But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Divine Lawlessness
It used to be that protecting the unborn was noble and good. Now the world calls it extreme and narrow-minded. "Keep your stinky Christian laws out of my uterus!" touted a pro-abortion placard not too long ago, except it said something more pejorative than 'stinky'.
It used to be that supporting and dignifying the nuclear family unit was a good thing. Now if you're not 100% behind all kinds of marriage and family configurations then you're a Neanderthal bigot. (My apologies for the gross broad-brushing of all Neanderthals by that characterization.)
Christians should not be surprised at this turn of events. It was prophesied by Isaiah 2500 years ago: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20, NKJV). Whoa! That's a pretty concise summary of the truth underneath what passes for modern wisdom these days. Its shocking really, how accurately the Bible anticipates the rampant reversal of values we are seeing come to fruition right before our eyes. Fairly soon, I expect to see some international laws passed that would require behavior that only a generation ago would have been considered aberrant or humiliating.
Fortunately, human legislation can never, and will never, supersede divine law. No matter what insanity some elite political body devises or imposes in the future, against such things as outlined in the focus verse above there is no law. From the Lord's perspective, it will NEVER be illegal to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
In ancient Israel, devout Jews would live or die by slavish adherence to the body of religious and ceremonial regulations that blossomed around the 10 Commandments, and the 613 statutes and judgments surrounding life in their Theocracy. (If you think 613 laws are a lot, consider the number of pages that comprise the latest attempt at government controlled Healthcare in the U.S.) These embellishments were contained in writings like the Talmud or Mishna and sought to clarify God's laws. Of course, there's a fundamental flaw in thinking that God's laws needed clarification, but that's besides the point.
This body of proscribed behavior contained 100's of rules and definitions, for instance, about what God meant when He said, "you shall do no regular work on the Sabbath." Leave it to the legal geniuses of our species to take something beautifully simple and throw lots of mud on it. It was from this flimsy foundation of faulty thinking that the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day tried to trip Him up and turn public opinion against Him. Sounds a lot like the opinion czars of today, no?
They contrived a scandal out of the fact that Jesus actually made a man who had been an invalid for 38 years completely well on the Sabbath. I'm sure some of these legalists were intensely sincere about their reasoning, condemning Jesus by the letter of the law, while completing missing the underlying and profound spirit or intent of the law. Nevertheless, Paul's statement above is in direct opposition to that kind of misguided and malign thinking. His point, then and now, is that bearing the fruit of the spirit, being filled with agape love. godly joy, peace that surpasses understanding, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control ALWAYS trumps any man-made legislative attempt to curtail, define or limit such things. It is NEVER illegal to do good or be kind or love the way God loves, no matter what religious, cultural or legal tradition or statute of men may declare. God's laws cannot be abrogated or sublimated to man's laws. Ever.
That is very good to know and understand and here's why: it frees us to be like Christ. We are not bound by ritual or ceremony. We needn't wear some kind of religious uniform, or walk in lock-step to some external, superficial attempt by others to control our godliness.
But it goes even beyond that. It is an implicit warning by the Holy Spirit Himself not to even try to invent such restrictions. It's useless and futile and makes us part of the enemy in this ages-long war against God. Against emulation of Christ, there IS NO LAW, and NEVER WILL BE.
Showing posts with label Galatians 5:22-23. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galatians 5:22-23. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Personal Responsibility: Yes We Can!
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, SELF-CONTROL. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Personal Responsibility: Yes We Can!
Is alcoholism a disease? How about drug addiction? In my wasted youth when I drank like a fish and did just about any drugs I could get my hands on, I was overjoyed to hear that some "experts" thought so. It gave me the best excuse I could ever imagine: "It's not my fault! I'm sick!" Perfect! I viewed it as a license to indulge.
Later on, as a "responsible adult", but before I became a Christian, I suspended those behaviors because I thought they were killing me and I was afraid to die. I still considered them diseases though, and for a time ignored the fact that I had somehow managed to treat myself. I had swallowed the popular wisdom that I was afflicted with an incurable disease until I questioned the glaring disconnect of my apparent spontaneous remission. My educated friends were indignant at my Neanderthalic illusion of self-control, and aghast that I even dared to question the accepted truth. They told me my supposed cure was delusional. After fruitless argument, I dropped the whole discussion because it made me want to go out and get a drink.
As a Christian informed about life by the inerrant, infallible Word of God, I have since come to know and believe that the world has no idea what it's talking about. Alcoholism and drug abuse are sins, pure and simple. I'm not saying these are not difficult to give up, or are not painful and destructive, or that drinkers and drug-users should be scorned and denied compassion. If I were saying that about drunks, I'd be saying the same thing about thieves and liars and everyone else in the world because we are all afflicted with sin, and Christ died to procure pardon for all of us. What I am saying is that the propaganda that these bad habits are incurable diseases is not helpful. While that equation may have been motivated initially by an outward desire for good, the real result is evil. Why? Because it relieves the sinner of personal responsibility and renders them helpless; like throwing a drowning man a mill stone instead of a life preserver.
The world, of course, has a vested interest in denying the existence of sin. It's an ongoing battle in the long war against God. Part of the strategy is to marginalize anyone who even talks about sin as being an ignorant bigoted dolt without human decency or education. Christians should not be surprised by this tactic. As far back as the New Testament, in anticipation of the continuous moral decline of the world into obvious spiritual blindness, the Apostle Paul warned in Romans Chapter 1 that there are those, "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NKJV). That these people are now in a position to consider themselves arbiters of popular wisdom and political correctness is no shock either. They are perfect tools; useful idiots. They advance this ridiculous stratagem: no sin means no judgment and no God. Good luck with that one. You'll need it, particularly at the end of you life.
Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit enters into this discussion in that it enables us to accomplish three vitally important things in the Christian walk. The first is it gives us power over sin. Not that we are in any way sinless, but we as Christians have the option NOT to sin. We are set free from the penalty of sin and the propensity to sin. Through His Spirit within us we can have what Christians call victory over sin. I know people, and know OF many more people, who, through faith in Christ, have turned their lives completely around. Many headed toward inevitable self-destruction and severe damage to those around them have become more than conquerors. Where before they were slaves of alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or other lusts of the flesh, they are now no longer captives. In many cases, though not all, this entailed little or no effort on their part to put aside their most besetting sin. It just happened, a gift of God.
