Fruits of the Spirit

[felix]

Reading: Psalm 19:1-14

"If the roots are holy, the branches will be, too" (Rom 11:16)

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Gifts of the Holy Spirit are "received" whereas His fruits are to be "cultivated." It is by the fruit of the Spirit we overcome the desires of our sinful nature (Gal 5:19-23). There's no magic seed which grows and yields fruit in one day! Who has heard of an instant harvest? We are not mushrooms but trees planted by God! Impatience in agriculture is detrimental. Hybrid varieties are man-made and they are inferior to what is supernaturally natural.?

Our life is like a garden. Each virtue is represented by a tree. Tending the garden requires lot of patience. Regular and unhurried meditation of the Bible is like weeding and watering. We shall be "like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail" (Psa 1:2,3). The Bible tells us what we are and what we ought to be. Its truths are deep but not complicated. If only we are sincere enough to follow its simple guidelines, we will experience a daily transformation in our lives, and become better everyday! It was in the context of fruitbearing Jesus encouraged His disciples saying, "You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you" (Jn 15:1-3).

Outward decorations don't take long or last long. We are not Christmas trees with stars and lights! We are called to bring forth real and abiding fruit. This is not possible without taking care of the root. "If the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too" (Rom 11:16b). Our hearts are the root. Vices originate in the heart (Mt 15:19). That's why we are admonished to keep a constant vigil over the heart (Prov 4:23). For every failure in life, there is a root cause. Healing and restoration do not come unless "the axe is laid at the root!" The process may be slow and painful, but this is how we can bring about a change in character. According to the Bible, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim 6:10a). Unless this monster is dealt with, it will show its ugly head in so many areas of our life. The true sign of Pentecost is the loosening of grip on gold (Acts 2:1,44,45). Very few acquire this blessedness overnight. Scales from our eyes fall off one by one, and then we begin to see the vanity of riches. Has our desire for riches diminished this year?

Some are sowing the seed of noble deed,

With a sleepless watch and an earnest heed;

With a ceaseless hand in the earth they sow,

And the fields are all whitening where'er they go!

???????????????????????????????? (Emily S. Oakey)

- R.Stanley, Blessing Youth Mission

[st. Worm]

"If only we are sincere enough to follow its simple guidelines, we will experience a daily transformation in our lives, and become better everyday!"

Respectfully disagree with you brother. Either that or perhaps St. Paul was mistaken in his assertion that he is not only the chief of sinners but greatly incapable of doing the good things he should do or stop from doing the bad things he shouldn't do.

It seems, if Paul is to be believed, the Christian is more righteous when he reallzes just what a sinner he is rather than living under the illusion that he is getting better and better every day.

Also, aren't you making the Bible into nothing more than a code book of ethics or a self help guide?

blessings,

sw

[felix]

Hello brother,

This actually is not my message but I stand by it. I did not have enough time this morning to indicate that it was from the "Glory of his cross prophetic ministries".

Concerning your reply:

If a Christian is growing worse by time and commiting more and more sin...then he is not abiding in Christ. If we have the life of God in us how can we go about sinning freely? If we do not have the fruits of the Spirit, then we are not growing in our spirit. This is not by human effort but purely from the transformation of our soul from the work of the Holy Spirit.

You said, "It seems, if Paul is to be believed, the Christian is more righteous when he reallzes just what a sinner he is rather than living under the illusion that he is getting better and better every day"

There is a righteousness in our own eyes (like the pharisees of Jesus's time) and there is a righteousness of God. The illusion that we are getting better day by day comes from the type of righteousness in our own eyes. The righteousness of God, on the otherhand, is one where we recognize more and more our sins...even things that we did not know were sins. We come to abhor them more and more. It is then that we love Christ's blood more. We find that we need it everyday. So in this way we have to rely on the righteousness of God.

"Also, aren't you making the Bible into nothing more than a code book of ethics or a self help guide?"

The message is not implying that the Bible is "nothing" MORE than a code book. In fact, the Bible is many things and it can be viewed as a code book or a self-help guide. Many Christians know what the bible says but very few really follow it. The Word of God gives us simple guidelines; we just need to follow them. We just need a pure heart.

[st. Worm]

"We just need a pure heart."

