The Fruit of the Spirit

Is an apple tree an apple tree because it produces apples? Or does it produce apples because it is an apple tree? I think the second question is the correct one. I also think that the question can be applied to the lives of believers. We should produce the fruit of the Spirit because we have the Holy Spirit living within us.

As believers, the question is not "what kind of fruit should we produce?" but "are we producing fruit that gives evidence of a Spirit-controlled life?" Do others regularly see within my life the fruit of the Spirit? To I respond to people with the fruit of the Spirit? Are my relationships governed by the fruit of the Spirit?

Hopefully, the answers are "yes." Of course, Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:17 that the flesh is opposed to the Spirit. So, we have a war of competing natures that rages within us. The flesh desires what is in opposition to the Spirit. It will fight, kick, claw, scratch its way into control of my life. But, as a believer, I have surrendered all rights to my life to my Lord Jesus Christ. The flesh no longer reigns in my mortal body. The Lord Jesus does! I am under new ownership and my only desire should be to please my Master. The evidence that I am living in submission to Him will be the fruit of the Spirit for the flesh cannot produce this, only the Spirit can!

Let us each continue to put to death the flesh in order that we may live for Christ! May we humbly pursue Him that we might finish the race before us in anticipation of crossing the finish line in His presence!

The Works of the Flesh

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, war is just a click away. Whether it's the click of a computer mouse or a TV remote, we can see war in all its horror. However, we don't have to go to the far reaches of the earth to see war. For Christians, all one has to do is look in the mirror and there he or she will find a battleground.

Paul says in Galatians 5:17 (HCSB) "For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want." This war fought in the life of the believer is ongoing and sometimes quite brutal. The remants of the flesh put to death by the coming of Christ in the life of a believer tenaciously hangs on seeking to regain control of the believer. Yet, the Spirit living within the believer brings the power of God to overcome the schemes of the devil.

The flesh is not subtle in its work. In fact, Paul says in Galatians 5:19 that the works of the flesh are obvious. The list that Paul gives is not exhaustive. It would be nice to say that here are the 15 sins the flesh brings and no more. However, elsewhere Paul says that those who deny God are inventors of evil (Romans 1:30). Humans continue to invent ways to satisfy the desires of the flesh.

Christians sometimes find themselves succumbing to the temptation of the flesh. As conviction comes, we must readily admit our sin and confess that to our Lord as we turn from that sin and embrace the Lord as our Master and Savior.

As we read the list in Galatians 5:19-21, we must all admit we see ourselves in that list. We stand guilty. What is the Good News? Romans 8:1 (HCSB) "Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus!" The Gospel proclaims that our Lord Jesus Christ willingly took the wrath of God upon Himself on the cross so that the ones believing would have eternal life as they repent of their sins and by faith receive Him as Lord and Savior! May the most obvious things in our lives not be the works of the flesh but the fruit of the Spirit! With Paul let us say with rejoicing:

1 Corinthians 15:57 (HCSB) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

We Are Free!

I was a youth pastor for several years before "growing up" and becoming a Pastor! During those years, it was not uncommon to hear teenagers whining about their parents and then say something along these lines, "I can't wait until I graduate so that I can do whatever I want! When I leave home, no one will tell me what to do!"

Of course, we must recognize that the absence of boundaries is not really freedom. Too often, we think that the "man" is keeping us down and we wish we were the "man." However, I remind people that the greater the leadership responsibility, the less the freedom. In a recent conversation, a friend was lamenting the number of disclosures one must fill out just to run for office. That doesn't sound much like freedom! The most powerful man in the world, our President, may have the least freedom of all Americans!

Paul reminds the Galatians that they have been set free through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, but one must be careful not to allow that freedom to become a license to sin. In fact, people who are truly free in Christ are paradoxically slaves (Galatians 5:13 (HCSB) For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love). Instead of being free to give into the sinful desires of the flesh, we must serve one another! Serving each other through love limits my ability to please myself because I'm thinking of others needs before my own.

The sinful nature of our flesh that stubbornly hangs onto our lives wars against this kind of selfless living. However, Paul makes clear that as we walk in the Spirit, we don't have to give into the desires of the flesh. When we are free from the power of the flesh and free to follow our Lord Jesus Christ...we are free indeed!

Don't Mess With the Gospel

Our American culture values tolerance. We are asked by our culture to sublimate our beliefs in the name of tolerance. Thus, those who hold to values and beliefs which are in opposition to others are to remain silent. The reality is...not everyone in our culture plays by those rules.

In America, it's quite acceptable to espouse many unbiblical beliefs while at the same time denigrating Christians and the Gospel. This is not considered abusive at all. However, have a Christian stand up and say certain behaviors are wrong and all manner of venom is spouted toward that Christian.

Paul, in Galatians 5:7-12, speaks out boldly against a group of people who were purposely attacking the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These people were adding the works of the law to the Gospel of grace. Paul would not stand for it and in some of the most harsh language found in scripture even says that if these people want to depend on circumcision to keep them right with God, why don't they go all the way and castrate themselves! Not quite the tolerance we would expect to see in our culture.

Paul reminds us that we must stand boldly for the Gospel. In Romans 1:16 Paul says he's not ashamed of the Gospel. As believers in a pluralistic society, we must cry out that we are not ashamed to be called Christians. We are not ashamed of the Gospel. We are not ashamed to stand up for that Gospel. And...we will proclaim the Gospel as the truth of God and tell others not to mess with it. They may not believe it, they may dismiss it, but don't mess with it! May our Lord grant that we will have the courage to be light in the darkness of a lost and dying world!