Faith has been described as a "green cord" which we must take out and exercise. The analogy of a cord is so appropriate after closely reading James. A rope cannot push, only pull. He cannot push us and have the kind of follower He really wants. In the garden the night of His arrest He did not even then force His disciples to stay awake with Him, when He needed their support the most. He can only pull us as long as we are willing to hang on.
The other aspect of this analogy is that we cannot push the cord either. Throughout history people have wanted god's they could control; god's that did their bidding. The Israelites were not worshiping another god in the desert when they made the golden calf, they just wanted to put God in a form where they could be in control.
David began to understand this while he was being hunted by Saul. He wrote in the Paslms about the Shepherd who led the sheep by still waters. How did the shepherd "make" the sheep lie down in the green pastures except that he led them there and paused so that they could rest and refresh themselves. As we allow God to lead us we will have the peace of mind that will cause us not to fear when we are in the presence of our enemies, so much so that we would be able to enjoy a banquet. The rod of the Lords discipline did not freighten the sheep and neither should it freighten us. The rod was used by the shepherd to protect and to save the sheep, and at times to prod them to follow the right paths or to stay in the fold. What good would it do to beat the sheep? Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd", and "My sheep know My voice, and obey Me." This shows trust for the shepherd; the only way sheep would obey the voice of the shepherd is because experience has shown them that they could trust this person.
Jesus also characterized Himself as a fisher-of-men. The gift of faith that God gives as a gift to men is this cord. He lets it down as the fisherman casts his nets; in-order for us to "do our part" we must grasp hold of this gift, this gift of faith, and the only work we can do to commend ourselves to God is to not let go. We must hang on for our very lives, our eternal life, by exercising the cord of faith. This is how we come under the control of the Holy Spirit.
As we hold onto this cord of faith the Holy Spirit can guide us through life. Unlike the fishermans line with hook attached, the only way we can be led by the Spirit is by hanging on. It takes two to function; we are at liberty to let go anytime we choose. So really when we are under control of the Spirit it is really Dual Control, this is what Paul continually is trying to get across to us. It is time to grow-up, to exercise faith, to mature to where we are able to hang on through thick and thin. By exercising self control, which he lists as one of the gifts of the Spirit, we are able to hang on as Job did. When things were the worst, as his friends tried to persuade him that his theology was all mixed-up, that he didn't know how God opperated, Job held firm to his belief and understanding of his friend, God. He acted maturely, he exercised self-control, so that he didn't even sin in his mind during this whole period of difficulty. And God came down and said to Job and to his theologian friends that Job had said what was right about Him; that God was trustworthy, and wanted to be our friend.
God is trustworthy, and we can truly admire the way He does things; He gives us dignity and freedom and the individuality of self-control. Paul says: "Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind." How could we be persuaded in our own minds if we didn't have the freedom to do so? This is the only way that Unity and Peace can exist for eternity, this is the basis for and the only condition by which, God can say that sin will never arise again.