. There is a natural function of my body that may hint at temptation, but it passes by with little or no effect.
Many temptations are just so far beyond our experience and so outside of what we would ever do, that they do not take all that much to resist. There are temptations that all of us find more difficult. 10 years ago, I lost 62 pounds. I have kept most of it off since, but recently some clothes were getting tight that had not been for many years. When I weighed myself, I found that lockdowns, holidays and travel had caused me to lose some ground in the weight battle. At that point I had to make a decision to do something. I prayed for Gods help. I did not try and get God to lower the caloric content of the foods I liked. I asked God to help me with the fruit of self-control. That is how I lost the weight to begin with.
Did God answer my prayer? Of course he did. That did not change the fact that I had to begin eating less. It did not keep me from second helpings or from hitting the sweets as hard as I had been. I had to do that. I had to exercise self-control. These are simple temptations. Most of us face things that are much more difficult, but most of us can relate to these kinds of things.
Hebrews 12 tells us we must lay aside the sins that so easily come upon us. We all have things that we are more vulnerable to than others. There are things we will give in to if the pressure becomes too great. When we stumble those things become clear to both ourselves and the devil. When we are discourage we are even more vulnerable. The enemy is watching us. Those are the times he will bring that temptation we succumbed to before. In those times especially a lack of self-control can be spiritually damaging to our walk and even physically fatal.
We need to add self-control to faith and virtue. The question is what actions must we take that will enable us to access the fruit of temperance and keep us from yielding under the pressure of temptation. That is what we will look at next.
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