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Shammu
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« on: May 05, 2005, 01:49:59 AM » |
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Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Paul gives us a list of fruit. The list is meant as a contrast to the list of the deeds of the flesh' found in Galatians 5:19-20. The fruit list is clearly not intended as an exhaustive description of the fruit, but was given to highlight the fruit that Paul wants the Galatian church to keep in mind. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.
Jeremiah 6:19, God speaks of the disaster which is about to come, and speaks of it as "the fruit of their plans" -- that which comes from evil scheming. So bad character also comes to fruition.
The early church continued this concern about how those with the Spirit develop a character like that of Christ's. Some of them spend much of their writing time on describing what this character is. Polycarp, for instance, in his letter to the church in Philippi, wrote that the church's leaders are to have "a wide compassion for humanity", which does not put off doing kindnesses. (Think here of Jewish mitzvot , it's about going beyond merely doing good, into being someone who is characterized by doing good, to honor God and for the sake of others.) He, like Paul, also writes about what is not a part of this character : gossip, the undermining of others, easily believing ill of others, loose sexual behavior, empty speech, quick temper, and most especially the eagerness for money.
The early Protestant pietists shared this concern. They knew from Scripture that if the Spirit dwells in a person, that person will start taking on the characteristics described as the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit works to change Christians so that they have the depth of character the Bible talks about. It's not automatic or sudden. Like everything else in this broken world and its broken people, it's something that arises in part, not completely, in this life. We are always 'under construction', just like any good web site is. Many later pietists and Holiness believers, unfortunately, forgot how deeply marred we are by sin, and saw failure to live in these 'fruit' as proof that the Spirit was not at work. This resulted in a new legalism made of a decision to obey behavioral rules rooted in law, not in a soul which grew through the Spirit's work to bear good fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..." The fruit of the Holy Spirit are the results of the Holy Spirit taking a role in the life of a Christian. The Bible makes it clear that everyone receives the Holy Spirit the moment they believe in Jesus Christ Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14. One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit coming into a Christian's life is to change that life. It is the Holy Spirit's job to conform us to the image of Christ, making us more like Him.
The Christian life is a battle of the acts of the sinful nature with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As fallen human beings, we are still trapped in a body that desires sinful things Romans 7:14-25. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit producing His fruit in us and the Holy Spirit's power available to us to conquer the acts of the sinful nature 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13. A Christian will never be completely victorious in always demonstrating the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the main purposes of the Christian life, though, to progressively allow the Holy Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives - and to all the Holy Spirit to conquer the opposing sinful desires. The fruit of the Spirit is what God desires our lives to look like. And with the Holy Spirit’s help, it is possible.
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. We learn from scripture that these are not individual "fruits" from which we pick and choose. Rather, the fruit of the Spirit is one ninefold "fruit" that characterizes all who truly walk in the Holy Spirit. Collectively, these are the fruits that all Christians should be producing in their new lives with Jesus Christ.
Love - "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" 1 John 4:16. Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
Joy - "The joy of the Lord is your strength" Nehemiah 8:10. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" Hebrews 12:2.
Peace - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" Romans 5:1. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" Romans 15:13.
Longsuffering (patience) -- We are "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11). "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).
Gentleness - We should live "in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" 2 Corinthians 6:6-7.
Goodness - "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power" 1 Thessalonians 1:11. "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" Ephesians 5:9.
Faith - "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth" Isaiah 25:1. "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Holy Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" Ephesians 3:16-17.
Meekness - "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" Galatians 6:1. "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" Ephesians 4:2.
Temperance - "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love" 2 Peter 1:5-7.
We don't need to turn to the Law to give rise to character in ourselves and our children. We need to turn to the Holy Spirit, and understand that the Holy Ghost will be working overtime to change us, working literally till Kingdom come, refashioning us into being like Christ.
God's orchard, is the "Fruits of the Spirit." God wants to be our leverage in living, empowering us to feel better about ourselves, more excited about our future, more grateful for those we love and more enthusiastic about our faith.
May you find, God's orchard.
Bob
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
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