What Is The Product of The Christian Life?
Galatians 5.13-26 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. [14] For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. [15] But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. [16] This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. [17] For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. [18] But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, [20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, [21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. [24] And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25] If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. [26] Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."
Every Christian should be interested in living the "Christian Life", but for many believers the alternatives are either licentiousness or legalism. In Galatians 5 God condemns both alternatives as fleshly, non-spiritual, not of Him. In verses 13 through 15 God condemns licentious living as incompatible with His way. There were a group of Christians (?) in the early Church who called themselves "Gnostics", and they believed that salvation in Christ freed you so that you could sin and pursue hedonism. There are many Christians (?) who follow this path today who feel like their action of "walking the aisle" and "publicly proclaiming Jesus through word and Baptism" gives them the authority to pursue guiltless sin. This is an aberration of the Christian life:
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Galatians 6:15 "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
That is absolutely not supported in the Scriptures.
If you are saved, you are a "new creature" in Christ, a son of God, a child
of the King. To profess Christ in order that you be free to guiltlessly
sin ignores the creative hand of God in the true Christian's life.
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- At the point of salvation what is true of every believer? (2 Corinthians 5.17; Galatians 6.15) - Those who proclaim that you must follow the Law after salvation are actually offshoots of Judaism. They have forgotten what? (Hebrews 9.11-14) |
There was also a group of Christians (?) who claimed that unless you followed the Law after salvation, your salvation was not true. These early Christians (?), actually converts from Judaism, believed that salvation was both a work of God and a work of man. They held that, unless you remained true to the tabooism of the Law, you would "lose your salvation".
Hebrews 9:11-14 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
The Legalists ignored the fact that Jesus paid the penalty for all sin, and that He and He alone "obtained eternal redemption for us". By their blending of the Law with the Grace of the Cross they effectively blasphemed the pure offering that Jesus made. God hated and still hates the form of religion that sets man up as a god.
Third Alternative
The Bible points out a third alternative, an alternative of Christian Living that is neither Gnostic nor Legalistic, and that is Life by the Spirit of God.
Galatians 5 gives us a wonderful resource to determine if we are living our lives by the Spirit of God, or by the flesh (Gnosticism/ Legalism). God wants us to know that we can examine the spiritual output of our lives, compare that output to this list, then use it (as a sort of litmus test) to determine our status in Christ. This test is supported by the words of our Lord Jesus:
Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
There are three things that the Christian should constantly bear in mind. First, success in our spiritual lives DEPENDS on our knowledge of God's Word. If you do not know God's Word, you can never really know God. For example, it was possible, years ago, for western men to order their "brides" from a catalogue. This was a harsh, rugged country, and women often died under the trials of settling the new land. When a man lost his wife he wanted another, for harshness is one thing, but harshness and loneliness is much worse. Anyway, there were women who were poor and willing to become "mail order brides", and western men would look in catalogues and order a wife. Sometimes they got a good wife, sometimes they got a prostitute. You never know what you're getting when you order a bride through a catalogue.
In the same way, some of you have become complacent in
your Christian walks. You are willing to let someone else tell you what
God said, rather than research His Word and find out for yourself. Now,
don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with listening to your
Pastor, or studying the articles at this site. However, OPEN YOUR BIBLE
and see what it has to say, for goodness sake. If you're given a reference,
look it up. Study the Word. You'll never learn Christ through another
person's experience, you have to experience Him yourself through the Word
of God.
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- What is the primary thing we as Christians should do to nurture our walk with Christ? (2 Timothy 3.16-17) - The second thing we need to do in our walk with God is what? (Matthew 23.13-14; 5.20) - If I walk out of Church mad because I hear the Word, am I striving for the Christian life? |
Second, you must be willing to put what you learn from God's Word into practice in your life. The Scribes were theologians of the first degree, Doctors of Theology. They knew everything about the Scripture from writing and writing it over and over again. Yet, though they knew the Scripture, they never applied it to their lives. Jesus always referred to the "theologians without substance" as:
Matthew 23:13-14 "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation."
Matthew 5:20 "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
"Hypocrites", two faced people. The Scribes and Pharisees had the abundant riches of the Gospel at their fingertips. They knew what God's Word said, but instead of applying that Word to their own lives they misused the Word to puff themselves up and tear others down. God expects us not just to study and know His Word, but to PUT IT IN PRACTICE in our lives. This is a tearing thing, a hammering thing, a fiery thing.
I have often had people walk out of Church mad, never to return again, because the Word preached was so offensive to their humanistic value systems. They were certain that the Pastor preached that Sermon, prepared that sermon just for them, picking from them from the pulpit. Foolish Christian, the Word was designed to tear at the soul. Do you not know that the Lord uses the Word to tear away the chunks of apathy and sin in your life so He can make you better, make you a work He can be proud of? Do not resist the Word of the Lord. Put down your foolish inconsistencies and let God have His way with your life. Let the Word tear, embed, route out the Old Sin Nature and make you a brighter Christian with a better walk with Him. You have two choices placed before you when confronted with the Scripture, blessing or cursing. Bend under the mighty Word of God and choose blessing.
The Word Is Not A Suggestion!
Third, and very important, remember that you are a work in progress:
Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Philippians 2:12-13 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Colossians 1:29 "Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."
1 Thessalonians 2:13 "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
Do not receive the Word of God as a "suggestion" from God. This is a dangerous position to occupy. Some Christians (?) approach the Word as if it were a human catalogue, and suggest that only the portions that are palatable to us are to be regarded as valid. The Word is not a "suggestion", but a tool that God uses to shape the Christian. It can be likened to the tool that the potter uses to shape the clay, cutting away the unused bits in order to leave that which is useful to the Creator. When you liken the Word to a "suggestion", when you rob it of validity in your own reality, then you rob God of the power of His tool. You rob yourself of the creation God wants you to be. Listen to me, Christian: you will NEVER be blessed until you grow into what God wants you to be. You will NEVER be a blessing to others until you grow as He demands you grow, until you let Him shape you through this Holy Word, the Bible.