In addition to the power not to sin, Spirit-led self-control gives believers the necessary groundwork to manifest the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: longsuffering, kindness, goodness and gentleness, especially in the face of provocation to do otherwise. This is true because that kind of self-control is not merely an act of will, which can falter with lack of sleep or bad digestion or stress, but it is supernatural, coming from God Himself. It is what enable us to face life with the peace that surpasses understanding, and to rejoice in trials because more than just our minds and emotions are at the wheel.
And finally, it makes us virtually immune to manipulation from others. Why? For the simple and profound reason that external provocation need not penetrate our God-given defenses. When reviled, we need not revile in return. When offended, we need not take offense. When unfairly treated, we can give our cause over to a good and faithful Creator, knowing that God is our rearguard, and promises to fight our battles and vindicate us in the end.
Do not overlook the power of these life-principles. Imagine, if you will a life lived mostly on these terms: free from the slavery of sin with the liberty NOT to sin; empowered to be truly kind and good and gentle even under duress; and immune to manipulation.
A real-life superhero.
Personal Responsibility: Yes We Can!
Is alcoholism a disease? How about drug addiction? In my wasted youth when I drank like a fish and did just about any drugs I could get my hands on, I was overjoyed to hear that some "experts" thought so. It gave me the best excuse I could ever imagine: "It's not my fault! I'm sick!" Perfect! I viewed it as a license to indulge.
Later on, as a "responsible adult", but before I became a Christian, I suspended those behaviors because I thought they were killing me and I was afraid to die. I still considered them diseases though, and for a time ignored the fact that I had somehow managed to treat myself. I had swallowed the popular wisdom that I was afflicted with an incurable disease until I questioned the glaring disconnect of my apparent spontaneous remission. My educated friends were indignant at my Neanderthalic illusion of self-control, and aghast that I even dared to question the accepted truth. They told me my supposed cure was delusional. After fruitless argument, I dropped the whole discussion because it made me want to go out and get a drink.
As a Christian informed about life by the inerrant, infallible Word of God, I have since come to know and believe that the world has no idea what it's talking about. Alcoholism and drug abuse are sins, pure and simple. I'm not saying these are not difficult to give up, or are not painful and destructive, or that drinkers and drug-users should be scorned and denied compassion. If I were saying that about drunks, I'd be saying the same thing about thieves and liars and everyone else in the world because we are all afflicted with sin, and Christ died to procure pardon for all of us. What I am saying is that the propaganda that these bad habits are incurable diseases is not helpful. While that equation may have been motivated initially by an outward desire for good, the real result is evil. Why? Because it relieves the sinner of personal responsibility and renders them helpless; like throwing a drowning man a mill stone instead of a life preserver.
The world, of course, has a vested interest in denying the existence of sin. It's an ongoing battle in the long war against God. Part of the strategy is to marginalize anyone who even talks about sin as being an ignorant bigoted dolt without human decency or education. Christians should not be surprised by this tactic. As far back as the New Testament, in anticipation of the continuous moral decline of the world into obvious spiritual blindness, the Apostle Paul warned in Romans Chapter 1 that there are those, "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NKJV). That these people are now in a position to consider themselves arbiters of popular wisdom and political correctness is no shock either. They are perfect tools; useful idiots. They advance this ridiculous stratagem: no sin means no judgment and no God. Good luck with that one. You'll need it, particularly at the end of you life.
Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit enters into this discussion in that it enables us to accomplish three vitally important things in the Christian walk. The first is it gives us power over sin. Not that we are in any way sinless, but we as Christians have the option NOT to sin. We are set free from the penalty of sin and the propensity to sin. Through His Spirit within us we can have what Christians call victory over sin. I know people, and know OF many more people, who, through faith in Christ, have turned their lives completely around. Many headed toward inevitable self-destruction and severe damage to those around them have become more than conquerors. Where before they were slaves of alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or other lusts of the flesh, they are now no longer captives. In many cases, though not all, this entailed little or no effort on their part to put aside their most besetting sin. It just happened, a gift of God.
In addition to the power not to sin, Spirit-led self-control gives believers the necessary groundwork to manifest the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: longsuffering, kindness, goodness and gentleness, especially in the face of provocation to do otherwise. This is true because that kind of self-control is not merely an act of will, which can falter with lack of sleep or bad digestion or stress, but it is supernatural, coming from God Himself. It is what enable us to face life with the peace that surpasses understanding, and to rejoice in trials because more than just our minds and emotions are at the wheel.
And finally, it makes us virtually immune to manipulation from others. Why? For the simple and profound reason that external provocation need not penetrate our God-given defenses. When reviled, we need not revile in return. When offended, we need not take offense. When unfairly treated, we can give our cause over to a good and faithful Creator, knowing that God is our rearguard, and promises to fight our battles and vindicate us in the end.
Do not overlook the power of these life-principles. Imagine, if you will a life lived mostly on these terms: free from the slavery of sin with the liberty NOT to sin; empowered to be truly kind and good and gentle even under duress; and immune to manipulation.
A real-life superhero.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Sweet Powerful Reasonableness
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, GENTLENESS, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Sweet Powerful Reasonableness
There are five significant things to know about GENTLENESS as a fruit of the Spirit.
First, like all good gifts, it comes from above, and the word Paul uses to describe it is rich in meaning and comfort, like a soft, warm blanket on a cold wintry night. Or a full-grown formidable guard dog that despite its training and experience has not lost its essential puppy-ness.
Secondly, from the perspective of God to Man, this gentleness is best thought of as clemency. It is distinctly active, and serves as the underlying foundation of God's words and actions toward humanity. The relationship is one of superior to inferior, as in Someone having the power and authority to control and condemn, but Who nevertheless ordains a "…fundamentally…relaxing of strict legal requirements concerning others, yet doing this in order to more fully carry out the real spirit of the law. It is clemency in which there is no element of weakness or injustice." Without this gentleness from God towards man, Adam's Fall would have resulted in instant and irremediable judgement. There would have been no gospel, nor redemption nor Messiah.
