"In" (en) means "in connection with" the preceding.

How is self-control related to gnosis? Obedience is the key.

Gnosis involves a diligent study and pursuit of truth in the Word of God and then a dutiful obedience to that truth out of love for the one Who has made us partakers of His divine nature.

SELF-CONTROL: ten egkrateian: (Acts 24:25; 1Co 9:25; Gal 5:23; Titus 1:8; 2:2)

Self Control - See notes on the fruit of the Spirit = Galatians 5:23

Self Control (1466) (egkrateia from en = in + kratos = power to rule  <> the stem krat- speaks of power or lordship) is used only 3 times in the NT (Acts; Gal; 2 Peter) and is translated temperance in the KJV and self-control in the NASB.

Egkrateia means literally a holding oneself in or the ability to take a grip of oneself. This meaning reminds one of our modern slang expression "Get a grip"! Egkrateia has reference to restraining passions and appetites. It points to the inner power to control one's own desires and appetites, and in context is one of the fruits of "true knowledge" (epignosis). As with meekness, however, this grace does not apply to God, who obviously does not need to restrain Himself. In His incarnation Christ was the epitome of self-control. He was never tempted or tricked into doing or saying anything that was not consistent with His Father’s will and His own divine nature.

Egkrateia points to an inner power to control one's old desires and cravings inherited from Adam (see notes on Ro 5:12). Sometimes saints forget that even though they have been crucified with Christ and are dead to the power of sin in their life, the old desires are still latent and able to be activated in our mortal bodies as Paul clearly taught writing...

"But I say, walk by the Spirit & you will not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Gal 5:16 cf notes on Ro 6:12-13).

The Greek word egkrateia has the idea of to get a grip on one's self, on one's passions! Many of the early Christian heresies taught that since the body was evil (they claimed) it was not necessary to curb fleshly lusts, only to think correctly. The writer of proverbs addresses this issue of "self control" writing that

"He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city." (Pr 16:32)

Paul uses egkrateia in his appearance before Felix, and in this context apparently referring to self–control in the area of sex. When Paul spoke before Felix and his wife Drusilla,

“discussing righteousness, self–control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present, and when I find time, I will summon you’ ” (Acts 24:24-25).

Felix had stolen Drusilla from her former husband and was therefore living with her in an adulterous relationship. The sexual self–control of which Paul spoke pertained to lustful passion, as Felix understood. The message to the governor was that he was living contrary to God’s righteousness by refusing to discipline his sexual desire, and for that he was subject to God’s judgment.

In Galatians Paul writing of the fruit of the Holy Spirit says that "there is no law" against "gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:23)

Plato uses egkrateia to refer to self-mastery. It is the spirit which has mastered its desires and its love of pleasure. Secular Greek uses egkrateia of the virtue of an Emperor who never lets his private interests influence the government of his people. It is the virtue which makes a man so master of himself that he is fit to be the servant of others.

In Peter’s day, self-control was used of athletes who were to be self-restrained and self-disciplined and was crucial to victory in the intense competition of the Olympic Games. Greeks used this term especially to describe one who had his sexual passions under control, but the NT extends the meaning to all areas of life where the discernment between good and evil is important (cf 1Th 5:21-22).

Socrates regarded it as a cardinal virtue and Philo described it as superiority expressed in self-restraint.  A Christian is to control the flesh, the passions, and the bodily desires, rather than allowing himself to be controlled by them (1Co 9:24-25, 26-27).

Self-control is not a legalistic abstinence, but is an attitude only possible because of the Divine enablement and because I am a partaker of the Divine nature, as I yield to the Spirit ("the fruit of the Spirit is...self-control"  Gal 5:22-23). He manifests an exemplary life on the outside (the visible "fruit" in the schematic diagram above) because he submits to the Holy Spirit’s control on the inside.

Self-control means mastering one’s emotions rather than being controlled by them.  Lack of self control played a significant role in abominable deeds of the false teachers Peter would expose more fully in chapter 2. Their claims to "liberty" led to licentiousness rather than life as it should be lived. These men instead of self control were controlled by sensuality, greed and fleshly desires. These false teachers believed and taught that knowledge freed people from the need to control their passions. Peter stamps as false any "spiritual" doctrine or system that claims that knowledge emancipates men from the obligations of morality.

Hiebert quotes Barnett on the interrelationship among these traits

"Where virtue (moral excellence) guided by knowledge, disciplines desire and makes it the servant instead of the master of life, self-control may be said to supplement faith."

