It is true that discipline imposed from the outside eventually defeats when it is not matched by desire from within. This may be true of the young person under his father’s authoritarian ways who kicks over the traces when he leaves home. It is not true of the man in middle years who decides to be more disciplined. It is then a matter of the heart.
Psalm 119:9 reads “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way; by taking heed thereto according to thy Word.” John 14:26 Jesus promised to bring all things to our “remembrance.”
On Bible Study
John 6:63 reads “Thy Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Also in Matthew 4:4 the Lord Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Joshua 1:8: “This law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate thereon day and night”. God said “mouth”. We think with words; not with vague thoughts.
C S Lewis has Screwtape saying “The English will always run to the side of the boat that is already gunwale under.” They just call it “legalism”: and do as they please. “let me find my own way to God.” Jesus said: “No man cometh to the Father but
by Me”. Back to the thought on Scriptural study: It’s like Hebrew 10:18 “where remission of these is, there is no more offering of sin:” And so the rest of the chapter. The writer says “I have demonstrated that there is no salvation in angels, Moses, Aaron, sacrifice, or keeping the old law: If you do not trust Christ for salvation I have nothing else to offer.” And so the other Scriptures, also.
Let me just take some of the basic philosophies rampant today:
First, “Our hearts are good.”
But the Bible says:
Jeremiah 17:9 “Deceitful and desperately wicked.”
Mark 7:21-23 – thirteen abominations in the heart.
Second, “listen to our hearts.” But the Bible says:
Proverbs 28:26 – “He that trusteth in his heart is a fool.”
Third, “Listen to your hearts.”
But the Bible says:
Jeremiah 23:16 – The prophets that ‘speak a vision out of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the LORD.’
Job, in Chapter 42:5, 6 finally saw things rightly.
Joy is the result of obedience to the laws of God.
Holiness brings joy. Nothing else does. In Proverbs 29:6 we read “the righteous doth sing and rejoice.”

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