Thirdly, form the perspective of man to God, it entails the humble acceptance of whatever may come from God. It is the diametric opposite of the rebellious state in which we are all born and live until we, through God's grace and mercy, accept His gift of salvation. It is supernaturally bestowed, a work of the Spirit of God in the heart of a soul that has been born again. Like all aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, it can only be grown by the Word of God planted in that good soil of a regenerated heart that hears the truth, rejoices in the truth, and abides in the Vine. As in all such things, it cannot be produced by any effort of man, but only by the combatant in the field of battle, humbly accepting the terms of surrender imposed by the just and superior force arrayed against him. It is the result of the ignominious and inglorious rebel laying down his puny weaponry, resigned to whatever comes from the victor in response. That the response is clemency and mercy is all the more cause for joy that the conflict has finally ceased.
Fourthly, within the family of God toward one another, GENTLENESS is that powerful and sweet reasonableness spawned from humility, that honest assessment of one's strengths and gifts not corrupted by the sick, self-serving and false proclamations of inadequacies and weaknesses. It is the sincere result of not thinking very much about yourself at all because you hold a firm conviction that smallness is the right self-estimate for any human being, however strong or talented. Lewis wrote, "Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."
Lastly, in the context of gentleness from the believer to the outside world, it is strength under control, sometimes termed 'meekness', though that has modern connotations the original meaning of the word did not. It is not physical or mental strength at all, but strength of character and conviction; that quiet sense of loving substance and certainty not shouted raucously and preachily from mountaintops, but manifested through merely living the Christian life. It is a gentleness that requires no billboards or bullhorns or amplifiers, but is nonetheless a firm foundation of care and sincerity that is oddly attractive without being flashy. It is the kind of gentleness that children and dogs recognize instinctively and instantly, regardless of outward appearance.
The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I appreciate sincere gentleness, and the more I am able to differentiate it from the superficial outward civility that always reminds me of someone trying his or her best not to be flatulent. Of all the different components of the fruit of the Spirit, this one is the easiest to mistake for something which it most certainly is not: weakness. Be forewarned, true Spirit-filled gentleness is captivating and easy to be around, but it is anything but weak. It can withstand and defeat all the brutal offenses of this life because it is fueled not by human will or human determination, but by the fierce and holy fires from the very heart of the Living God Himself.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Pitfalls and Cliffhangers
(To All the Honest Hippies Out There)
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, FAITHFULNESS, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Pitfalls and Cliffhangers
Pitfalls and Cliffhangers
Uncertainty is almost always damaging, and the scope of damage is directly proportional to the significance of the stakes. It may not be so traumatizing for someone to be uncertain about a new hairstyle, but a potentially fatal illness is another matter entirely.
Given this, a good rule of thumb is: the more important the question, the more certainty is required in the answer.
"Daddy, what happens when you die?"
I have been asked that at one time or another by each one of my children. Now if you believe, as much of the world does except for a few foolishly confident atheists, that physical death is not the end of existence, but an entrance into another kind of life, then the answer you give to this question is profoundly important. And the authority upon which you base your answer is more important still, since it speaks directly to the validity and reliability of your answer. Add to this the proposition of an eternal afterlife, again something most of the world does believe, then the importance, authority, validity and reliability of your response increases exponentially to, well, Biblical proportions.
If, on the other hand, you believe that "you're born you live and you die" and there's absolutely no epilogue, eternal or otherwise (it turns out that very few people, except our intellectual superiors, actually do believe this) then how you chose to answer that child's question, if you even bother to have or interact with any children, is up to you. A suggested real uplifter on the way to your liquor cabinet is "When you die, nothing much happens, kid. Your body returns to Gaia to feed the worms."
Here's the thing though. What if you're wrong? Or more precisely, how certain are you of your answer? Are you willing to bet all eternity on it?
I am pretty sure that eternity is an irrevocably long time. It's kind of like stepping off the edge of a very sheer, very steep cliff edging an invisible bottomless pit. The decision once made can't be unmade, no matter how much regret you might feel on the way down, or how unbelieving you might have been as to the actual existence of either the cliff or the pit. Actually, every sane person understands that the cliff edge is there; hardly anyone knows someone who won't die sooner or later. But the real issue of certainty or uncertainty comes into play once you are inevitably pushed off the edge of the world.
The Bible teaches with unequivocally declared authority that falling off the edge of the world doesn't automatically result in descent. It is possible, instead, to ascend into whatever is the opposite of a bottomless pit. The Bible calls it Heaven, where God lives. That is very good news, indeed, if it's true. Or even possibly true.
"Daddy, what happens when you die?"
I think a good answer is this: "Well, honey, you leave the earth and either go up into light and life and joy, or down into despair and darkness. Forever."
Two additional questions usually follow, not necessarily in this order: "How do you know, Daddy?" And "What do ya' hafta to do to go up?"
Sometimes a third question arises, depending on the age and maturity of the questioner. It's this: Why? But the answer to that question goes beyond this post, because what this post is about is certainty. Scripture calls it FAITHFULNESS.
"There is only one way to enter Heaven, honey. Believe in Jesus - that He is the vey Son of God, that He became a Man to pay for your sins on the Cross so you won't have to, and that He rose from the grave after three days and now sits at the right hand of the Throne of God. As to how I know this is true, that's what God tells us in His Word. He promises that if we do those things, when we get pushed off the edge of the earth we will go up and not down. And we'll live forever and never have to say good-bye again."
"But how do we know that God will keep His promises, Daddy?"
"Because He is FAITHFUL honey. And He cannot lie. God is what faithful is. He knows everything and can do anything and when He says something or promises something, He means it. It HAS to happen. It can't NOT happen. Jesus said to His disciples that the sky and the earth will pass away, but not ONE WORD will fail that God has said. And if He created everything and knows everything and has all power there is NOTHING that can prevent His promise from coming true. Nothing."
"So you trust God, Daddy? Are you sure?"
"As sure as it's possible to be, honey. And there's one other thing, sweetheart."
"What, Daddy?"
"God loves us. And when you love somebody as much as God loves us, loving us enough to send His Son to die for us on the Cross, then you keep your word, no matter what. And because He's God, His word for it is all we need."
From the human perspective, we are to practice that same kind of no-matter-what FAITHFULNESS, and it has to come from God. It isn't something we can produce on our own. That doesn't mean that we will never not make good on our promises; only an omnipotent, omniscient Being can make that kind of a guarantee. But here's what it does mean. It means that as a child of God by faith, your word, your integrity, your reliability, transparency and honesty are as much a part of your existence and behavior as your lungs. It is mostly what you are above mostly everything else about you. When you commit to something you mean it, always, every time. No exceptions. No excuses. No hedging your bets.