The OT gives a dramatic picture of self-control  where Solomon writes

"Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit." (Pr 25:28)

The city states of those days were walled for protection from marauders. No wall meant no protection. No self control by analogy means one is wide open to attack from the Evil One & the old sinful flesh nature!  Such a man or woman is an easy victim when attacked by his desires and impulses.

Remember that when you take time off from "disciplining yourself for godliness" (1Ti 4:7-8) for several weeks you don't just remain static spiritually...just as cessation of physical exercise results in loss of muscle mass, endurance level, readiness level so too the same thing occurs in the spiritual realm. And when you start re-training you're a little sore at first and you definitely aren't at the spiritual level you were at when you took a break. The longer you resist the Holy Spirit, the more difficult it becomes to return to where you should be.

Wayne Barber discusses "self control"

"Remember that this self-control arises from and is accompanied by our knowledge which comes out of obedience to the Word of God. It comes right out of that faith that God gives us. The definition of self control means to be able to hold one's self in. 1Co 9:25 Paul is talking about an athlete and how he has to have self-control (Ed Note: not egkrateia but the related verb egkrateuomai) ("And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things..." ) This would include control over his appetite, his temper, his schedule (an athlete needs priorities or he will become undisciplined). If you wanted to play on the basketball team in college, you had to have discipline or self-control. Remember that the definite article ("the" in the Greek) is before each godly characteristic so Peter is talking about the self-control, the very self-control and self-restraint that Jesus had, even as He Himself was tempted as all men are. And yet He gives us access to that same self-control! So that's where the analogy breaks down...it's not human energized self-control Peter is talking about but that which is available by faith (obedience) from Christ in us. The Christian ought to have control over his appetite." Wayne goes on to make the point that when he is in the Word of God, he is a controlled person. "How many diets have you been on? You lose some but then you gain it right back. Remember that Scripture repeatedly links idolatry and immorality (Nu25:1,2). Immorality and a person with an uncontrolled appetite is closely related all the way through Scripture. Believers because of Christ within them, possess the potential to control our temper, to exercise control over our desires, the power to say "no", the power to set godly priorities, the power within us so that we can turn off the television so that we can go to bed early so that we can arise early to be fresh with God in the AM, the self control to get out of bed in the morning to be alone with God, etc. And all of this self-discipline comes out of our faith. We don't have to go to a course or read a book on how to become self-disciplined! That discipline is within us and if we are diligent to see results, then we will see God work it out in our life and move us into His victory." (Bolding added)

For additional insights on this issue of self control, you might want to read John Piper article entitled "The Fierce Fruit of Self-Control"

AND IN SELF-CONTROL PERSEVERANCE: en de te egkrateia ten hupomonen: (Ps 37:7; Lu 8:15; 21:19; Ro 2:7; 5:3,4; 8:25; 15:4; 2Co 6:4; Col 1:11; 1Th 1:3; 2Th 1:4; 3:5; Heb 6:12,15; 10:36; 12:1; Ja 1:3,4; 5:7-10; Rev 1:9; 2:2; 13:10; 14:12) (See Torrey's Topic "Patience")

Perseverance (5281) (hupomone from hupo = under + meno = stay, remain, abide) is literally abiding under. The root idea of hupomone is that of remaining under some discipline, subjecting one’s self to something which demands the acquiescence of the will to something against which one naturally would rebel. It portrays a picture of steadfastly and unflinchingly bearing up under a heavy load and describes that quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. The picture is that of steadfastness, constancy and endurance. It has in it a  forward look, the ability to focus on what is beyond the current pressures (eg Jesus

"Who for the joy set before Him endured [verb form hupomeno] the Cross despising the shame" see notes on Hebrews 12:2).

And so hupomone does not describe a grim resignation or a passive "grin & bear" attitude but a triumphant facing of difficult circumstances knowing that even out of evil God guarantees good. It is courageous gallantry which accepts suffering and hardship and turns them into grace and glory.

Hupomone  is used 32 times in the NASB (Lu 2x; Ro 6x; 2Co 3x; Col; 1Th; 2Th 2x; 1Ti; 2Ti; Titus; Heb 2x; Js 3x; 2 P; Re 7x) and is translated: endurance, 7; patient enduring, 1; perseverance, 21; steadfastness, 3.

