Just as a serious athlete exercises self-control in all things, Paul disciplined his body so that he would not be disqualified in the endurance race that leads to eternal life (1 Cor. 9:25-27). We choose whether we will indulge the flesh or give priority to spiritual aspect of our lives. The last in the list of the fruit of the Spirit is temperance or self-control (Gal. 5:23). The fruit of the Spirit comes on the heels of a list of vices known as the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). From the list it is obvious that Christians must keep their desires in check to avoid envy, pride, violence against others, sexual sins, and drunkenness. Paul makes sure that his readers know that the “liberty” of Christ he mentioned in Galatians 5:1 is not to be interpreted as an antinomian “freedom” to pursue our passions. Paul said the Christian walk involves “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Our thoughts, motives, tongues, and bodies must be brought under control to follow the will of God. If I am a follower of Christ, then I deny myself, take up my cross daily, and follow Him (Lk. 9:23). Christians need to realize how much self-mastery is crucial in the many areas of our lives; we must add this to our Christian walk to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:6, 10).

When I see something that I want to buy, I must exercise self-control to determine if it is right to purchase it or if it is covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5). If someone is ill-mannered and petty in their remarks towards me, I must exercise self-control to bridle my tongue (James 3:1-12). When I see something on TV or the internet that stirs up lustful desire in my heart, I must exercise self-control to not dwell on it nor pursue it (Mt. 5:28; Col. 3:5; James 1:14, 15). When things go well for me and I have reached an achievement, I must exercise self-control to not be proud and conceited (Rom. 12:3; Gal. 5:26; Phil. 2:3). When I am in poor circumstances, I must exercise self-control to not envy the way of the wicked (Prov. 23:17), but instead to continue to trust in the Lord (Prov. 3:5-6).

Remember the commands in Romans 6:12-13: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Because Christians are dead to sin—having buried the man of sin in baptism to be raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-7)—they are free from sin; their obedience has been transferred from sin to righteousness. God is our master now, not sin. Though we have died in relationship to sin, we are still alive and render the rest of our days to God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2).

We cannot be what God has called us to be if we lack self-control. We live in an age where lack of self-control is not only excused but is in many cases viewed as an entitlement—and even lauded. As Christians, we must be different as the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13).

The evidence that God exists is all around us. Even though God is invisible, what He has created in the physical word shows His eternal power so strongly that there is no excuse for those who deny His existence (Rom. 1:20). However, man has been given the freedom to choose to know God or to reject Him. Man can deceive himself into believing foolishness if the world deems it wise (Rom. 1:22; 1 Cor. 3:18).

Genesis 1:27 states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” The Genesis record also declares that there are kinds of the living things that were here from the beginning—grass kind, whale kind, cat kind, dog kind, horse kind, etc. (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25). However, the theory that has been in vogue for the last century and half proposes that all living things came from one common ancestor and have developed over a very long period of time by minute changes. Instead of purposeful design by God, the world around us is thought to be the product of random occurrences. The wisdom of the world has rejected God as the Creator. One century after the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species,[1] George Gaylord Simpson stated, “Man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind.”[2] Even today people in general are more likely to believe a scientist who makes an outlandish claim over that of a spiritual leader.[3] The General Theory of Evolution has insurmountable problems, yet it still remains the respectable view in the eyes of the masses.

Think of pioneers of this godless theory who made inroads in the educational arena which then trickled into popular thinking. They caused so many to reject God; where are they now? Though they are not on earth, they have not ceased to exist. Unlike the animals—from which they proposed we descended—humans have eternal souls which stand before God in judgment (Ecc. 12:7; James 2:26; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb 9:27; Rev. 20:12). Like the rich man of Luke 16, they have a very different view of God now that they have died; like him, their realization of their responsibility to God and their fellow man has come too late for their salvation.

Ungodly people who have lived before our time serve as an example for us today to avoid the path that leads to the punishment they are presently undergoing (Jude 7). Instead, of teaching people to reject God and His standards, may our lives be devoted to promoting healthy teaching of the gospel which is able to save man’s eternal soul (Rom. 1:16; James 1:21). What we teach will affect our salvation and the salvation of those who hear us (1 Tim. 4:16).

[1] The full title of Darwin’s work published in 1859 is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

[2] George Gaylord Simpson, The Meaning of Evolution (New York: Mentor, 1959), p. 19.

[3]  “Credibility Score: People Put Their Trust in Scientists” (2022), Nature cited in “Should ‘Science’ Trump Scripture?” by Jeff Miller (Apologetics Press) < https://apologeticspress.org/should-science-trump-scripture/>

All Christians should seek to make wisdom an attribute of their lives. God will help us to be wise if we seek Him and ask Him (James 1:5). Wisdom is not a vast vocabulary, a degree from a prestigious school, or the ability to quote hundreds of verses. James shows us that wisdom can be seen practically in one’s daily conduct by asking, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13). Just as James earlier challenges one’s faith to be evidenced by works (James 2:18), so here the challenge is wisdom evidenced by conduct.

While worldly wisdom puffs one up in pride (1 Cor. 1:20-31), receiving heavenly wisdom requires meekness (James 1:21). The good works that a wise Christian does are not done before men to be seen by them (Matt. 6:1-4), but rather are done in the meekness of wisdom which respects God. The wise man understands his proper position under God and does not seek the glory that belongs to the divine. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7).

