The Fruit of the Spirit
Fruit of the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsAn exploration of Love as Fruit of the Spirit
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How is a Christian Supposed to Live?
How is a Christian Supposed to Live?
So often we are confronted with various stereotypes in life. I know I have been in stores, grocery stores, drug stores, when I am on my bike and so I am in my leathers with my kutte on and even though it clearly says Jesus Christ on it I will see people grab their children and bring them closer as I walk by.
Last week as I drank my coffee and prayed sitting in the parking lot at Safeway a young lady with three small children came out to her car that was parked next to me. As she approached I could see the trepidation in her pace and her in facial expressions. As soon as she was close enough I made certain to look at her and give a bit of a smile to try and show I was no danger, feel free to load your kiddos and your car. As she got closer she saw this and relaxed. But the stereotype was there.
Now the church is not without its stereotypes either. Either the boredom of this denomination or that one or the insanity of those pentecostals and they all handle snakes and dance around the front of the church. What the pastor or the pastor wife is supposed to look like, sound like, etc.
The worst stereotype though for the Christian church is bigotry. How on earth can we emulate Jesus as our Savior and be bigoted about any issue. You know though, I was once thrown out of a church. It was an AG church, I was not saved, but I was attending. There was a new pastor and after about three weeks he pulled me aside with a few board members and told me I was no longer welcome inside the church because I smoked. I did not argue, I just left and thought to myself, wow.
You do not have to go far to find someone who has a fundamental belief that the Christian faith is one of bigotry and hatred. I mean, we have to deal with churches like the Westboro Baptists that espouse hatred to every sinner alive.
Is that what Jesus called us to? Are we to be hate in the world? Are we to hate the sin and love the sinner or hate them both and make them clearly unwelcome? How are the sinful to hear the Word of God if we cannot love them enough to let them sit next to us? How can we have a conversation about faith, values, and truth if we will not even let them explain or discuss their understandings first?
Today I want to stay true in an essence to my In His Words message theme but go a step beyond it instead. See I was going to preach this week on the I AM statement, I am the Vine.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus does not just offer us the promise of eternal life one day after we die. He offers us the strength and power to sustain us in the present. In His own words, Jesus tells us that He is a vine and we are the branches. When we remain connected to Him, we receive all of the power and strength necessary to produce wonderful fruit with and through our lives.
Let us today then look at what that wonderful fruit is supposed to be.
PRAY IN THE WORD
In order to understand that fruit in our lives I want to ask and answer the question: How is a Christian Supposed to Live?
Let us start in Galatians
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
So what does it mean to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ? People would undoubtedly answer that question in multiple ways based on their experiences and human efforts. Perhaps the most honest answer though is to just say that a Christian lives their life like Jesus. Real Christians do not just ask “what would Jesus do?” instead they carry out in action what Jesus did.
So then how is a Christian to live? How are we supposed to live like Jesus?
Here is maybe an even better question. How can you and I be recognized as a Christian by the people around us? Do we live in such a way that other people will know we are Christians?
A good friend of mine that is no doubt a man of God now was not always such. He and his wife enjoyed the party lifestyle that many people are prone to. He told me one day about this couple that would throw the best parties, the most alcohol and fun. After he and his wife were saved, fully washed in the blood of the Lamb, they were having dinner with this couple and they were sharing their salvation. The couple told them, oh we are Christians to, we go to XYZ church. As he recounts, there is no way anyone could guess they were Christian.
See, God has shown us how to live like Jesus in the Bible, and one of the best places to look for a definition of Christian life is in Galatians 5. If you are going to live your life like Jesus, then it all comes down to this one simple instruction: LIVE BY THE SPIRIT
The Spirit filled life is a life lived like Jesus; that is how you and I are to live our lives. We are to live by the Spirit.
When you learn to live a Spirit filled life—a life like Jesus, then the fruit of the Spirit develops and matures within your life. If you want to know specifically what Jesus was like, and if you want to know how God wants you to live from day to day, then look no further than the fruit of the Spirit.
Three Questions to lead us today—how, who, and what? How is the Christian to live? Who am I living for? What does it take to live the Spirit filled life?
