“Exercise yourself toward godliness” we are told in 1 Tim 4:7

Or, in the Greek, the word “exercise” is gymnazo. Gymnazo means “to exercise vigorously, in any way, either the body or the mind.”
It is where we get our English word “gymnasium.”

You go to a gym to exercise your body. This is good. The following verse in 1 Timothy says: “Bodily exercise [Gk. gymnasia] profits a little.”
“But,” it goes on, “godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
Therefore, especially: “Exercise yourself toward godliness”

Why?
Why exercise? Why exert yourself?
Why exercise yourself to godliness? Why not just “let go and let God”?

At one time, after a very long campaign on the part of my wife to be married to a healthy husband, I joined a gym.
A personal trainer at the gym took me aside and asked me: “Why?”
“What is your goal ?  What do you want to achieve by coming to the gym ?”
Why was I there?

Wrong reasons to exercise

1) “My aim in coming to the gym is to make myself alive: I died a week ago; they buried me yesterday, I don’t want to stay dead. So my goal is that you will devise an exercise program that will make me alive again.”
I could have said that, but I didn’t: partly because it would be stupid to say so, and partly because I was already alive.

Likewise you don’t exercise to godliness to become a Christian. No amount of exercise you do as a non-Christian will make you a Christian.
Exercise to godliness is vital for the Christian life. But it doesn’t produce life.
If you are not a Christian, the Bible says you are dead – spiritually dead.
Eph 2:1-3 says “you are dead in trespasses and sins” – and, going to the gym won’t make you alive.
Only God can do that, as you come to Him in humble repentance, and faith in Jesus Christ.

2) Just as stupid is what a teenage boy once told me was his reason for going to the gym: “I go to the gym because I want to become a chick-magnet.”
He was having himself on.  Young men who think like that are incredibly self-centred.
Furthermore, they are deluding themselves. Nothing is a bigger turn-off to a young woman than self-centredness in a man trying to impress her. Young women – most young women anyway – are not impressed by big muscles; especially where they are packaged with a big head.

So, too, the goal of exercising in God’s gym is not to impress others. It is  “godliness”.
If your reason for pursuing godliness is so that others will look up to you, and put you on a pedestal, then again, you’ve got it all wrong.

In 2 Tim 3:5 Paul refers to those who “have a form of godliness but deny the power of godliness” by the way they live. “From such people turn away!” he says.
Or, in 1 Tim 6:5 – these are those who “suppose that godliness is a means of gain”. They appear to be “godly” – but for their own selfish gain.  “From such withdraw yourself” it says.

Right reasons to exercise

And yet, godliness is gain – where it is not focused on yourself.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Tim 6:6)
“Godliness” is “gain”.

1) When the personal trainer asked me why I was coming to the gym, I told him: “To be as healthy as I can be with this body (not someone else’s), at my stage of life (not as though I were 40 years younger).”
All I wanted was to continue to work of the Lord, and enjoy the life He has given me, as well as that is possible.
Yes, in God’s providence, I may be struck down with any number of debilitating sicknesses. But, whatever is happening now and whatever He has in store for me in the future – I would just like to do the best I can. That’s it.

But isn’t that true for each of us spiritually, as well as physically?
Yes, “bodily exercise profits a little.”
As Christians we have an obligation to look after our bodies; God has given you the body you have to look after it, and serve Him in it.

But what is it that “profits much more”?
God has also given you a soul.
If, by the grace of God, He has breathed new spiritual life into that soul, so that you are born again, you have an obligation to keep your soul as spiritually healthy as it can be.
You have a greater obligation to keep your soul as spiritually healthy as it can be, than you have to keep your body as physically healthy as it can be.
“Godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

2) And, by exercising ourselves to godliness you also please God.

Unfortunately, this has been lost in some circles today.
Some will say, “No matter what you do, you cannot please God. ‘We are all like an unclean thing; all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags’.”
Others will tell you, “It is all of grace. Forget works; your works cannot please Him. He delights in you in Christ whether you are godly or not.”

