“No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.” (Hebrews 4:13, HCSB)

As we have already seen, the Scriptures make it very clear that we will all be held accountable for the things we do. We will all have to give an account of ourselves to God (Romans 14:12). It is important that each of us understands this fact. If we do understand it, that understanding will have a tremendous impact on how we live our lives, both in relation to the world around us, and in relation to God and His church.

It is also essential that we understand that the God who will judge each of us is a God of order. God has established a very clear system of authority for all of creation. This order, especially as it pertains to the Christian believer, is clearly set forth in 1 Corinthians 11:3. Here Paul writes: “But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ” (HCSB).

As we have previously discussed, a clear indication of whether a man is truly submitted to Christ is whether he is loving his wife as Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5:25-29 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands should also love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.”

Also, a clear indication of whether a woman is truly submitted to Christ is whether she is submitted to her own husband as to the Lord. Ephesians 5:22-24 says, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”

God has also given us specific instructions concerning the believer’s relationship to authority at every level. Romans 13:1-2 says “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinances of God, and those who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”

1 Peter 2:17 instructs us, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (HCSB). When Peter wrote this passage, Nero was emperor. Nero was possibly the most ruthless ruler in the history of mankind, especially in his persecution of Christians. Yet, Peter commands the Christians to honor the emperor.

Peter continues in the next verse to instruct the believers saying, “Household slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel” (HCSB). Peter explains in the next verse, “For it brings favor if, because of conscience toward God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly” (HCSB).

Paul goes even further in Acts 23:5. Here Paul has just been illegally struck in the face by order of the high priest. Paul responds in anger, threatening the high priest, telling him that God would strike him. Those standing by warned Paul against speaking against the high priest. Paul responds saying, “I did not know brothers that it was the high priest. For it is written, ‘You must not speak evil of a ruler of your people’” (HCSB). Paul was quoting from Exodus 22:28.

Not only are believers commanded to submit to all rulers that are in positions of authority over them, they are to submit with all respect. We are not even to speak evil of any ruler, no matter how much we may dislike their policies, practices, or their person.

Children are to submit to their parents. Employees are to submit to their employers. Everyone is to submit to the governing authorities. Wives are to submit to their own husbands. Men are to submit to Christ. God is a God of order. He has established a specific structure of authority for everyone. There is not a person in this world that is not required to submit respectfully to the authority that God has established over him. There are no exceptions.

In addition to this specific structure of authority, God has established certain principles to guide our living. One of these principles is set forth in 1 Corinthians 14:32-33, where Paul again writes saying: “And the prophets’ spirits are under the control of the prophets, since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”

This principle is also seen in Ephesians 5:15-21 where Paul warns us saying: “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ” (HCSB).

Here we see the result of doing something to excess, of doing something to the point that it takes control of you. Getting drunk on wine is the result of drinking wine to excess. The problem with drinking wine to excess is that it results in reckless actions. In other words, it results in us losing control of our bodies, and the actions that we take with our bodies. When we are drunk, we are no longer in control. This violates a basic principle of God. He requires that we always maintain control of our bodies, and of the actions that we take with our bodies.

We are never to let our body’s desire for anything be catered to, to the extent that we lose control over our own body. Allowing an excess of anything our body desires will eventually cause us to lose control. This will result in reckless actions. This principle not only applies to the various lusts and desires by which our body tries to take over and have control of us, it also applies to things in the spiritual realm.

We are not puppets. We are not robots. We are not to yield control of ourselves to anything. We are always to be in control of ourselves. Neither the Spirit nor our body is to be in control over us. It is critically important that we understand this principle. We are never to allow anything to take control over us.

In 1 Corinthians 6:12 Paul tells us: ‘“Everything is permissible for me,’ but not everything is helpful. ‘Everything is permissible for me,’ but I will not be brought under the control of anything” (HCSB). In 1 Corinthians 9:27 he says: “I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (HCSB). Galatians 5:22-23 reads: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Notice here that the fruit of the Spirit is, among other things, self-control. In other words, when a believer is being led by the Spirit, the Spirit will produce self-control in that believer’s life. Self-control is a fruit produced by the Spirit in a believer’s life as the believer yields to the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit does not control the believer. The believer, rather, continually chooses to follow the leading of the Spirit.

There are some, who claim to be Christians, who believe that one sign of spirituality is to allow one’s self to be fully under the control of the Spirit. This submission to the full control of the Spirit is then demonstrated in various ways. Among these is the practice of being “slain in the Spirit” whereby the so-called believer simply collapses to the floor as a result of the Spirit’s “touch.” Other manifestations of being under the control of the Spirit are uncontrolled shouting, singing, barking, jumping, dancing, and any other “uncontrolled” behavior.

