Born for such a time as this part 3 - fruit

Born for Such a time as this Fruit

Esther 4:14 NIV

14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Daniel 1:8 NIV

8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Galatians 5:16–26 NIV

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

(NIV)

Verse 16 In the New Living Translation it reads

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:16 NLT

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Verse 16

John

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guild your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Context of the verse:-

5:1 – Freedom in Christ

5:4 – Justified by grace not through the law

The law is powerless to free

5:5 – The righteous of Christ is received by grace and faith

5:6 – Faith is expressed via love

5:7 – They were running well but who cut in on them

5:13 - Called to be free

Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature

Rather serve one another in Love

5:14 - The law is summed up in the commandment “love your neighbour as yourself”

5:15 - Disunity will destroy

The Galatian church had moved from the foundation of

Freedom found in Grace and Faith

To a life where they were being

Bound by the regulations of the Law.

They had started well – but now they had become bound by religion again.

Verse 7 in the new living translation

Galatians 5:7 NLT

7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?

The answer to the Drifting away from the truth or the having someone cut in on you is to:-

You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?

The answer to the Drifting away from the truth or the having someone cut in on you is to:-

Be Led By The Spirit.

Verse 16

Galatians 5:16 NIV

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The Christian life is often spoken about as or liken to a journey.

Jesus said – Come follow me – take up your cross and ...

2 John 6 NIV

6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

- ...walk in obedience to His Command

...walk in obedience to His Command

...walk in obedience to His Command

...His command is that you walk in love

1 John 1:5 NIV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

walk in the light

walk in the light

1 Thessalonians 4:1 NIV

1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

... How you ought to walk

... How you ought to walk

1 Thessalonians 2:12 NIV

12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

...walk in a manner worthy of God

...walk in a manner worthy of God

Colossians 2:6 NIV

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

...so walk in Him

...so walk in Him

Ephesians 5:15 NIV

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

...be careful how you walk

...be careful how you walk

Ephesians 5:8 NIV

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light

...walk as children of light

...walk as children of light

Ephesians 4:1 NIV

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

...walk in a manner worthy of the calling

...walk in a manner worthy of the calling

So what does it mean to walk by the spirit?

Walk by the rule of the Holy Spirit.

And when you do you will not be one who gratifies the desires of the sinful nature.

Verse 17

Galatians 5:17 NIV

17 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.

“the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”

The Conflict.

Sinful nature vs the Spirit.

Galatians 5:17 NIV

17 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.

tells us that the flesh and the spirit are in opposition to one another.

tells us that the flesh and the spirit are in opposition to one another.

The flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh. This is a struggle that happens in every person.

Romans 7:21–23 NIV

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

. Verse 21-23

. Verse 21-23

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

In someone without the Holy Spirit living within them, the only positive force to oppose the sin nature is our God given conscience. Without the Holy Spirit, we are in big trouble.

We are fallen, depraved, natural enemies of God and his law written on our hearts

Romans 8:7 NIV

7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

The unbeliever is controlled by the desires of the flesh. He has no hope of escaping this, he is a slave to it

(NIV)

the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. The unbeliever is controlled by the desires of the flesh. He has no hope of escaping this, he is a slave to it The Acts of the Sinful nature. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious to people who are led by the Holy Spirit because everyone has a God given sense of right and wrong.

The Acts of the Sinful nature.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious to people who are led by the Holy Spirit because everyone has a God given sense of right and wrong.

For the person who does not have God in their life how do they know right and wrong?

1. Three Sexual sins:

sexual immorality, impurity (porneia / fornication), and debauchery.

Sexual sins are often placed first in these types of negative lists because of their large impact and immense consequences.

