February 18, 2024
The following is a transcript of the Podcast by the same name published November 17, 2023.
"So we start out today by saying hello to Jakelyn, 14 years old, listening to our app from Opp, Alabama. When filling out the form here, how did you hear about us? Jakelyn said, The taxi man told me about you. So we say a big thanks to whomever the taxi man is.
Today, we're talking about the Galatians chapter 5 verse 22, fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
Paul lays this out for us nice and clear.
Knowing the fruit of the Spirit is one thing. Seeing it -seeing it manifest in our lives is another. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is very important to the believer's walk.
So how do we see love? How do we see joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, and so forth? By staying in step with the Spirit. How? By how we think. By changing our thinking pattern and beginning to think in line with the Spirit.
Paul wrote, we have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16. But having it and using it are not the same. We have the mind of Christ revealed in his word. Praise God. More specifically, in what was revealed in the epistles of Paul.
Growing spiritual fruit centers around our focus. What are we most focused on? If we're waiting to be led in some sort of mysterious and mystical way, we're out of focus.
Stay away from all presence of Gnosticism. It's out there. It's all around us.
The only way that God can lead us today is by the Spirit. By the words in your Bible that he wrote. The Spirit. To line up with the Spirit, we have to first agree with God by agreeing with his word. Following his word and not some hocus-pocus superstition. Those too lazy to study are the ones claiming to be waiting on the Spirit to lead them. Unwilling to put in the work, their claim is that God leads them by their feelings.
●I feel this. I feel that.
●God's prompting me to do this and that.
●He's nudging me.
●I heard a still, small voice.
No, the Spirit will lead you through an intelligized understanding of his perfectly preserved word right here in this King James Bible. No need to wait on a feeling or a word of knowledge, as they say. Why would you be waiting on anything when you are fully furnished... ...completely furnished and lacking for nothing?
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also we thank God without ceasing. Because, when you receive the word of God, which ye have heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Powerful!
Saints, simply allow God's word to go to work in you and fruit is bound to grow. No two ways about it.
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13.
So if it's God which worketh in us, whose fruit is it? It's called the fruit of the Spirit for good reason. It belongs to him. The Spirit's fruit, not mine.
When Paul wrote to brother Philemon, he said, I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual.
There's that word.
Thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in thy love because the bowels of thy saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
You think Philemon was exhibiting a Christ-centered life?
Bearing fruit, perhaps?
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
And in Ephesians 3:7 Paul wrote, Whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given me, by the effectual working of his power.
And in the next chapter he wrote, From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working, in the measure of every part, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Folks, we don't grow the fruit, God does.
How?
Through his word.
We're to be workmen.
We're to study to show thyself approved.
We're to rightly divide the word of truth, and that's going to take some work.
But the result is not us taking credit for all this fruit.
Look at my garden.
Aren't I special?
Oh no.
Through the power of his word that effectually worketh in and through us.
For it is God which worketh in you, Philippians 2:13.
It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Saints, what does our God take pleasure in?
Working through us.
Working through his children.
If we could ever get a clear picture of just how this looks, of just what it looks like when we allow God to go to work in and through us, I think we'd all be a bit more serious about things.- About our mission as ambassadors for him. This is not about us.
Some confuse God being in them with God working in them. But in you and working in you are two separate things.
When the God that is in us is allowed to work in us, this is what that looks like.
Colossians chapter 3 verse 12, Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;
(Verse 13) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
(Verse 14) And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
(Verse 15) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
(Verse 16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
(Verse 17) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
That's what it looks like when the God that is in us goes to work in us.
But we must be willing vessels for this to happen.
God will not spiritually rape anyone.
He only performs where he's allowed to.
As believers, we have put on Christ, which makes it possible to wear these fruits. Because Jesus was the embodiment of them all.
One vital thing to remember is, the fruit cannot manifest through us until we are secure in our identity.
Until we are grounded and settled in Pauline doctrine, stablished, having a thorough understanding of the word of reconciliation, the good news of what God did with our sins at Calvary.
Until we get there, it'll be one big-time messed-up struggle trying to please our Lord.
One common mistake we make is when we try to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Why are we trying to produce something that's not ours to produce?
The fruit of the Spirit belongs to God. And it's why it's vital to allow him to effectually go to work in and through us. The only good in us is Jesus, the word, and the Spirit of God. That's where the fruit comes from.
The fruit is accessible to us, but doesn't belong to us. And when we get the fruit of love right, the rest will naturally follow.
Someone once asked me, How do I know if I have the fruit of the Spirit?
If you're saved.
Every saved person has the fruit of the Spirit.
Having the fruit of the Spirit and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit are quite different.
Christ is the possessor of this fruit, and every saved person has Christ in them, the hope of glory. So, every saved person has the fruit of the Spirit whether they are accessing and exhibiting it or not.
And listen, the fruit of the Spirit is not the Spirit, quote, Touching you.
I say this because we've been asked that also.
Now, can you be emotionally affected by the Spirit?
Yes.
Who is the author of the words in your Bible?
The Spirit.
God's word can absolutely have an emotional effect on us. But again, this isn't hocus-pocus as taught by Christendom. God's not looking down from heaven, doing something to us in piecemeal, in little chosen bits and moments.
So, the fruit of the Spirit is not being touched by the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is not the Spirit coming upon you. You're there on little flock covenant ground if you're thinking with that frame of mind.
Acts chapter 1 verse 8, But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:...
This isn't our mail.
This isn't Pauline, and it's not within the parenthetical.
People will say, You can know if someone is saved by their fruit.
Over the years, I've heard this so many times, it's sickening. Most always used by the works salvationist behavioral modification crowd.