But, with the help of God’s Spirit, you can do what is good; you can please God.God is more pleased with you when you do good, than when you don’t.
He doesn’t cease to love His child – even when that child disobeys.
But when His child obeys, He is pleased with the good he does. He is pleased with godliness.

“Do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit… For he who serves Christ in these things is pleasing to God.” (Rom 14:16,18)

“We urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.” (1 Thes 4:1-2)

So, get down to the spiritual gym and exercise. Get into hard, sweaty, spiritual workouts.
“Exercise yourself toward godliness.”

In this, self-discipline is foundational. Gym work requires self-discipline.
According to Steven Lawson, in the following article self-discipline is basic if you are to “exercise yourself toward godliness.”

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Self-Discipline

Growth in personal holiness is largely determined by our progress in self-discipline. Without this foundational discipline, there can be no advancement in grace. Before other disciplines can be administered, whether in the home, business, or church, there first must be self-discipline.

Admittedly, personal discipline is not a popular subject today.
In our society, any insistence upon self-discipline is largely resisted, even among many Christians. Legalism, they cry, defending their rights of Christian liberty. These free-spirited believers maintain that discipline restricts their freedom in Christ, binding them in a spiritual straightjacket.

But many of these believers have so abused their freedom in Christ that they have virtually no spiritual discipline. They have swung the pendulum so drastically toward Christian liberty that their spiritual lives are out of balance.
Such neglect of self-discipline prolongs their spiritual immaturity, leaving them with little self-control to resist temptation and sin.

Let us be clear, if there is no discipline, there is no discipleship. If we do not discipline ourselves, God Himself will discipline us (Heb. 12:5–11).
One way or another, there will be discipline in our lives. Given our tendency toward sin, we must discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, lest we be disciplined by God.

What Is Self-Discipline?

The Greek word translated “discipline” (enkrateia) comes from the root krat, which denotes power or lordship. Self-discipline means to exercise power over one’s self. It is the ability to keep one’s self under control.
The word indicates self-mastery over one’s inner desires, thoughts, actions, and words. It is the control a believer must exercise over his life (Gal. 5:23).

This same word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:9 to indicate the “self-control” one must show over unlawful sexual desires.
Likewise, elders must be “self-controlled” (Titus 1:8), disciplined in their inward attitudes and outward actions. Mastery of self is non-negotiable for spiritual leadership.

The opposite of self-discipline is a self-indulgent lifestyle that produces “the works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21). Any lack of self-control will inevitably result in sinful deeds.
But where self-mastery exists, there is a strong resistance to sensual appetites and sinful choices. Self-rule brings every thought, word, and deed captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
Any advance in personal holiness demands self-control.

What Self-Discipline Is Not

To best understand what self-discipline is, we need to see what it is not. Two erroneous views of the Christian life—Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism—distort the truth of self-discipline.

In the fourth century, a British ascetic named Pelagius (AD 354–420) taught the fatal error that man has the inherent ability to both save and sanctify himself. By a person’s sheer force of will, he claimed, he is able to accomplish the divine will.
By this, Pelagius denied original sin and the total depravity of mankind. The mere knowledge of the divine law, he insisted, is all that is needed. By his own free will, man may discipline himself by self-determination.

Pelagius was denounced as a heretic by the Council of Carthage for this fatal teaching (AD 418). Tragically, however, Pelagianism remains with us.
Many today falsely assume that they can simply will themselves to be whatever they want to be. This mindless mantra is found in today’s self-help movement and prosperity gospel, chanting, “What the mind can conceive, the will can accomplish.” The ability of self-discipline, they claim, is within us.

A second erroneous view is semi-Pelagianism. This syncretistic approach assumes that man has some ability to save and sanctify himself. A person must supply his willpower in partnership with God.
In this joint venture, God and man are co-contributors to self-discipline. God gives a measure of grace, but man supplies the rest.

