The Place of Personal Discipline

“You may have sought and tried to obtain instant godliness. There is no such thing…We want somebody to give us three easy steps to godliness, and we’ll take them next Friday and be godly. The trouble is, godliness doesn’t come that way.” - Jay Adams

The only way to achieve godliness is through discipline. Consider 1 Tim.4:7 “But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness.” This refers to physical training like athletes go through. Or, we find this: 1 Cor.9:24-27 “Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” If athletes train to gain a temporal prize, how much more should we who will receive an eternal crown train?

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary refers to training as something that “corrects, molds, or perfects…mental faculties or moral character.”

So, where do we begin?

Let’s start with 2 Tim.3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,” and Eph.4:21-24 “assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.”

We need a disciplined plan of how to take the Word and make it a part of our lives. Bridges says:

The Spirit wrote the Scripture.

We learn the Scripture.

The Spirit brings to mind what we’ve learned.

We obey what He brings to mind.

Let’s back up to 2 Tim.3:16 (“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,”) for a moment. I want to rehash some of this passage.

Teaching = right theology (thought about God and how we relate to Him).

Rebuking = correcting inerrant theology.

Correcting = identifying and changing sinful behavior.

Training = right living.

How do we take the Word in?

There must be time to take it in. The best way to do this is to have a disciplined time, a specific time set apart in order to read the Word. The actual time isn’t what’s important. Instead, it’s the regularity with which you can make that time.

There should be a method to the madness! Four areas in which we practice taking in Scripture:

Hearing the Word (Jer.3:15 “I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.”)

Reading the Word (Deut.17:19 “It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.”)

Studying the Word (Prov.2:1-5 “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.”)

Memorizing the Word (Ps.119:11 “I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.”)

In my experience, studying the Word is probably the most difficult for the congregation, typically because they’ve never been taught how to study the Word. We’ve talked about this before, but a couple of quick points again:

Observe — What does the text say?

Orient — What does the text mean?

Decide — What does the text teach?

Act — How will I obey?

Deeper than these four methods, we must also be diligent to meditate on God’s word. Consider God’s command to Joshua (Josh.1:8 “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.”) Christian meditation, contrary to the meditation practiced by other religions in the world, is not the act of emptying but filling the mind…thinking continually on something. Without offering an actual definition, Bridges calls it “simply thinking about (Scripture) and its application to life.”

As we hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on Scripture, we seek to apply it to our daily lives. The problem is that we spend much of our lives perfecting our disciplines of disobedience. This is why there is no step 1-2-3 method for holiness. It truly is a life-long practice of discipline that comes through perseverance.

Jonathan Edwards had a list of seventy resolutions he made to live by. He recognizes his need for grace to keep even one of them, so he prays up front, “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ’s sake.” Among his resolutions were the commitment to never do anything he would be afraid to do in the last hour of his life, and also, “resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.”

As we become students of God’s Word, we notice a trend that occurs…our knowledge of holiness outpaces our practice of holiness. Another way of saying that is, the closer we get to God, the farther away from Him we realize we are. When you first become a follower of Christ, you probably are aware of some of the “big ones” like don’t steal, lie, murder or chew…and don’t go with girls who do. But the more you study and grow in holiness, the more things like a mis-spoken word or a failure to exhibit love begins to bother you. The more you serve God, the more you realize the areas of your life which are not surrendered to Him.

So, let us progress in holiness, learning to hate sin (Ps.119:104 “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.”). Let us delight in God’s law (Rom.7:22 “For in my inner self I delight in God’s law,”). Let us see the perfection of God’s law as we agree that His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3 “For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,”and Rom.7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.”) And when necessary, may we cry out Rom.7:24 “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And may repentance, turning back to Christ, rekindle our love for Him and a desire to discipline ourselves once again for the purpose of godliness.

Prayer Requests:

Kirk Loyless — Hospice care in order to get the care he needs and to help his wife get a “moment to breathe”

Samuel Barfield/Derek and Kelsey

Theo and Carrie Johnson — aging health concerns

Carol’s aunt (Mrs. Frenchie’s brother passed) — married 67 years, living on a big farm alone

Youth/Bro. Mike

Parents of Students

James and Alison Younis

George Case

John Young — Sacred Heart, fluid build up and falling