Luke 8:15 "And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 21:19 "By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Romans 2:7 (note) to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;

Romans 5:3 (note) And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

Romans 5:4 (note) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

Romans 8:25 (note) But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Romans 15:4 (note) For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Romans 15:5 (note) Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus;

2 Corinthians 1:6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;

2 Corinthians 6:4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,

2 Corinthians 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.

Colossians 1:11 (note) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously

1 Thessalonians 1:3 (note) constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,

2 Thessalonians 1:4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God; and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

2 Timothy 3:10 (note) But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,

Titus 2:2 (note) Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

Hebrews 10:36 (note) For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Hebrews 12:1 (note) Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 5:11 Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

2 Peter 1:6 (note) and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness;

Revelation 1:9 (note) I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 2:2 (note) 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

Revelation 2:3 (note) and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.

Revelation 2:19 (note) 'I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

Revelation 3:10 (note) 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.

Revelation 13:10 (note) If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.

Revelation 14:12 (note) Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
 

Hupomone is found 9 times in the Septuagint (LXX) (1 Chr. 29:15; Ezr. 10:2; Job 14:19; Ps. 9:18; 39:7; 62:5; 71:5; Jer. 14:8; 17:13)

Hupomone is  the ability to endure when circumstances are difficult - not a passive sitting down and bearing things but a triumphant facing of them so that even out of evil there can come good, a bearing up in a way that honors and glorifies our heavenly Father.

The difficulties in our lives,
The obstacles we face,
Give God the opportunity
To show His power and grace.

The point is that both the steadfastness and the patience called for in the life of a believer cannot be lived in the sphere of mere human strength but requires His (supernatural) strength. Therefore Paul prays that the believers might know the power of the risen Son of God ("resurrection power fill us this hour"). Note that from this text, there is no power shortage because it is "according to (not a portion of but proportional to) His glorious might". In other words, His power available to us to remain steadfast and be patient offers limitless power. As Peake writes:

The equipment with power is proportional not simply to the recipient’s need, but to the Divine supply. (Peake, A S: Colossians: The Expositor’s Greek Testament, III:499)

Perseverance is that spiritual staying power that will die before it gives in. It is the virtue which can endure, not simply with resignation, but with a vibrant hope.

Perseverance involves doing what is right and never giving in to the temptation or trial.  It is a conquering patience or conquering endurance. Hupomone is the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us. It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement.

Self-control has to do with handling the pleasures of life, while perseverance relates to the pressures and problems of life.

Hupomone describes that spirit which remains under (hupo = under + meno = remain) trials in a God-honoring way so as to learn the lesson they are sent to teach, rather than attempt to get out from under them in an effort to be relieved of their pressure.

Hiebert adds that perseverance

fosters the ability to withstand the two Satanic agencies of opposition from the world without and enticement from the flesh within. This quality was especially important in view of those who doubted Christ's return because of its seeming delay. (see notes 2 Peter 3:3; 3:4).

Morris says hupomone

is the attitude of the soldier who in the thick of battle is not dismayed but fights on stoutly whatever the difficulties.

Thayer says that hupomone is

the characteristic of a man who is unswerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.

Trench says that hupomone

does not mark merely endurance, or even patience, but the perseverance, the brave patience with which the Christian contends against the various hindrances, persecutions, and temptations that befall him in his conflict with the inward and outward world.” He adds that hupomone is "that temper of spirit in which we accept God’s dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting.  (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament)

Barclay writes that hupomone does not mean...

the patience which sits down and accepts things but the patience which masters them. It is not some romantic thing which lends us wings to fly over the difficulties and the hard places. It is a determination, unhurrying and yet undelaying, which goes steadily on and refuses to be deflected. Obstacles do not daunt it and discouragements do not take its hope away. It is the steadfast endurance which carries on until in the end it gets there.

(Hupomone) means the spirit which can overcome the world; it means the spirit which does not passively endure but which actively overcomes the trials and tribulations of life. When Beethoven was threatened with deafness, that most terrible of troubles for a musician, he said: “I will take life by the throat.” That is hupomonē. When Scott was involved in ruin because of the bankruptcy of his publishers, he said: “No man will say ‘Poor fellow!’ to me; my own right hand will pay the debt.” That is hupomone. Someone once said to a gallant soul who was undergoing a great sorrow: “Sorrow fairly colours life, doesn’t it?” Back came the reply: “Yes! And I propose to choose the colour!” That is hupomonē...when we meet life with the hupomonē which Christ can give, the colour of life is never grey or black; it is always tinged with glory. Hupomonē is not the spirit which lies down and lets the floods go over it; it is the spirit which meets things breast forward and overcomes them.