This will have two immediate consequences if you cultivate this fruit of the Spirit in your life. One, it should make you think twice before spouting off about your intentions. Two, it should make you realize that you yourself are totally inadequate to live up to this standard. It is only Christ within you that even gets you in the running in the first place. And it is only through the continued surrendering of your will to His, will you have any hope of being this kind of faithful.
As a Christian man, woman or child, your word should be your bond. How's that for simple?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Goodness
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, GOODNESS, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Goodness
The Theory of Evolution™ makes a mockery of the whole concept of moral virtue. The corollary is also true; the existence of moral virtue makes a mockery of the Theory of Evolution™.
Prior to becoming a Christian I was a self-proclaimed "origins expert", and had been since the moment I got my first blue, poured-plastic Brontosaurus (now renamed Apatosaurus) from the local hobby shop as a bespectacled eight year-old. I recall spending many hours as a geekish adolescent in the backyard painstakingly reproducing stone tools from the flint nodules in my mother's garden. Indeed, one of the final obstacles to my conversion was the apparent contradiction between the Bible and evolutionary science. Both could not be true.
I have since steeped myself in the controversy, and after examining ALL the available evidence from both sides I come down squarely in the Young-earth Creationist camp. If this discredits my intellect or judgment in your mind, all I can say is let's discuss it. I may not have all the answers but the ones I have were persuasive enough to have changed my mind on the issue, even after nearly 40 years of holding the evolutionary viewpoint.
I conclude then, that if macro-evolution is true, not species adaptation mind you, but the whole "goo through the zoo to you" kind, then there can be no such thing as goodness, or justice, or beauty, or any other kind of moral virtue. Or if there is, it's all relative and situational and as changeable as the weather. I come to this conclusion because all these things become subservient, not to some transcendent absolute standard, but to whatever makes alpha-male A get better mates than beta-male B. And by better, I mean hardier, sturdily reproducible, and less likely to die. That's it. Nothing else matters. So if in the scheme of things over the course of history our products-of-random-events-over-time, you know our brain's 'thinking', conceives of some idea that we call 'goodness', the immediate question that arises is, goodness for what survival purpose?
If my prehistoric ancestors devised a better way to wipe out the competition for food or mates or territory, evolutionist MUST define that as 'good', because it promoted the survival of the "selfish gene" pool from which I "happened" to have descended. And if they don't, their thinking is not logical or internally consistent, and if that's true, why then would I listen to anything else they have to say? Furthermore, as C.S. Lewis has written, "… if … thoughts … are mere accidental by-products [of the random movement of atoms over time], why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents."
On the other hand, if there exists a transcendent standard of goodness, then it must come from somewhere 'outside' of the material Universe. Where else could it originate? A black hole? A quantum singularity? Some primordial hydrogen atoms? This is important, otherwise their is no point in writing any further about GOODNESS as a fruit of the Spirit. It either exists as an absolute, or it is no more significant then the "preferences" of whoever is currently in power and has the biggest stick.
As a Bible-believing Christian (there is no other kind - does that make me narrow-minded, or as I suspect, merely logical?), I know what GOODNESS is and Who owns it. I know the definition, impact, purpose and etiology. I know what it does and guards against, and I have no doubt whatsoever that it is important.
Since I've already argued that absolute goodness must be transcendent, outside of time and space, and must in someway be imposed upon the physical universe, it makes sense to attribute the source to the One Whom the Bible describes as EXACTLY that: He who inhabits eternity. He who knows the end from the beginning. He whose purposes always come to pass (Isa 57:15; 46:10), namely God. God is also described as all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscience), and everywhere-present (omnipresent). Aquinas summed it up pretty well nearly a thousand years ago when he wrote that "God is that than which no greater can be conceived." Aquinas may have had other problems, but that was a good sentence.
Think about this, God as Designer and Creator, could have made it so that life itself was unutterably agonizing. Fulfilling the need for nourishment, for example, may have been such that while no less necessary, He could have made it excruciatingly painful. Why didn't He? Because He is good. The same is conceivable for so many of the things that give us pleasure in life and, for the most part, make us glad to be alive. Ironically, I think the most telling proof of this argument is what happened to child-bearing after the Fall because of the Curse. In judgment, and perhaps as a reminder throughout all the generations since of the goodness that was lost, God re-implemented reproduction to be painful. Before that, it was not.
To fully understand GOODNESS then, especially as a fruit of the Spirit, we need to understand the "goodness of God." To do that I suggest we look at its effect as described in Scripture, following the example Jesus provided in discussing the realm of the Spirit as an analogy to the wind (i.e.; “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” - John 3:8, NKJV).
From the verses below you will see that God's goodness: is abounding; is always directed to His children; is a cause for rejoicing; endures continually and forever; provides for the poor; withholds no benefit; is merciful; lead us to righteousness and repentance; is instructive; is transformative; results in our goodness; gives eternal hope; is all-encompassing and comprehensive; defines what is good; silences evil; is our re-birth mark.
No worthier or more valuable fruit can be cultivated.
Ex 34:6* And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
De 6:24 ‘And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
De 26:11* “So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
2Ch 6:41* “Now therefore, Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
Ps 52:1* <<To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”>> Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.
Ps 68:10* Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
Ps 84:11* For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
Ps 109:21* But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
Ps 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Ho 3:5* Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Mic 6:8* He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Ro 2:4* Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Ro 8:28* And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Ro 11:22* Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Ro 12:2* And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Php 2:13* for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
2Th 1:11* Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
2Th 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
2Ti 3:17* that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Heb 6:5* and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
1Pe 2:15* For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men--
3Jo 11* Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
Goodness
The Theory of Evolution™ makes a mockery of the whole concept of moral virtue. The corollary is also true; the existence of moral virtue makes a mockery of the Theory of Evolution™.
Prior to becoming a Christian I was a self-proclaimed "origins expert", and had been since the moment I got my first blue, poured-plastic Brontosaurus (now renamed Apatosaurus) from the local hobby shop as a bespectacled eight year-old. I recall spending many hours as a geekish adolescent in the backyard painstakingly reproducing stone tools from the flint nodules in my mother's garden. Indeed, one of the final obstacles to my conversion was the apparent contradiction between the Bible and evolutionary science. Both could not be true.