You have stumbled upon the problem dear soul. As the Apostle noted, he had no pure heart and never would in this life. The perfectionist's illusion of getting better and better each day is not from the Bible. We abide in Christ because of his work in us and by the means of grace, Word and Sacrament which strengthens and maintains our faith. Sanctification is Christ working in us and not some free will scheme. Good works and ethics as you describe them are even performed by unbelievers. The difference is the unbeliever knows nothing about his own sinfulness. Even the fruits of the Spirit are tainted with our sin. There is great danger in not accepting that and Paul's message is quite unmistakable. Unfortunately in todays church, sanctification is now little more than morality. We hear too many sermons on how to have a better marriage or how raise your children and too few telling us what sinners we really are and why the gospel of forgiveness is still needed in our lives.

God bless,

SW

[felix]

"We just need a pure heart."

You have stumbled upon the problem dear soul. As the Apostle noted, he had no pure heart and never would in this life. The perfectionist's illusion of getting better and better each day is not from the Bible. We abide in Christ because of his work in us and by the means of grace, Word and Sacrament which strengthens and maintains our faith. Sanctification is Christ working in us and not some free will scheme. Good works and ethics as you describe them are even performed by unbelievers. The difference is the unbeliever knows nothing about his own sinfulness. Even the fruits of the Spirit are tainted with our sin. There is great danger in not accepting that and Paul's message is quite unmistakable. Unfortunately in todays church, sanctification is now little more than morality. We hear too many sermons on how to have a better marriage or how raise your children and too few telling us what sinners we really are and why the gospel of forgiveness is still needed in our lives.

God bless,

SW

Hello brother,

Concerning a pure heart there are many verses:

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

1 Timothy 1:5

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

2 Timothy 2:22

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.

However, I don't think that's a problem here. Brother, I think you've misconstrued a single word...namely "better". It is not refering or implying the "perfectionist's illusion of getting better and better each day". To be honest, I don't know exactly what you are thinking of this message. But I think I have addressed that problem in the previous post:

The righteousness in our own eyes (righteousness of the pharisees in Jesus's time). I think this is the "illusion" you are actually speaking against...this is concering good works out of our own ability. However, the message is speaking about the fruits of the Spirit not works.

The righteousness in God eyes (righteousness from the blood of Christ). We have the righteousness of God. Here we recognize more and more our sin and we rely on the blood of Christ more. This is why the apostle Peter refered to the blood of Christ as precious. For Peter did fail much. This is the righteousness we have...which is not our of our good works.

I don't think the word "better" in this message should be over-analyzed. Indeed we do become better day by day if we just abide by the Word and be led by the Holy Spirit.

When we are abiding in Christ and His words are abiding in us where we mediate on the Word and enjoy the living God... then each day we are being watered. We then start to produce fruit. This is the fruit of the Spirit which is:

Gal 5:22,23

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control.

Here, it is a call to look at our heart. This is the root. "If the roots are holy then the branches will be also".

[st. Worm]

Thanks so much for you well thought out response. But to answer your question, your original post mentioned the prospects of getting better and better as if we somehow lose our sinful nature along the path of righteousness. The true fruits of the Spirit reflect the biblical truth that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. I did not mean to miscontrue your post but I still sense a little bit of the idea in your posts that the Christian life is one of increasing betterment that we can measure in some way as opposed to the biblical idea of our new lives being hidden in Christ leaving the ongoing tension between saint and sinner as we daily put to death the old Adam.

[jeffnevins]

Being human is the tricky part. Specifically a man. The whole men & women dynamic and all. And not having a girlfriend, let alone a wife. That's the tough one.

[RGR]

Being human is the tricky part. Specifically a man. The whole men & women dynamic and all. And not having a girlfriend, let alone a wife. That's the tough one.

True, Jeff, true. However if I might add a thought; it is far better to be single than to be with someone who is going to bring you down! God will bring you to someone in His own time; anything we do trying to "help" the process is going to cause us unbelievable pain and heartache.

[felix]

It is possible that if our entire being is wholly given to the Lord, it would not matter what happened...the strength of God would be ours and we would be able to overcome anything.

St. Worm, this is very true that "The true fruits of the Spirit reflect the biblical truth that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us." It can only be Christ in us; the Holy Spirit possessing us that we can have the fruits of the Spirit.

Edited January 13, 2006 by felix