That's not a true statement.
Many secular people exhibit fruit. Oh, it's not fruit produced by the Spirit, but they show love, they show joy, patience, and so forth. These attributes are not anyone's ticket to heaven. As members of his body, it's not our job to be fruit inspectors. We're not to judge whether someone is a brother or sister by how much fruit they have in their garden. We identify one another by the fruit from our mouth, by words, by our testimony of salvation.
In Colossians 2:6 Paul reminds us that, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
(Verse 7) Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Saints, it's our strong roots that will enable us to bear fruit. In Christ Jesus we're rooted and built up in him.
Paul extends this same admonition for those at Ephesus.
(Ephesians) chapter 3 verse 17, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
And he does it again in chapter 5 verse 8, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
(Verse 9) For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;
Truth.
How do you grow it?
By study and being a workman who works God's word, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Bearing the fruit of the Spirit will allow us to be like a tree planted by the water. That was a song my grandfather used to sing.
Like a tree planted by the water, I shall not be moved.
That comes from Psalm chapter 1.
As a saint of the Most High, folks, we're admonished to yield our members, servants to righteousness, unto holiness. And as Romans chapter 6 says, For when we were the servants of sin, we were free from righteousness.
And Paul said, What fruit had you in those things whereof you're now ashamed? For the end of those things is death, but now you're free from sin and become servants to God. Ye have your fruit unto holiness.
You see....
●We work from holiness, not for holiness.
●We work from love, not for love.
●We work from salvation, not for salvation.
Regardless of all the pesky lordshippers out there, that's a false message. That's a perverted gospel. Which is actually no gospel at all.
Doing this will enable us to walk worthy of our calling. The worthy walk is a product of knowledge. Knowing some things.
When is the last time you took some inner man inventory?
How about that installed doctrine? How's it looking?
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by what? The word of God.
Colossians 1:9, For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(Verse 10) That ye may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Ephesians 1:8, Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
It's not my fruit. It's God's fruit.
He can grow his fruit if we allow him to do so.
To walk worthy is to get self out of his way.
If we're not renewing our mind daily with the washing of the word, our inner man will suffer. It's obvious that some have an inner man that's anorexic. Starving to death. And you can only work out what's within.
In Romans 1 Paul wrote, So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome.
Just as Paul could only preach what was in him, what he knew, you and I can only walk out what is in us. Exhibiting fruit will require us having Pauline doctrine within us.
In Philippians chapter 1, Paul has a prayer for those there at Philippi.
Watch.
Verse 9, And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
(Verse 10) That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
(Verse 11) Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
And in Colossians 1:10 he said, That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
And we drop down to verse 20 we see this, (And,) having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Having a clear understanding of the finality of his cross work and the function of reconciliation is very valuable in helping the believer exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Operating from his finished work instead of thinking we must help him finish his work.
That's knowledge to grow on, my friend.
The holier-than-thou work-for-salvation behavioral-modification-fruit-inspectors... you might hear them say something like, If they arrested you on charges of being a Christian, could they find enough evidence to convict you in a court of law?
You ever heard that?
You know what evidence they're speaking of?
Your works.
What they can see you do.
Your outward performance.
These folks are fleshly-minded.
Too fleshly-minded to be of any spiritual good.
And these same people claim to believe the gospel, and that salvation is by grace through faith.
See, Satan preaches near truth.
Almost right.
Recently heard a prominent preacher with a lot of followers say, If a person does not have fruit in their life, they're not a Christian.
A clear lie is what that is.
You are saved by grace through faith in the gospel of Christ and that alone.
It is God's desire, of course, for a believer to exhibit fruit, but it is not the fruit that saves.
The fruit is from salvation, not for it.
We are saved by grace through faith, not fruit.
As believers, we should desire to exhibit fruit and to allow the Jesus in us to grow that fruit. But our hope of eternal life, hey, it's found in trusting Jesus, not a fruit garden.
How do we see joy, peace, long-suffering gentleness, and so forth?
Well, back to what I said in the beginning of today's study. By staying in step, in line with the Spirit. It's not easy, but we press on. How can we possibly do that? By changing our thinking. Renewing our mind. Changing our thinking patterns and beginning to think in line with the Spirit, which is this word. This requires an attitude adjustment. One that the world can't give us. No, it's found in the Word of God. God's Word will help us greatly in the obedience department.
God will grow the fruit of the Spirit when we learn to operate from, not for.
If you're here today and you're uncertain where you're going to spend eternity, listen; Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 2 Corinthians 5:16.
Believing in his name, that won't save you today.
Keeping the commandments, that won't save you today.
Repent of your sins won't save you.
Say a prayer, walk the aisle, join the church, hey, you come from Christian parents.
Don't care. It won't save you.
Salvation today is found in believing on the risen and glorified Christ Jesus and him alone. That risen glorified Christ, that's who came to Paul on the road to Damascus, began to reveal a new thing that was hid in God before the foundation of the world. And piece by piece he began giving him the revelation of the mystery, and sent him on his way to the children of Israel and to the likes of us, the Gentiles, with a unique grace message of how at the cross, God stopped imputing the world's sins.
A total mystery to all of that time, and even most today.
So, believe on the risen Savior and thou shalt be saved. That he died for every last one of your sins, he was buried and he is risen.
Why would you dare put off the free gift of salvation for even a moment?
You need to get in Christ today.
Because if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things become new.
If one died for all, then were all dead.
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.
Hey, that'll do it for now.
But I must remind you, When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken, or cease to be honest.
Grace and peace."
Listen to this podcast here: https://youtu.be/ghy07L3-IxI?si=tCEa01WT2DPPGY65
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