I have since steeped myself in the controversy, and after examining ALL the available evidence from both sides I come down squarely in the Young-earth Creationist camp. If this discredits my intellect or judgment in your mind, all I can say is let's discuss it. I may not have all the answers but the ones I have were persuasive enough to have changed my mind on the issue, even after nearly 40 years of holding the evolutionary viewpoint.
I conclude then, that if macro-evolution is true, not species adaptation mind you, but the whole "goo through the zoo to you" kind, then there can be no such thing as goodness, or justice, or beauty, or any other kind of moral virtue. Or if there is, it's all relative and situational and as changeable as the weather. I come to this conclusion because all these things become subservient, not to some transcendent absolute standard, but to whatever makes alpha-male A get better mates than beta-male B. And by better, I mean hardier, sturdily reproducible, and less likely to die. That's it. Nothing else matters. So if in the scheme of things over the course of history our products-of-random-events-over-time, you know our brain's 'thinking', conceives of some idea that we call 'goodness', the immediate question that arises is, goodness for what survival purpose?
If my prehistoric ancestors devised a better way to wipe out the competition for food or mates or territory, evolutionist MUST define that as 'good', because it promoted the survival of the "selfish gene" pool from which I "happened" to have descended. And if they don't, their thinking is not logical or internally consistent, and if that's true, why then would I listen to anything else they have to say? Furthermore, as C.S. Lewis has written, "… if … thoughts … are mere accidental by-products [of the random movement of atoms over time], why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents."
On the other hand, if there exists a transcendent standard of goodness, then it must come from somewhere 'outside' of the material Universe. Where else could it originate? A black hole? A quantum singularity? Some primordial hydrogen atoms? This is important, otherwise their is no point in writing any further about GOODNESS as a fruit of the Spirit. It either exists as an absolute, or it is no more significant then the "preferences" of whoever is currently in power and has the biggest stick.
As a Bible-believing Christian (there is no other kind - does that make me narrow-minded, or as I suspect, merely logical?), I know what GOODNESS is and Who owns it. I know the definition, impact, purpose and etiology. I know what it does and guards against, and I have no doubt whatsoever that it is important.
Since I've already argued that absolute goodness must be transcendent, outside of time and space, and must in someway be imposed upon the physical universe, it makes sense to attribute the source to the One Whom the Bible describes as EXACTLY that: He who inhabits eternity. He who knows the end from the beginning. He whose purposes always come to pass (Isa 57:15; 46:10), namely God. God is also described as all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscience), and everywhere-present (omnipresent). Aquinas summed it up pretty well nearly a thousand years ago when he wrote that "God is that than which no greater can be conceived." Aquinas may have had other problems, but that was a good sentence.
Think about this, God as Designer and Creator, could have made it so that life itself was unutterably agonizing. Fulfilling the need for nourishment, for example, may have been such that while no less necessary, He could have made it excruciatingly painful. Why didn't He? Because He is good. The same is conceivable for so many of the things that give us pleasure in life and, for the most part, make us glad to be alive. Ironically, I think the most telling proof of this argument is what happened to child-bearing after the Fall because of the Curse. In judgment, and perhaps as a reminder throughout all the generations since of the goodness that was lost, God re-implemented reproduction to be painful. Before that, it was not.
To fully understand GOODNESS then, especially as a fruit of the Spirit, we need to understand the "goodness of God." To do that I suggest we look at its effect as described in Scripture, following the example Jesus provided in discussing the realm of the Spirit as an analogy to the wind (i.e.; “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” - John 3:8, NKJV).
From the verses below you will see that God's goodness: is abounding; is always directed to His children; is a cause for rejoicing; endures continually and forever; provides for the poor; withholds no benefit; is merciful; lead us to righteousness and repentance; is instructive; is transformative; results in our goodness; gives eternal hope; is all-encompassing and comprehensive; defines what is good; silences evil; is our re-birth mark.
No worthier or more valuable fruit can be cultivated.
Ex 34:6* And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
De 6:24 ‘And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
De 26:11* “So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
2Ch 6:41* “Now therefore, Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
Ps 52:1* <<To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”>> Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.
Ps 68:10* Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor.
Ps 84:11* For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
Ps 109:21* But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
Ps 143:10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Ho 3:5* Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Mic 6:8* He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Ro 2:4* Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Ro 8:28* And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Ro 11:22* Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
Ro 12:2* And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Php 2:13* for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
2Th 1:11* Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
2Th 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
2Ti 3:17* that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Heb 6:5* and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
1Pe 2:15* For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men--
3Jo 11* Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
Ancient Hippies
But the fruit of the spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Ancient Hippies
I believe it is impossible to immerse yourself in the study and meditation of God's Word and come away thinking you are something. I am astonished at Christians who believe and act as if they are something special IN AND OF THEMSELVES.
Every letter in the New Testament is corrective. Every exhortation for right behavior is an explicit declaration that our tendency, even as Christians, is the opposite. "Husbands love your wives…" is there because we husbands are airheads and forget our purpose and role. "Children obey your parents…" is a reminder to naturally rebellious and disobedient children to behave otherwise. "Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting the Lord…" would be an unnecessary instruction if the natural tendency of the saved wife was to facilitate that perfect corporate partnership that is God's intention for marriage in Christ.
Face it! We are losers this side of Heaven. The difference, the ONLY difference, between our failure as Christians to live up to God's standards and the rest of the world's, is that we have NO EXCUSE. We, through Christ, have been "set free from sin". It no longer "has dominion over us." We have "Christ within us, the hope of glory." We are "new creations" empowered to live life in a new way, not by our own delusional self-determination, but by the Spirit of God. That we fail constantly anyway is not exactly a reason to pat ourselves on the back.
PRIDE is the most deleterious, noxious, toxic and counterproductive work of the flesh. It is an obstacle to EVERYTHING godly. And it takes so many subtle and pervasive forms that it is like a relentless, rapidly adaptive bacteria that spits in the face of all the latest antibiotics. (That was a really good sentence and I am proud of it… see what I mean!)
There is, however, an antidote, that if we would only humble ourselves enough to take it daily (every waking second even), we would see immediate improvement. It's this: strive to enter His rest, to not quench the Spirit, to cease from working in our own strength, because it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Php 2:13; 1Th 5:19; Heb 4:11). In other words, we need to bear the fruit of the Spirit by becoming that good and fertile soil that receives and obeys the seed of God's word (Luke 8:11-15). Seeds in themselves don't do much except die so that new life becomes possible (Joh 12:24).