How Is a Christian to Live?
How Is a Christian to Live?
We live our lives differently. (verses 16-17)
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Put simply, when we come to Christ we are to live our lives differently. No longer do we live for ourselves; instead we live by the Spirit—we live our lives like Jesus.
Paul tells us to live by the Spirit and not by what Paul called the “sarx.”
“Sarx” is literally translated flesh.
The King James Version translates this literally: “. . . Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”
When Paul says not to follow the desires of the flesh—the “sarx”—it would be better translated HUMAN NATURE instead of sinful nature. I like how the Message Bible says it.
My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.
We are all born with a sinful nature. In other words, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.
Is “sarx” literally “flesh—is it better translated “sinful nature” or “human nature?” Let me encourage you to replace “sinful nature” with “human nature” or simply “flesh” wherever you find it in your Bibles. Why? Here’s the short answer.
When we come to Jesus we are “born again” and Christ makes “all things new.” The sinful nature is replaced with the Christ’s Spirit within us.
One thing does not change when I come to Christ. I still live in a human body; I am still a human living in a flesh and blood body. Therefore, I need to learn to live according to the desires born of the Spirit and not the impulses and urges of my human body.
God made our body to function in certain ways, and He wants us to learn to control the desires of our flesh or human nature. What Paul meant when he said live by the Spirit and not the flesh, is because God has taken care of the sinful nature when we were born again and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
If you would like to have some “God talk” and work this out for yourself, then let me encourage you to take a closer look at these passages (and by the way it is useful to use more than one Bible translation to help you get the full meaning of each of these texts): John 3:3-8; Romans 6:1-7; 7:14—8:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:13-26; James 1:13-15.
How is a Christian to live? First, we live our lives differently; we live by the spirit and not according to the desires of the flesh, and:
2. We live our lives in freedom!
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The message has it this way:
Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
Here is the wonderful glory of it all, Jesus has set us free from the power of sin and death! No longer are we a slave to sin, now we are led by the Spirit. We are free to obey God and fulfill His purpose and plan for our lives. There is no predestined appointment with death, O’ death where is your sting??
We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,
Laws are not intended for people who have God’s approval would be a simple understanding here. Laws are intended for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners.
As believers, washed in the blood of the Lamb, baptized in the Holy Spirit, we have been set free.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Say it, “For who the Son sets free is free indeed.” Say “I am indeed free because the Son set me free”
So how is the Christian to live? We are to live differently. We are no longer slaves to sin, trying to satisfy the desires of the flesh. We live our lives by the Spirit free form the power and dominion of sin.
Who Am I Living For?
Who Am I Living For?
Are you living for yourself or for the Spirit? We must daily make the choice who we will live for.
Will we live selfishly seeking to please the desires of our human nature, or will we live our lives according to the Spirit?
It is easy to tell who you are living for—Paul tells us it is obvious.
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What Paul is clearly telling us here is that if you want to know who you are living for look at how you are living life. A self-centered human nature will always lead to sin. If you are living to please the desires of your flesh then the outcome is always going to be the same, sin piled upon sin.
There is serious, solemn warning in Pauls words to those that choose to live pleasing only themselves:
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
When we believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins and confess Him as Lord of our lives we are forgiven; we are made a new creation in Christ Jesus, set free from the power of sin. We were dead in our sins and transgressions against God, but we are made alive in Christ.
Now we must choose to live our life by the Spirit; we must begin to live our lives differently because we have been set free from the power of sin.
Unfortunately we sometimes choose to live to please ourselves. The desires of the flesh capture our attention and we selfishly satisfy our desires—that’s sin. The Bible says if we live that way—if we continue to give ourselves to the desires of the flesh living for ourselves, then we will not enter heaven.
As believers in Christ God has adopted us into His family. We are heirs with Christ Jesus, sons and daughters of God. God expects us to bear the family resemblance—to look like Jesus! That means we are to obey our Father! No more living for ourselves we live by the Spirit!
