Better Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control
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Transcript
Better Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control
Better Faithfulness, Gentleness, & Self-Control
We are going through the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, starting in verse 22.
There are nine of them, a strange number given how frequently numbers are used!
We have covered the first six and we will cover the remaining three today.
Love, Joy, Peace,
Patience, Kindness, Goodness
When we see this list, even now, it is easy to think these are fruit that are given to us for us to feel or do for ourselves.
Sometimes you read this and some of these you do and others you don’t, and perhaps you feel a bit of guilt.
By the way, don’t do that to others.
You may inspect the fruit, but you may not judge the fruit.
Second, it is critical that we learn how to be a fruit tree and how to receive the fruit of others.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Faithfulness:
The term used here is common in the Old and New Testaments. But, it is fraught with theological implications.
Here, the term does not mean you having faith in God, which is how some will spin this.
That approach is not consistent with the rest of the list.
How do you have gentleness toward God?
How do you have self-control toward God?
No, these are all fruit that are meant for who?
Others.
James 2:18 “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
There is faith that means:
Believe
And there is faith that means
Loyalty, trust.
In other words, you cannot ‘see’ belief. But you can ‘see’ loyalty and trust.
That ethic is what Paul is driving towards, not belief, but action.
Doing something in loyalty and trust.
John captures the essence of loyalty and being trustworthy in the last chapter of his gospel.
John 21:15–17 “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
When Peter goes on to do these things, he is being ‘faithful’ to DO what was commanded him to do.
Gentleness:
The term in all its form only appears sixteen times in the NT.
If you were a native Greek speaker or reader of other Greek writers, you would know this word is used to describe mildness or gentleness when ‘dealing with other people.’
It is the opposite of an arrogant and aggressive spirit towards others.
We can glean a few things if we hear about this word from some other passages in scripture:
Matthew 5:5 ““Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Galatians 6:1 “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
James 3:3 “If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.”
1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
Self-Control:
Interesting that this Greek word is not used in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. It has no counterpart there.
Given its position as the last term, it has significance, and it’s likely that Paul puts it in apposition to Love because love for God and love for others SHOULD create self-control.
Enkrateai is the Greek term.
The term was introduced by Socrates. It was picked up by Plato in opposition to overindulging food and sex. Aristotle used to discuss a person who has powerful passions but keeps them under control.
Given its limited use in this form in all scripture (four times), we might be able to draw a better meaning from its opposite.
Krateo is the opposite of enkrateai. Let me explain.
The core word means power or might.
When we see the word ‘Almighty’ in scripture, we are looking at that Greek word.
When we see the word ‘Hosts,’ as in army, we are probably looking at that Greek word.
Although I did not find it in my research, I liken this word to a Hebrew term for power used for the woman of virtue in Proverbs 31.
Another way of using the core of this word is to seize or take hold of something.
Matthew 26:57 “Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.”
Matthew 18:28 “But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’”
Perhaps a simplified way of explaining this is to say:
You are not to play God.
With great power comes great responsibility.
It is the opposite of giving in to the work of the flesh. Yes, you have the power to do whatever you want to yourself, for yourself, and to others.
However, you should consider that God has that power too, and he restrains it ‘in his power.’
A good example of this is in Luke 9:51–56 “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.”
Or…
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”
Jordan Peterson speaks of a variant of this when he rephrases Jung’s perception of the ‘shadow’ that is in every one of us.
***NEXT SLIDE***
Perhaps you have heard me say, ‘Don’t try to legislate love’
Against these there is no law.
In other words, there is nothing in scripture that opposes you doing these things.
No law will condemn you
No law will curse you
Yet, the lack of self-control among Western Christians is, to me, an affront to the very command to bear good fruit.
***If time***
Now, I want to propose something to you that maybe you have not thought about.
The power of Love and how it is used against us.
When it is used against us.
We respond with krateo, power