Temperance 1.1

By Doc. Rick Flanders

 

"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

In his first epistle to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul was inspired to speak of the role temperance must play in the successful Christian life. Like an athlete, we must be "temperate in all things." The passage in I Corinthians clearly connects temperance with self-discipline, as it speaks of the need to "keep under" the body and "bring it into subjection." Certainly a good Christian must learn how to tell himself what to do, and then get his body to do what he tells it to do! But in another epistle, Paul speaks of temperance in a different way: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

In Galatians, temperance is said to be the product (fruit) of the Holy Spirit's ministry in our lives. It is not the work of our flesh, as we can see from the verses that precede these. So how do we get temperance, through self-discipline or from the Holy Spirit? This is a very important question, as we will see as we look more deeply into it.

Study Bibles and Bible dictionaries usually define temperance as "self-control," and we can understand why from by reading the passage in I Corinthians. However, it will be important for us to note that the Greek word translated "temperance" in the New Testament does not have any indication about "self" in any of its prefixes or suffixes or other parts! The word is properly defined "restraint." And we all need it. How often a believer will respond to an appeal for repentance or another important commitment to Christ, by coming down a church aisle or kneeling at an altar of prayer, only to fail to keep his commitment because of his lack of temperance, the virtue of restraining his body to obey the decisions of his mind. Is the cause of his failure to be found in his bad character or his need for faith? What does the Bible say?