(Hupomone) is the triumphant adequacy which can cope with life; it is the strength which does not only accept things, but which, in accepting them, transmutes them into glory. 

Hupomonē is not simply the ability to bear things; it is the ability to turn them to greatness and to glory. The thing which amazed the heathen in the centuries of persecution was that the martyrs did not die grimly, they died singing. One smiled in the flames; they asked him what he found to smile at there. “I saw the glory of God,” he said, “and was glad.” Hupomonē is the quality which makes a man able, not simply to suffer things, but to vanquish them. The effect of testing rightly borne is strength to bear still more and to conquer in still harder battles.

The word used of (Job in James 5:11 "Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance (hupomone) of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.") is that great New Testament word hupomonē, which describes, not a passive patience, but that gallant spirit which can breast the tides of doubt and sorrow and disaster and come out with faith still stronger on the other side. There may be a faith which never complained or questioned; but still greater is the faith which was tortured by questions and still believed. It was the faith which held grimly on that came out on the other side, for “the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12). There will be moments in life when we think that God has forgotten, but if we cling to the remnants of faith, at the end we, too, shall see that God is very kind and very merciful.

Chrysostom called hupomonē “The Queen of the Virtues.” In the Authorized Version it is usually translated patience; but patience is too passive a word. Hupomonē has always a background of courage. Cicero defines patientia, its Latin equivalent, as: “The voluntary and daily suffering of hard and difficult things, for the sake of honour and usefulness.” Didymus of Alexandria writes on the temper of Job: “It is not that the righteous man must be without feeling, although he must patiently bear the things which afflict him; but it is true virtue when a man deeply feels the things he toils against, but nevertheless despises sorrows for the sake of God.”...That is hupomone, Christian steadfastness. It is the courageous acceptance of everything that life can do to us and the transmuting of even the worst event into another step on the upward way.

 The keynote of hupomone is not grim, bleak acceptance of trouble but triumph. It describes the spirit which can not only accept suffering but triumph over it....As the silver comes purer from the fire, so the Christian can emerge finer and stronger from hard days. The Christian is the athlete of God whose spiritual muscles become stronger from the discipline of difficulties.

(Hupomone) does not describe the frame of mind which can sit down with folded hands and bowed head and let a torrent of troubles sweep over it in passive resignation. It describes the ability to bear things in such a triumphant way that it transfigures them. Chrysostom has a great panegyric on this hupomone. He calls it “the root of all goods, the mother of piety, the fruit that never withers, a fortress that is never taken, a harbour that knows no storms” and “the queen of virtues, the foundation of right actions, peace in war, calm in tempest, security in plots.” It is the courageous and triumphant ability to pass the breaking-point and not to break and always to greet the unseen with a cheer. It is the alchemy which transmutes tribulation into strength and glory.

Hupomonē never means simply the ability to sit down and bear things but the ability to rise up and conquer them. God is He who gives us the power to use any experience to lend greatness and glory to life. God is He in whom we learn to use joy and sorrow, success and failure, achievement and disappointment alike, to enrich and to ennoble life, to make us more useful to others and to bring us nearer to himself.

(Hupomone)  is victorious endurance. “It is unswerving constancy to faith and piety in spite of adversity and suffering.” It is the virtue which does not so much accept the experiences of life as conquers them. (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)

Perseverance is not something that develops automatically; we must work at it. James (Ja 1:2-8) provides the template we need to follow, writing we must 

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Amy Carmichael in Candles in the Dark writes that

The best training is to learn to accept everything as it comes, as from Him whom our soul loves. The tests are always unexpected things, not great things that can be written up, but the common little rubs of life, silly little nothings, things you are ashamed of minding (at all). Yet they can knock a strong man over and lay him very low.

Writing to the Thessalonians Paul commends them for their

steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (see note 1Thessalonians 1:3)

So here we see that steadfastness (hupomone) is related to hope (remembering that Christian hope is different from the world's hope for our hope reflects an absolute certainty of future good and is manifest by a desire of some good with the expectation of obtaining it). What is the source of their steadfastness? The context clearly teaches it is "in our Lord Jesus Christ" In (see note 1Thessalonians 1:10) we find that the Thessalonian believers are expectantl