In contrast to heavenly wisdom is the description of selfish ambition described in the next two verses: “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic” (James 3:14, 15). We must remember it is the Lord who gives wisdom (Prov. 2:6). Paul asked the puffed-up Corinthians, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). To seek greater glory for oneself is to not be content with the place God has assigned. This follows the path of the angels who sinned and are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness (Jude 6). Selfish ambition is devilish. To be envious of another’s place or success has led to all sorts of sins throughout history. The first murder occurred because Cain despised the fact that his brother’s works were righteous while his own were evil (1 Jn. 3:12). That the chief priests delivered Jesus to be crucified because of envy was so obvious that even Pilate could see it (Mt. 27:18; Mk. 15:10).

 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the LORD.” (Jer. 9:23, 24). Heavenly wisdom produces the greatest quality of life. Consider the fruit of the Spirit and those you have known whose lives prove they have been thoroughly influenced by God’s instruction (Gal. 5:22, 23). In contrast to the strife that comes from people with mixed motives and hidden personal agendas, the wisdom from heaven results in purity of heart and peace among the people of God. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:17, 18). Does your conduct show you are wise in the way God has set forth in James 3:13-18?

When Jesus promised to build His church, He described it as the kingdom of heaven—where heaven’s will would be observed on earth; whatever the Lord deemed mandatory would be binding and wherever the Lord loosed would be liberty (Mt. 16:18, 19; cf. Mt. 6:10). Jesus is the head of the church, His body (Eph. 1:22, 23; 5:23; Col. 1:18). Thus, the church follows His leadership as He is seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms (Eph. 1:20, 21).

The New Testament has several warnings regarding deceptive teachers who do not serve the Lord Jesus, but rather lead people away to do their own will (Rom. 16:17, 18; 2 Cor. 11:3, 4; Gal. 1:6-9; 2:4; Eph. 4:4; 5:6; 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 1:6, 19, 20; 2 Tim. 3:13; Jude 3, 4; Rev. 2:20-23; et al.). There are many false prophets (Mt. 7:15; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; 1 Jn. 4:1). Just as the young prophet was deceived by the lie of the old prophet into disobedience to the Lord resulting in death (1 Kgs. 13:11-26), so condemnation awaits others who believe lies instead of loving the truth (2 Thess. 3:10-12).

We must remember that it is not merely calling Jesus “Lord,” but actually doing the will of the Father who is in heaven that determines whether one will enter the kingdom of heaven; religious people who have done many wonderful works, but never did the will of the Father shall be surprised on the final day (Mt. 7:21-23). So, do not trust your eternal soul merely to what any person says without checking it out for yourself in the word of God. Instead of uncritically accepting anything a person who claims to speak for God utters, we must test everything and hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). The Scriptures have all the teaching we need to please God and go to heaven (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; 2 Pet. 1:3). We must abide in the truth, the doctrine of Christ (2 Jn. 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10).

The church is the unique bride of Christ for which He died and for which He will one day return to save (Eph. 5:23-27). What the church is, how it is organized, what its mission is, and how it worships and behaves are found within the pages of the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. Some may try to take some necessary beliefs, characteristics, and practices of the church and alter them by arguing they are not obligatory, loosing where God has bound (1 Cor. 11:17-34; 15:12; 2 Pet. 2:17-22; Rev. 2:6, 14, 15, 20). Others may go to a realm of liberty and give an imperative where the Lord has never given one, binding where God has loosed (Gal. 5:1-4; 1 Tim. 4:3; Col. 2:20-23). Remember, every individual in the Lord’s church professes that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God (Mt. 16:17; Rom. 10:9, 10; Heb. 3:1; 4:14); thus, He is king (Jn. 1:49; 1 Tim. 6:14, 15; cf. Psa. 89:27; Rev. 19:16). What He commands, we do because He has all authority in heaven and earth (Mt. 28:18). Where He has given liberty, we do not issue imperatives. The church is not a democracy where we vote to decide what the majority wants; it is a monarchy ruled from heaven, where the will of the King must be followed!

Paul’s influence for Christ is unequaled among first-century followers of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 11:23). Yet, he is first introduced in the New Testament as Saul, a great adversary of the cause of Christ (Acts 7:58-8:1). What changed him? The gospel. Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).

Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans who were struggling with their differences and animosity between Jews and Gentiles. Claudius had commanded all Jews to leave Rome (Acts 18:2). Later, when they were able to return, the influx of Jews among the church in Rome which had consisted of Gentiles for years, had heightened the tensions between these two groups. The Jews made their boast because they were the special people to whom God gave the law of Moses (Rom. 2:17). Many of them, however, rejected Jesus and were cut off. The Gentiles may have been tempted to boast because they were now part of God’s people while so many who were born Jews fell away (Rom. 11:17-20). Paul was an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin, who could match his pedigree and accolades in Judaism with the best of them (Rom. 11:1; Phil. 3:4-6). Yet, he writes as an apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13).

Both Jews and Gentiles had the same problem—the universal problem of sin (Rom. 3:23). There is none righteous before God (Rom. 3:10). Thus, ultimately there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles before God (Rom. 3:22; 10:12; cf. Acts 15:9). “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith” (Rom. 1:29, 30). God saves those who call on the name of the Lord in baptism; Saul did this and his former sins of persecuting the church were washed away (Rom. 10:13; Acts 22:16; cf. Mk. 16:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).

Baptism unites one with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—the old man, the servant of sin, dies, and one is raised in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-7). This was the key to the dramatic change in Paul’s life, and the influence for the Lord’s cause the rest of his days. He wrote, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). As long as he was still on this earth, his attitude was, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

The gospel is powerful. It changed Saul from a great persecutor of Christ to a great proponent of Christ; Paul was a new man in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). The gospel made Jews and Gentiles, two groups diametrically opposed to one another, one in Christ.  “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:14, 15). The gospel can change your life. It can bring together people who are radically different from one another in the fellowship of Jesus Christ. Will you let the gospel change you for good?