I have capitalized above those aspects of this singular fruit of the Spirit that are specifically in view here. But it is the three that are underlined that I will deal with in this post. For an exposition of LOVE, LONGSUFFERING, and KINDNESS, I refer you to this, which is a reprised consolidation of 16 studies on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. (You can also access each one separately in reverse order by clicking the "1 Corinthians 13:4-8" LABEL on the right navigation panel).
So then, JOY. Do not mistake joy for happiness. In fact, joy is to happiness as the ocean is to a raindrop. Happiness is transitory, situational and can evaporate in a moment. Happiness is exclusionary. It is impossible to be both happy and something else, which is why it is so fleeting and fragile because the "something else" is likely to enter into the equation at any moment. Biblical joy, in contrast, is the sea upon which we as Christians float from the moment of our conversion and forever thereafter. It is NOT based on circumstances. It is founded upon the Rock of Christ. The word for JOY is found in the New Testament 58 times. It is ALWAYS associated with or referring to Christ.
Here's the list, see for yourself: (Mt 2:10; 13:20,44; 25:21,23; 28:8; Lu 1:14,44; 2:10; 6:23; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7,10; 24:41,52; Joh 3:29; 15:11; 16:20-22,24; 17:13; Ac 2:28; 8:8; 13:52; 15:3; 20:24; Ro 14:17; 15:13,32; 2Co 1:24; 2:3; 7:13; 8:2; Ga 5:22; Php 1:4,25; 2:2; 4:1; Col 1:11; 1Th 1:6; 2:19,20; 3:9; 2Ti 1:4; Phm 7,20; Heb 12:2; 13:17; Jas 1:2; 4:9; 1Pe 1:8; 4:13; 1Jo 1:4; 2Jo 12; 3Jo 4; Jude 24).
Because Christ is our joy, Christians can have joy no matter what else is going on, be it loss, or pain, or sorrow, or even happiness. Christ never leaves us nor forsakes us. And it is no accident that Paul characterizes joy as an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit because it is not something we can WORK up. It is ours through surrender. It is ours through fellowship with the Lord. It is ours through coming to know Jesus more fully each and every day we walk with Him. It is His indescribable gift to us, and we receive it in the same way a beloved child receives the presence of a loving parent, with open arms and full assurance of faith.
PEACE. Here is an extremely comprehensive definition of Biblical peace from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is…". This is that "peace that passes all understanding." It is rightly referred to as "the peace of God", Whom Paul fittingly calls "the God of peace" no less that 5 separate times in his epistles. But you cannot know the "peace of God" until you fully understand and accept the GRACE of God. Why? Because unless you believe God's promises that you are His by grace through faith once and forever, you will NEVER have that peace described here. Never. Doubts will ALWAYS arise as to whether YOU have done enough, worked enough, to remain in His good grace. And like joy, we obtain peace in the same way a beloved child receives the presence of a loving parent, with open arms and full assurance of faith.
Finally, I know that there will be some who have taken the time to read this and will wonder, "but doesn't this kind of 'resting in Him', this kind of 'ceasing from works' equate to a 'license to sin'"? Won't it encourage people to presume on the grace of God and just live their lives in disobedience falsely assured that how they live does not have a bearing on where they end up after death? As Paul says, "For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. (Romans 3:7, 8, NKJV).
Think back again to that picture of a beloved child enfolded in joy and peace within the arms of his or her loving Father. Would it even occur to that child to think, "Alright! Now what can I get away with doing?" Certainly not, if that child fully understood and loved the Father in return. I submit that it would be the LAST thing he or she think about, nestled in that safety, warmth and love, and knowing how cold and lifeless and horrifying existence would be without that relationship that the child did nothing to earn, and could do nothing to lose.
Ancient Hippies
I believe it is impossible to immerse yourself in the study and meditation of God's Word and come away thinking you are something. I am astonished at Christians who believe and act as if they are something special IN AND OF THEMSELVES.
Every letter in the New Testament is corrective. Every exhortation for right behavior is an explicit declaration that our tendency, even as Christians, is the opposite. "Husbands love your wives…" is there because we husbands are airheads and forget our purpose and role. "Children obey your parents…" is a reminder to naturally rebellious and disobedient children to behave otherwise. "Wives submit to your husbands as is fitting the Lord…" would be an unnecessary instruction if the natural tendency of the saved wife was to facilitate that perfect corporate partnership that is God's intention for marriage in Christ.
Face it! We are losers this side of Heaven. The difference, the ONLY difference, between our failure as Christians to live up to God's standards and the rest of the world's, is that we have NO EXCUSE. We, through Christ, have been "set free from sin". It no longer "has dominion over us." We have "Christ within us, the hope of glory." We are "new creations" empowered to live life in a new way, not by our own delusional self-determination, but by the Spirit of God. That we fail constantly anyway is not exactly a reason to pat ourselves on the back.
PRIDE is the most deleterious, noxious, toxic and counterproductive work of the flesh. It is an obstacle to EVERYTHING godly. And it takes so many subtle and pervasive forms that it is like a relentless, rapidly adaptive bacteria that spits in the face of all the latest antibiotics. (That was a really good sentence and I am proud of it… see what I mean!)
There is, however, an antidote, that if we would only humble ourselves enough to take it daily (every waking second even), we would see immediate improvement. It's this: strive to enter His rest, to not quench the Spirit, to cease from working in our own strength, because it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Php 2:13; 1Th 5:19; Heb 4:11). In other words, we need to bear the fruit of the Spirit by becoming that good and fertile soil that receives and obeys the seed of God's word (Luke 8:11-15). Seeds in themselves don't do much except die so that new life becomes possible (Joh 12:24).
I have capitalized above those aspects of this singular fruit of the Spirit that are specifically in view here. But it is the three that are underlined that I will deal with in this post. For an exposition of LOVE, LONGSUFFERING, and KINDNESS, I refer you to this, which is a reprised consolidation of 16 studies on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. (You can also access each one separately in reverse order by clicking the "1 Corinthians 13:4-8" LABEL on the right navigation panel).