Let me be very clear about this. Any uncontrolled behavior, that is any action that we commit because we are unable to control ourselves, is not of God. 1 Corinthians 14:33 reminds us: “God is not a God of disorder” (HCSB). When we are being led by the Spirit, that Spirit will produce self-control in our lives. According to Scripture, self-control in the life of a Christian is a basic and necessary sign of spiritual growth. A lack of self-control is clear evidence that we are not walking by the Spirit.

Paul sets forth the requirements of a Christian brother that desires to serve the Lord in a position of responsibility for the well-being of the church. In 1 Timothy 3:1-3 he writes: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work. An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, not addicted to wine, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy” (HCSB). A basic requirement for this Christian man is self-control.

We see this same requirement for Christian women. Paul writes in Titus 2:3-5 instructing them: “In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. They are to teach what is good, so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind, and submissive to their husbands, so that God’s message will not be slandered” (HCSB).

Self-control means that we are in control of our own bodies. We are responsible for the actions we take. Our bodies must not control us. We, the human being, the soul within the body, must be in control. This is a basic principle of the Christian life. We must not allow anything to take control over us. Not our body, not the Spirit, nothing can be allowed to control our actions. We must be self-controlled at all times.

Our bodies have many natural desires, urges, or hungers. We have natural hungers for food, drink, sex, and so on. These desires can be very strong. There are times that they seem to be almost uncontrollable. There are some people that have realized that they are weak and are susceptible to being controlled by these desires or lusts. Some of these people have developed a policy of legalism, fearing, that if they give in even the slightest amount to one of these desires, they will not be able to control it.

Colossians 2:20-23 talks about such practices and their futility in controlling these fleshly desires of our bodies. It says: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

This policy of denying the body any satisfaction of its natural desires is not scriptural. On the contrary, Scripture tells us clearly that this practice is of no benefit against these desires. These natural desires of the body need to be tended to, but they need to be tended to in a controlled and moderate way. These natural desires of the body are desires that God has placed within us, and by the leading of His Spirit He will direct us on how to satisfy these desires in a godly and controlled manner.

These hungers were placed within us by God, and, as such, they are not in themselves evil. God has provided safe, healthy, controllable ways for us to satisfy these basic natural hungers. Satisfying these hungers in a moderate, godly fashion will result in a happy, healthy life. Not satisfying these hungers in the ways that God has provided will result in lives of hardship, frustration, and excess. Left unsatisfied, these natural desires will become lusts that will try to take control of us.

Uncontrolled eating is gluttony. Uncontrolled drinking is drunkenness. Proverbs 23:19-21 says: “Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course. Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags” (HCSB).

Uncontrolled sexual activity is sexual immorality. It will result in heartbreak, sickness and confusion. 1 Corinthians 6:18 warns us: “The person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.” God has provided us with very controlled, moderate, and yet, totally satisfying ways to address all of these natural desires.

We are able to address these natural desires of the body in a controlled and satisfying way if we are walking by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 promises: “Walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh” (WEB). When we deny the natural desires of our body, these desires grow to become lusts, and they become so strong that we become controlled by them. It is critically important that we live our lives being led by the Spirit, then these lusts will not control us. Rather, we will be in control of our bodies.

God does not want us to be gluttons, drunkards, or sexually immoral. The Corinthians wrote to Paul about the issue of sexual activity. Paul responds to their questions in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 writing: “Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.

“The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

It is clear from this passage that a strong sexual appetite is natural, and that God has provided a safe, healthy, and moderate way for us to satisfy that appetite. That way is for each man to have his own wife, and for each woman to have her own husband. When either spouse is withholding themselves from the other, this deprivation can cause a lack of self-control and lust that looks for satisfaction outside of the marriage. Again, as with food and drink, a good appetite is healthy and is satisfied by God’s provision and God’s arrangement, but excess is unhealthy and depravation leads to lust.

It is amazing how much enjoyment we can experience in the Christian life when we understand that God is a God of order. “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” When we are led by the Spirit, the Spirit will produce fruit in our lives. A significant part of the fruit that the Spirit produces in the life of a believer is self-control. If we are walking by the Spirit, our lives should be a testimony of self-control. This self-control will result in the godly enjoyment of the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us, and not a life of legalistic asceticism, or in a life of uncontrolled behavior.

Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” He gives His joy unto us that our joy may be full. In John 15:11 Jesus tells us, “These things I have spoken unto you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” God is good. He wants the very best for us. When we walk with Him, being led by the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, but we will be empowered by the Spirit to live godly lives of self-control, fully satisfied with God’s rich provision for our every need.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.