The Litmus Test For Growth
Galatians 5.22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
How can you know that God is at work in your life? Because He gave us a litmus test, a means of looking at our lives and determining our spiritual condition. This litmus test is the "Fruit of the Spirit".
The "Fruit" or KARPOS of the Spirit is a single unit
of works that God the Spirit produces in the believer's life. Note
that these are not called FruitS, but "Fruit" - Paul uses
the singular word here. The Fruit of the Spirit are not a bunch of evidences
that have no relationship to one another, but each of the nine virtues
are presented as one unit. These virtues together have a harmony that
produces the one singular Fruit. This is in direct contrast to the "workS
of the flesh", plural. These non-virtues are disharmonious, scarring
and destroying the Christian walk, whereas the Fruit are singular and
harmonious. You cannot mimic the harmony of the Fruit of the Spirit,
for they are a cohesive and unified whole.
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- How can I know that God is at work in my life? (Galatians 5.22-23) - How many fruits of the Spirit are there? - Can we mimic the Fruit of the Spirit? Why or why not? |
There are people in this world who have love, love for their mates, love for their family, love for their neighbor in general. They may also be joyful, and at peace with themselves but be short tempered with others. You can have love, joy, and peace, but if you are impatient with others (without long-suffering) the Fruit of the Spirit is not evident in your life. You can show love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance - and yet lack gentleness, and you are devoid of the Fruit. We must possess all nine virtues in harmony with one another to have the Fruit of the Spirit. Look, the Christian today is often indistinguishable from the average heathen, and this is not God's way. The Christian is supposed to be on a higher plain than the heathen. Many believers (?) today have just enough religion to make them irritating, but do not have a relationship with God. Now that we are saved we are called to walk in the Spirit, to pursue God. We should be like the Psalmist:
Psalms 18:33 "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places."
Take A Risk
Is the Fruit evident in your life? First, are you a Christian? Have you given your life to Jesus Christ (not Mary, the Pope, your Preacher, but to Jesus)? If so, then consider the illustration that Paul gives us on walking. When you were a baby you crawled from place to place. Your parents kept picking you up, holding you, and at a certain time they tried to get you to walk. You probably don't remember that time (I don't), but I'll tell you what I did with my kids. I put them on the floor, on their feet, and held the back of their shirts. They began taking tentative steps, one after the other, while I held them. After some time I released their shirts and it was up to the kids. They had to TAKE A RISK and step out on childlike faith. At first they fell frequently, and I always tried to catch them before they hit the floor. This scared them, and they often cried, but soon they stopped and we tried it again. Again and again, over weeks, perhaps a month, we went through the exercise. My kids had to try, to TRY, and to step out on faith. Daddy thought they could do it, and guess what? One day, they did!
You can never learn to walk in the Spirit unless you're willing to do the same things you did as a baby. First, you have to trust Pa Pa. Trust His Word, rely on His Word.
Second, you have to take RISKS. There were two Christian young men I know who were afraid to speak in public, but one day they got up and taught Sunday School. They were so frightened. What if someone laughed at them? Hey, this is a reality - as a preacher I've been laughed at, but that's OK. Just as long as the tomatoes don't come out! They persisted, with childlike faith, and today one is Minister of Youth and the other Associate Pastor at a large Church in our area. When you get up in the morning, turn your life over to God, to Christ, and trust that He will guide your steps today. Yes, you'll make a lot of mistakes. If I had a dime for every mistake I made, I'd be able to retire now. You will make mistakes. But try your wings in Christ. Stretch them out, try to fly. If you hit the ground, cry a little, but get up and try again. Go to an older Christian, a Pastor, and ask him for guidance. If what you try to fill a position in the Church and it doesn't work out, try something else. Seek God in prayer, ask for His guidance.
He'll Not Give You A Stone
Matthew 7:9-11 "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
Do you think He isn't concerned about your growth? Do
you think that, "I'll ask Him for bread and He'll give me a stone"? No,
dear believer. The Father of all Creation wants you to grow, to become
productive, to produce the Fruit of the Spirit. Imagine how the world would
be changed if all Christians put away their pettiness and sought out a
perpetual walk in the Spirit. Sadly, we cannot change all Christians. We
can only change one person, cause one person to seek a perpetual walk in
the Spirit, and that person is ourselves. I can make a commitment to study
His Word on a daily basis, to pray to Him on a daily basis, to turn off
that laxative of the mind (television) and meditate on His Word. I can
make the decision to spread my wings in Christ and try to fly for Him.
I can try new things: teach Sunday School or a Bible study class, sponsor
impromptu fellowships at the Church, help guide the elderly to their seats
at Church or visit the Nursing Home and love the forgotten. I can help
a friend, or if I see someone stranded in the city with smoke billowing
out of their car offer to help. I can shut my mouth long enough to listen
to another's troubles, cook dinner for someone who has lost a loved one,
visit believers who are sick at home or in the hospital. I can carry Communion
to the shut in citizens, take a new Christian under my wing to help him
or her grow, or mow the grass at Church. There are a thousand things that
God needs the believer to do and be, a thousand ways to spread our wings
and fly. Study, pray, grow, and fly. God needs walking in the Spirit believers.
He needs all of you. Maranatha!
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- Will God destroy me if I take a risk? (Matthew 7.9-11) |
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