2. Two religious / vertical sins:

idolatry and witchcraft – pharmakeia (often includes idea of drug induced/enhanced trance)

3. Eight social sins (horizontal – fellow man):

Hatred, discord, Jealousy, fits of rage

(often progressive, many of the items in the list found their context in the church among those with a said faith but displaying deeds of the flesh instead of the fruit of the spirit. Selfish ambition (getting ahead at the expense of others) Dissentions, Factions (causing divisions, destroying unity of church body) Envy (an evil thought, wanting what someone else has)

4. 2 sins that show lack of self control: Drunkenness Orgies (Carousing: related to drunkenness) “And the like”: this list was not to be seen as exhaustive, merely representative. A person who produces these works of the flesh is living according to their sinful nature. Your future, if you are that person, is filled with disappointment, sadness, emptiness, and finally, eternity apart from God. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savoir, the tables are turned on the internal battle between sin nature and spirit. The believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

4. 2 sins that show lack of self control:

Drunkenness Orgies (Carousing: related to drunkenness) “And the like”: this list was not to be seen as exhaustive, merely representative.

“And the like”: this list was not to be seen as exhaustive, merely representative. A person who produces these works of the flesh is living according to their sinful nature. Your future, if you are that person, is filled with disappointment, sadness, emptiness, and finally, eternity apart from God. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savoir, the tables are turned on the internal battle between sin nature and spirit. The believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

A person who produces these works of the flesh is living according to their sinful nature. Your future, if you are that person, is filled with disappointment, sadness, emptiness, and finally, eternity apart from God. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savoir, the tables are turned on the internal battle between sin nature and spirit. The believer is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

This person now has available to them the power to conquer the flesh, to not sin.

This does not mean we stop sinning, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us, the power to not sin. We have to avail ourselves of that power.

How to deal with the Sinful nature

Flee

2 Timothy 2:22 NIV

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Come on let’s be real here with this – Don’t play with evil desires.

Kill it!

Romans 8:13 NIV

13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live

Romans 6:6 NIV

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

Colossians 3:5–10 NIV

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Crucifying sin nature is taking off old self

Crucifying sin nature is taking off old self

Conform to the Spirit

This is putting on the new self

Conform to the Spirit This is putting on the new self

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

You the believer are responsible for your own Spiritual growth, you need more than you can get here at church a few hours a week.

Fruit of the Spirit

(basic divisions from Walvoord/Zuck)

Karpos

The word fruit here (Karpos) is singular in form, which means we cannot say “Hey, I have three out of nine, that’s not bad.”

All of these nine characteristics should be evident in the life of a believer.

The source of the fruit, however, is not ourselves. On our own, we do not have the ability to conjure up even one of these.

The Holy Spirit works in us and through us and it is He that produces the fruit.

1. Three virtues of the mind with God as their source:

Love (agape): Listed first as it is the foundation for all that follows

oy (chara): inner rejoicing regardless of circumstances Peace (eirene) – inner calmness, repose, quietness, even in chaotic or difficult circumstances

Joy (chara): inner rejoicing regardless of circumstances

Love (agape): Listed first as it is the foundation for all that follows Joy (chara): inner rejoicing regardless of circumstances Peace (eirene) – inner calmness, repose, quietness, even in chaotic or difficult circumstances

Peace (eirene) – inner calmness, repose, quietness, even in chaotic or difficult circumstances

2. Second three build on first three and reach out to others

Patience (makrothymia) No thought or retribution when wronged

Kindness (chrestotes) a reflection of God’s actions toward us, benevolence

Goodness (agathosyne) treating others well even when they do not deserve it. Again this is a reflection of how God treats us.

3. Final three guide the general conduct of a believer who is led by the Spirit

Faithfulness (pistis): trustworthy/reliable, like servant in

Gentleness (prautes): submissive to God, considerate of others when discipline is needed. Self-control (enkrateia) ability to curb fleshly impulses described in vs 19-21, the antithesis to drunkenness and carousing. (Greek definitions above, paraphrased from Thayers, Zodhiates)

Luke 16:10–12 NIV

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Gentleness (prautes): submissive to God, considerate of others when discipline is needed.

Self-control (enkrateia) ability to curb fleshly impulses described in vs 19-21, the antithesis to drunkenness and carousing. (Greek definitions above, paraphrased from Thayers, Zodhiates)