The Fruit of the Spirit – Part 3
November 21, 1999
Dear Friends:
For the past few weeks, we have been discussing the fruit of the Spirit. We made the point that the fruit of the Spirit comes from our faith and demonstrates itself in a change in our lifestyle. We began to talk last week about the first step in attaining the fruit of the Spirit – submission to God.
When we talk about this change, our inclination perhaps is to think we can personally overpower sin with sheer willpower. In other words, we rely upon our own self rather than God. We often hear the Phillipians 2:12b used to support the willpower point of view where it states “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” People forget to quote the next verse which puts this in its proper perspective – “for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Paul tells us that he too thought at a point in his life that he could attain righteousness though personal willpower. The famous Romans 7 verses tell of Paul’s struggle -
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
He concludes this famous passage with the conclusion to the matter – “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul couldn’t willpower his way to salvation, but God working through His son could get Paul to where he could produce the fruit of the Spirit.
This does not mean that nothing is required on our part. We can’t sit back and wait for God to act upon us. God wants us to be “doers of the word.” God has given us the tools to till the ground as it were. In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us what tools we have at our disposal. The tools are: truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, the word of God and prayer. All of these tools are indispensable. To neglect one tool is to minimize the effectiveness of them all.
The difficulty arises when either we do not fully submit to God or we do not fully use the tools at our disposal. A man who studies the word of God but who has not fully submitted to God is of the class of people whom Paul was refuting in the book of Galatians – a Judaizer. Self-justifying, the Judaizer depends on works for salvation, not grace. They can never develop the fruit of the Spirit because of their pride. The man who submits to God and never uses the tools of Ephesians 6 never develops the fruit of the Spirit. Without the use of the “whole armour of God”, the flesh is an indomitable opponent which will crush the unprepared foe.
We’ll leave you with this analogy to ponder for the week. God wants us to have a heart transplant. He wants us to volunteer to remove our old heart which He describes as “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jer. 17:9) He wants us to replace it with a knew heart; a strong heart developed on the basis of truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, the word of God and prayer. This new heart, and only this new heart, transplanted by the grace of God, allows us to produce the desired result: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
On the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:15)
Have a great week!
