Cross Talk: The Divine Gift of Self Control

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” is one of the most well-known ad campaigns of all time. Despite its popularity, it is really a horrible slogan. It invites a person to ask what evil he would do if no one would ever find out.

How far would you go if you knew you would never be caught? Would you lie, steal, cheat, and commit adultery? Would you murder and take advantage of helpless people? What evil things might you do anonymously if you weren’t worried about your reputation?

As exercises in self-examination, such questions are terribly uncomfortable. If you turn them around and ask what your enemy might do to you if no one would ever find out, the world can become a very frightening place.

Imagine an enemy who has no restraints whatsoever. Imagine an enemy who sees everything you do and hears every word you say. Then imagine that this enemy is willing to do absolutely anything to harm you without any moral restraints at all.

You may be thinking about the CIA, FBI or some other three-letter agency that has the power to ruin your life. But these are small potatoes compared to Satan. If big government scares you, Satan should scare you far more. He is far more powerful than any human agency, and he has no humanity at all that might tug at his conscience.

Of course, there is One—and only One—who is more powerful than Satan. God is all-powerful and all-knowing. But, unlike Satan, God has self-restraint. The fundamental difference between God’s character and Satan’s is that there are certain things that God will not do.

The self-restraint of God is what we call goodness. And, as Jesus makes plain, “No one is good except God alone” (Luke 18:19 ESV). This is why the fear of God is not at all like the fear of Satan. We have reason to fear the devil because he is unbounded evil. We both fear and love God because He is unbounded goodness.

The most amazing thing about God’s goodness is that He maintains His self-control and goodness even in His confrontation with the devil. Even when faced with Satan, who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of evil, God never stoops to do evil.

Rather, He sacrifices Himself on the cross to defeat Satan with all his power and willingness to do evil. In fact, Jesus’ own self-control is the way that He defeats the unrestrained evil of Satan. In so doing, He proves once and for all that goodness is not a hindrance in fighting evil. Rather, it is the only way.

That brings us back to the Christian ethos. Rather than saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” Jesus says, “everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:20-21).

In this world we see evil men who are willing to do and say anything and who desperately hide their actions. They do not restrain themselves, but do whatever they can get away with. This should not make us envious. It should arouse our pity.

Here we see the demonic consequences of the loss of self-control. These frightful displays give opportunity to repent of our own lack of self-restraint and to pray. We should pray both for forgiveness and for the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).