Semi-Pelagianism is only half-Christian. This compromising position was likewise declared heretical by the Western Church in the Second Council of Orange (AD 529).
Yet tragically, this tainted legacy remains to this day in the man-centered theology of Arminianism and in the pragmatic methods of Finneyism.

Instead, the truth was taught by another fourth century teacher named Augustine (AD 354–430). This gifted leader asserted that God is the sole author of man’s salvation and sanctification. By His sovereign grace, God monergistically regenerates spiritually dead sinners.

Every Christian is responsible to pursue holiness, yet God must work within us to produce personal godliness (Phil. 2:13–14). Augustinian teaching rightly understands that only God can produce authentic self-discipline in the believer.

Who Produces Self-Discipline?

This virtue of “self-control” is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). As a vine produces fruit, self-discipline is created exclusively by the Spirit.
Self-control is never self-generated; rather, it is a work of grace within us. Though we are active in practicing it, we simply bear this fruit of self-discipline. We never produce it.

Jesus maintained, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
In our own willpower, we cannot do anything that pleases God. Only by God’s enabling grace can we exercise self-control in our ongoing war against sin.
The Apostle Paul affirms, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). That is, Christ must be mightily working within us.

As sap flows into the branch, producing fruit, divine grace must fill the believer, producing self-control. The self can never produce self-discipline. Only as Christians live under the Holy Spirit’s control can they live self-controlled lives.

In Galatians 5:22–23, we read that there are nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. Self-discipline appears last on the list. By occupying this final position, self-discipline assumes a place of strategic importance.
In reality, self-discipline is the summation of the previous eight qualities that the Spirit produces. The work of the Spirit reaches its consummation in self-control. This virtue enables us to realize every other aspect of spiritual fruit.

What Does Self-Discipline Look Like?

The Apostle Paul compared the self-discipline required in Christian living with an athlete training for and competing in the ancient athletic games: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in small things” (1 Cor. 9:25).
If a runner would win the prize, he must bring his entire life under the strict discipline of rigorous training. The strenuous workout of the athlete demands that he seriously restrict his personal liberties. If he is to be victorious, he must refuse many individual freedoms.
Liberties are largely for spectators, not a champion athlete. He must pursue a proper diet, sufficient rest, and arduous drills. Every area of his life must be brought under control.

So it is in the Christian life. Paul urges, “Train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim. 4:7).
To pursue holiness, a believer must hear biblical preaching and teaching, and participate in corporate worship, the Lord’s Supper, Bible reading, meditation, prayer, and fellowship.
Further, he must deny many legitimate pleasures if he is to win the prize.

This kind of self-discipline is a rebuke to half-hearted Christians who do little to train for spiritual victory.
They are out-of-shape believers with flabby faith. They are spiritual couch potatoes with bulging spiritual waistlines. Their lifestyle is self-indulgent due to their lack of self-control.

Paul adds, “I box in such a way, as not beating the air” (1 Cor. 9:26).
A champion boxer must have a clearly-focused aim in the ring. But an undisciplined fighter throws wild punches, never landing a blow on his opponent.
An undisciplined believer suffers great defeats in his bout against sin. To the contrary, a believer must live with self-control in fighting against sin.

A champion athlete must beat his body into submission. If not, he will be disqualified from the race.
Paul warns: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (v. 27). The Apostle urges us to discipline our bodies and resist sinful desires. If we do not, we will forfeit the prize.

What Is the Price?

Believers have liberty in Christ to pursue what is not forbidden in Scripture.
But we cannot afford for anything to gain mastery over us. Victory always comes at a price. The Christian life is no different.

This necessitates that we exercise self-discipline in areas like food, drink, sleep, time, and money.
We must exercise self-control in the entertainment and recreation in which we engage.
We must restrict our liberties in whatever would hinder us from winning the prize.

If we are to exercise self-control, we must relinquish the control of our lives to Jesus Christ.
Here is a paradox of the Christian life: We must give up the control of self if we would gain self-control.
May God enable us to exercise self-discipline, an absolute necessity for victory over sin.

(end of Steven Lawson’s article)