What does First B Jackson teach about self control?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First Baptist Jackson, the teaching on self-control does not treat it as a personality trait some people happen to have. It comes up consistently in the study of Titus 2, where Pastor Jason, Pastor Ron, Pastor Ray, and Pastor Josh each noticed that Paul weaves self-control through every group he addresses in the household code: older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and bond servants. The point the teaching keeps landing on is that Paul is not describing what nice people look like. He is describing what the grace of God actually produces in a life that has been claimed by Christ.
The Titus 2 messages press hard on the 'so that' logic Paul uses throughout the chapter. Bond servants are to live a certain way so that they adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. The word for adorn is the root of cosmos and cosmetics, the idea of arranging something so that its beauty draws people in. The practical shape of self-controlled living, then, is not about personal discipline as an end in itself. It is about making the teaching about God compellingly attractive to the people around you. Pastor Ron noted, honestly, that being charged the week before to concentrate on self-control made McDonald's harder to resist, not easier, and that this is exactly the point: submitting the will to the grace of God is the daily work, not a one-time decision.
The Galatians 5 message on walking by the Spirit fills in the power source behind that daily work. Self-control appears there as part of the fruit of the Spirit, not as something a person produces by trying harder. The flesh and the Spirit oppose each other, and the practical question is which one you are feeding. Walking by the Spirit is described in that message as ordinary and habitual, the same word Paul used for the walking people did every day to get from one place to another. It is not a dramatic spiritual experience. It is the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other choice, made daily, to pay attention to what God is doing and act on it.
Taught from Titus 2:11-12 · Titus 2:1 · Galatians 5:16-18 · Galatians 5:19-23 · Titus 2:9-10
The passage taught · John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- July 22, 2018 Gotta Serve Somebody Titus 2 sermon on what it means to willingly serve Christ, live self-controlled lives, and adorn the gospel through everyday work and conduct.
- July 22, 2018 You're Gonna Have to Serve Somebody Pastor Keith works through Titus 2, tracing how God's grace trains believers toward self-control, godliness, and zeal for good works while we wait for Christ's return.
- July 15, 2018 Teach What Accords With Sound Doctrine Titus 2 calls older men, older women, and younger generations to lives of self-control and sound faith so the word of God is honored before a watching world.
- July 15, 2018 The Grace of God Has Appeared for All People Pastor Tony walks through Titus 2, exploring what God calls older men, older women, and younger people to be, with self-control as the thread running through it all.
- June 28, 2015 Walk by the Spirit Paul's call in Galatians 5 to walk by the Spirit is both a command and a promise: feed the right wolf, and the flesh loses its grip on your life.