So then, JOY. Do not mistake joy for happiness. In fact, joy is to happiness as the ocean is to a raindrop. Happiness is transitory, situational and can evaporate in a moment. Happiness is exclusionary. It is impossible to be both happy and something else, which is why it is so fleeting and fragile because the "something else" is likely to enter into the equation at any moment. Biblical joy, in contrast, is the sea upon which we as Christians float from the moment of our conversion and forever thereafter. It is NOT based on circumstances. It is founded upon the Rock of Christ. The word for JOY is found in the New Testament 58 times. It is ALWAYS associated with or referring to Christ.
Here's the list, see for yourself: (Mt 2:10; 13:20,44; 25:21,23; 28:8; Lu 1:14,44; 2:10; 6:23; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7,10; 24:41,52; Joh 3:29; 15:11; 16:20-22,24; 17:13; Ac 2:28; 8:8; 13:52; 15:3; 20:24; Ro 14:17; 15:13,32; 2Co 1:24; 2:3; 7:13; 8:2; Ga 5:22; Php 1:4,25; 2:2; 4:1; Col 1:11; 1Th 1:6; 2:19,20; 3:9; 2Ti 1:4; Phm 7,20; Heb 12:2; 13:17; Jas 1:2; 4:9; 1Pe 1:8; 4:13; 1Jo 1:4; 2Jo 12; 3Jo 4; Jude 24).
Because Christ is our joy, Christians can have joy no matter what else is going on, be it loss, or pain, or sorrow, or even happiness. Christ never leaves us nor forsakes us. And it is no accident that Paul characterizes joy as an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit because it is not something we can WORK up. It is ours through surrender. It is ours through fellowship with the Lord. It is ours through coming to know Jesus more fully each and every day we walk with Him. It is His indescribable gift to us, and we receive it in the same way a beloved child receives the presence of a loving parent, with open arms and full assurance of faith.
PEACE. Here is an extremely comprehensive definition of Biblical peace from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, "the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is…". This is that "peace that passes all understanding." It is rightly referred to as "the peace of God", Whom Paul fittingly calls "the God of peace" no less that 5 separate times in his epistles. But you cannot know the "peace of God" until you fully understand and accept the GRACE of God. Why? Because unless you believe God's promises that you are His by grace through faith once and forever, you will NEVER have that peace described here. Never. Doubts will ALWAYS arise as to whether YOU have done enough, worked enough, to remain in His good grace. And like joy, we obtain peace in the same way a beloved child receives the presence of a loving parent, with open arms and full assurance of faith.
Finally, I know that there will be some who have taken the time to read this and will wonder, "but doesn't this kind of 'resting in Him', this kind of 'ceasing from works' equate to a 'license to sin'"? Won't it encourage people to presume on the grace of God and just live their lives in disobedience falsely assured that how they live does not have a bearing on where they end up after death? As Paul says, "For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. (Romans 3:7, 8, NKJV).
Think back again to that picture of a beloved child enfolded in joy and peace within the arms of his or her loving Father. Would it even occur to that child to think, "Alright! Now what can I get away with doing?" Certainly not, if that child fully understood and loved the Father in return. I submit that it would be the LAST thing he or she think about, nestled in that safety, warmth and love, and knowing how cold and lifeless and horrifying existence would be without that relationship that the child did nothing to earn, and could do nothing to lose.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
What Kind of Tree Are You?
But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
What Kind of Tree Are You?
You cannot work your way into Heaven, but you can inherit the Kingdom of God (Ga 5:21). Part of that inheritance is the God-given ability to bear fruit. Not surprisingly, the New Testament has a lot to say about fruit (51 separate verses), and establishes it as both a hallmark and benchmark of our faith. By that I mean, the Bible unequivocally presents the following principles: 1) believers bear fruit; and 2), how much fruit is directly proportional to how well you are abiding in Jesus (the Vine), and whether you are walking in obedience. There are a lot of complicated things in life, but this is not one of them.
Here are some of the things God wants us to know and think about fruit-bearing:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20, NKJV).
Here's a question that you have probably never seriously been asked: are you a thornbush, thistle or a fruit-bearer? I've seen a lot of strange social network quizzes lately, like those that try to determine what kind of dog you are, or describe what kind of tropical fish you most resemble; etc. But I haven't come across any that attempts to distill someone into agricultural terms. Yet, that is exactly how the Bible instructs us to think in regard to our lives as disciples of Jesus. I think the agricultural emphasis is important because it emphasizes where the power of produce resides. After all, it is not the apple that bears the tree. And no sane person would give it credit for such, nor laud the apple for building such a fruitful tree. Mark this, human beings are the most important creatures in the material Universe. I know this to be true because Christ became one and died to redeem us. And as such, we are meant to have an impact on the world. Because we are Fallen, when we do that stuff in our own strength the result, sooner or later, is thorns and thistles. But when we do that stuff in the power of the Spirit of Christ, instead of dead works, we bear living fruit that remains.
What kind of produce you bear then is the hallmark part of fruit-bearing; the signpost in front of your tree that declares plainly whether or not you are Christ's.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. “f anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1-8, NKJV).
Red seedless grapes are good fruit in my opinion, especially when crisp, sweet and juicy. And the thing about them is that they only get that way by hanging onto the grapevine for dear life. They don't grow themselves. Instead, they are cared for and husbanded by the Vinedresser so that they receive the life-giving nutrients supplied by the vine and just hang in there and let the natural increase in size and goodness occur. Can you imagine a grape silly (and delusionally prideful) enough to think that through some exertion on its own, apart from the Vine and the efforts of the Vinedresser, anything remotely resembling a sweet, or useful piece of fruit would result?
So the key points then in this instructive discourse on grapes and vines given by Jesus on the night of his betrayal and arrest are simply these: abide in Him by abiding in His Word (holding it dear, believing it, obeying it), and by so doing you will naturally be fruitful, and in being fruitful you will fulfill your purpose in life: glorifying God. Piece of cake, well, fruit.
This is the benchmark part, the system performance measurement, if you will, that declares to the world and yourself how close you walk with the Lord. In this instance, proximity equates to power.
The reason all this is vitally important is the same reason the word gospel means good news. We are condemned sinners helpless to save ourselves. We can only escape the judgment we deserve through faith in Christ, and once saved we can only live the Christian life by allowing God's Spirit to work within us to bear fruit. If we don't recognize the truth of this, we will attempt to save ourselves and bear fruit in our own strength, and that fruit will inevitably be bad. We will then be "cut down and thrown into the fire."