In the same way it is obvious to see what it looks like to live for yourself; you can tell if you are living by the Spirit by how you live your life.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
These are the marks of the Spirit-filled life. This is what a life lived like Jesus will look like; it will be a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Bottom line: if you are living your life like Jesus, if you are letting the Spirit direct your life, then the evidence or outgrowth will be the fruit of the Spirit.
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
We have to be connected to Jesus. Disconnected from Jesus makes it impossible for us to produce any fruit; we will have no signs of life unless we remain in Christ. Only in Christ can we live the Spirit-filled life—a life that produces an abundant harvest of the fruit of the Spirit.
A life lived for Jesus will produce fruit and the fruit is evidence of who you are living for. A life lived for yourself produces the fruit of sin and death. The life lived by the Spirit yields spiritual fruit.
Notice: when you live by the Spirit, your life will produce THE FRUIT of the Spirit not THE FRUITS of the Spirit. In other words you can’t go to a spiritual fruit market and pick from 9 different fruits; there is only one fruit.
Which one of the nine expressions of the fruit of the Spirit would you say is the singular fruit contained in all the other? LOVE!
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Love is the blossom which produces the fruit, in other words from love all the fruit of the Spirit is grown. The fruit of the Spirit begins and ends with love. That makes sense doesn’t it? God is love;
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Therefore, the evidence or fruit of God being in our lives will be love always.
Joy is love rejoicing.
Patience is love enduring.
Peace is love trusting.
Kindness is love serving.
Goodness is love extending.
Faithfulness is love proving.
Gentleness is love touching.
Self-control is love restraining.
How is the Christian to live? We are to live differently!
Who am I living for? The evidence is obvious. If we live selfishly, the fruit will be sin and death. If we live by the Spirit for the Spirit, the fruit will be love, joy, patience, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
What Does It Take to Live the Spirit-Filled Life?
What Does It Take to Live the Spirit-Filled Life?
Paul shows two things it is going to take if we are going to see the fruit of the Spirit produced in our lives.
The first is death itself.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
We certainly should not be surprised by this. The first step to living a Spirit-filled life is death. We must die to ourselves, if we are going to see the fruit of the Spirit develop in our lives we cannot live for ourselves and the Spirit. One must be put to death. Paul tells us in his letter to Philippi
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Therefore, resurrection power comes only after you die to yourself.
You cannot live the Spirit-filled life without the power of the resurrection. And you cannot have resurrection power until you have died to self.
WE MUST CRUCIFY—PUT TO DEATH—THE FLESH WITH ITS PASSION AND DESIRES
Death by crucifixion is always painful! No one ever said it would be easy to put to death the desires of your flesh, but it is worth it!
God is more concerned about your character than He is your comfort. God is more interested in developing the fruit of the Sprit—in enabling you to live a Spirit-filled life than He is in giving you an easy life without any problems.
God will use the difficulties in our lives to develop the fruit of the Spirit, but we must choose to live by the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Our human nature will cry out to be made more comfortable, but we must endure the pain of crucifixion so we can live by the Spirit and not the flesh.
What does it take to live the Spirit-filled life? Living the Spirit-filled life is not easy. It requires putting our human nature to death, and secondly perseverance.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
We will all come to times in our lives when we just want to give up—to throw in the towel. Paul tells us not to quit! KEEP IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT.
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
The Spirit-filled life will affect every area of our lives—work it out in detail! Don’t give up until the fruit of the Spirit is seen in every detail of our lives. Let love find its expression in all the areas of our lives.
When it comes right down to it living a Spirit-filled life—living with the fruit of the Spirit abundant in every area of our lives is a matter of life and death for each of us. The fruit of the Spirit leads to eternal life. The fruit of the flesh leads to sin and death.
Look what Peter said about these qualities and characteristics the Spirit will produce in our lives.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Conclusion:
How is a Christian to live? Who am I living for? What does it take to live the Spirit-filled life? With God’s help we can see the fruit of the Spirit produced in our lives on a daily basis.
Action Step: Pray for God to produce fruit of the Spirit in your life today, take time this week everyday to evaluate areas of your life where the Fruit of the Spirit needs to be more evident to those around you.