What Kind of Tree Are You?
You cannot work your way into Heaven, but you can inherit the Kingdom of God (Ga 5:21). Part of that inheritance is the God-given ability to bear fruit. Not surprisingly, the New Testament has a lot to say about fruit (51 separate verses), and establishes it as both a hallmark and benchmark of our faith. By that I mean, the Bible unequivocally presents the following principles: 1) believers bear fruit; and 2), how much fruit is directly proportional to how well you are abiding in Jesus (the Vine), and whether you are walking in obedience. There are a lot of complicated things in life, but this is not one of them.
Here are some of the things God wants us to know and think about fruit-bearing:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20, NKJV).
Here's a question that you have probably never seriously been asked: are you a thornbush, thistle or a fruit-bearer? I've seen a lot of strange social network quizzes lately, like those that try to determine what kind of dog you are, or describe what kind of tropical fish you most resemble; etc. But I haven't come across any that attempts to distill someone into agricultural terms. Yet, that is exactly how the Bible instructs us to think in regard to our lives as disciples of Jesus. I think the agricultural emphasis is important because it emphasizes where the power of produce resides. After all, it is not the apple that bears the tree. And no sane person would give it credit for such, nor laud the apple for building such a fruitful tree. Mark this, human beings are the most important creatures in the material Universe. I know this to be true because Christ became one and died to redeem us. And as such, we are meant to have an impact on the world. Because we are Fallen, when we do that stuff in our own strength the result, sooner or later, is thorns and thistles. But when we do that stuff in the power of the Spirit of Christ, instead of dead works, we bear living fruit that remains.
What kind of produce you bear then is the hallmark part of fruit-bearing; the signpost in front of your tree that declares plainly whether or not you are Christ's.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. “f anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1-8, NKJV).
Red seedless grapes are good fruit in my opinion, especially when crisp, sweet and juicy. And the thing about them is that they only get that way by hanging onto the grapevine for dear life. They don't grow themselves. Instead, they are cared for and husbanded by the Vinedresser so that they receive the life-giving nutrients supplied by the vine and just hang in there and let the natural increase in size and goodness occur. Can you imagine a grape silly (and delusionally prideful) enough to think that through some exertion on its own, apart from the Vine and the efforts of the Vinedresser, anything remotely resembling a sweet, or useful piece of fruit would result?
So the key points then in this instructive discourse on grapes and vines given by Jesus on the night of his betrayal and arrest are simply these: abide in Him by abiding in His Word (holding it dear, believing it, obeying it), and by so doing you will naturally be fruitful, and in being fruitful you will fulfill your purpose in life: glorifying God. Piece of cake, well, fruit.
This is the benchmark part, the system performance measurement, if you will, that declares to the world and yourself how close you walk with the Lord. In this instance, proximity equates to power.
The reason all this is vitally important is the same reason the word gospel means good news. We are condemned sinners helpless to save ourselves. We can only escape the judgment we deserve through faith in Christ, and once saved we can only live the Christian life by allowing God's Spirit to work within us to bear fruit. If we don't recognize the truth of this, we will attempt to save ourselves and bear fruit in our own strength, and that fruit will inevitably be bad. We will then be "cut down and thrown into the fire."
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Difference Between Works and Growth
But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
The Difference Between Works and Growth
You can either have works of the flesh or fruit of the Spirit. You choose. But before you do, know this: the Bible has nothing good to say about works of the flesh. Nothing. And by flesh, it doesn't mean meat and bones wrapped up in skin. It means the natural body, mind, will and emotions of fallen human beings; our "sensuous nature" in Old English; the thing we are born as, that is without God, without hope, and headed for eternal death.
Ge 6:12* So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
The Difference Between Works and Growth
You can either have works of the flesh or fruit of the Spirit. You choose. But before you do, know this: the Bible has nothing good to say about works of the flesh. Nothing. And by flesh, it doesn't mean meat and bones wrapped up in skin. It means the natural body, mind, will and emotions of fallen human beings; our "sensuous nature" in Old English; the thing we are born as, that is without God, without hope, and headed for eternal death.
Ge 6:12* So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Mt 26:41* “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Joh 6:63* “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Ro 3:20* Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Ro 6:19* I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
Ro 7:5* For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
Ro 7:18* For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
Ro 7:25* I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Ro 8:8* So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Ro 8:13* For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Ro 13:14* But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
1Co 15:50* Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
Ga 2:16* “knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Ga 6:8* For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Eph 2:3* among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Php 3:3* For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
Flesh works. Fruit grows. In the flesh, we can grit our teeth and try to be good, but try as we might we fail, because it is impossible for natural, unregenerate man to be good. Even with our best outward actions, our mind and emotions are corrupt. "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6, NKJV). It is therefore impossible for us to work our way into Heaven, because God's standard is perfection. “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, NKJV). One instance of imperfection, and we're done. Unless, through faith, we are born again. Then instead of doom in Adam, we have life in Christ. Why? Because he took upon Himself the sin of the world and paid for it on the Cross. In exchange, He offers us His imputed righteousness. It is a cosmic, eternal transaction; a balancing of the ledger of debt. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV).
It is a brilliant solution, but do not make the mistake of thinking that it is free. It is, in fact, the costliest purchase imaginable; the death of God in our place. That "so great a salvation" is offered to us as a free gift through faith, does not change at all the price that the Father and Son paid on our behalf. And if we believe for a second that we contribute anything in payment, we are demeaning that free gift. We have "…trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29, NKJV).
That is why any attempt to earn God's favor through works of any kind on our own is worse than worthless. "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3, NKJV). The implied command here then is to give up working, "For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His." (Hebrews 4:10, NKJV). In its place, start abiding. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:4-6, NKJV).
The only acceptable way to earn God's pleasure is through faith, not works, for "…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).
Our faith enables us through the power of His spirit to bear fruit. Then and only then will our works mean something. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8-10, NKJV).
Of course, this only makes sense if you take God at His word. If, on the other hand, you prefer to impose upon it your own presuppositions, interpretations, preferences or traditions of men, and disregard or discount what you've just read, and spend a lifetime of agonized effort to work your own way into Heaven, you will be judged by EVERYTHING you have EVER said or done. It's pass/fail in that case. One misstep, or misspoken word, or imperfect thought, and you fail.
It is a s simple and dreadful as that.
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