In my last post I discussed the difference between works before salvation that will never get you to salvation and works that are a fruit after salvation. In my personal, as well as family study through Galatians, there appears sorting of fruit among believers and those that may not be yet call themselves believers. At an initial glance, Galatians 5:19-6:3 would almost seem like verses that promote passiveness. In all actuality it does not promote passive acceptance of wrong, but a loving spirit in light of the wrong. We will look at this toward the end of the post.
Initially Paul is doing some fruit sorting. This fruit sorting does and should challenge you regarding whether you are truly saved or not. I have said often that I believe that many in our churches are lost. That is not to say they are knowingly lost, but perhaps deceived in their lost state. While we still live in the flesh the flesh only has the power that we choose to give it.
Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Far too often we excuse away our “nature” or “besetting sins” as something we must struggle with. We claim that we are trying to get over issues, addictions, etc. I myself have resorted to some of these lame excuses. In all reality, when examining Galatians 2:20, we have merely chosen to not to put those issues under the power of faith. We basically are holding on to those areas in our lives. Why do we do these things? Because they are areas that we do not trust God with or do not want to trust God with.
Most addictions, besetting sins, etc ., all have some things in common. Those common things are a fear, wrong desire, insecurity or something else that we do not trust God to supply or solve. We can trace any of our frailties to those common things. If we look at men that struggle with sexual sins it is often that they seek to have a need met and do not trust God to meet it His way in His timing. It then feeds like yeast on sugar. We feed it with what we see when we do not guard our eyes. We feed it with our minds when we do not guard our minds. It is not a sin that cannot be controlled. It is a sin we do not wish to control as it would require a spiritual death to self.
We can also apply that to drugs, smoking, drinking ,etc. We may likely be using those things as a pacifier of sorts in order to keep our minds off of the things that we do not trust God with. Rather than surrender those areas to the Lord and trust him we cover them with these issues. Granted these areas can become chemical addictions in the sense of withdrawal, but the same God who delivers spiritually can deliver physically.
Insecurity is such a common factor here. Whether we are insecure because of how God made us, whether we are insecure in our present state, whatever the source insecurity is a lack of surrender to God’s will. I believe dealing with this area may be one of the secrets to a victorious Christian walk. So to complete the preface to what I am truly wanting to get to we can come to the conclusion that Gal. 2:20 teaches that we can have victory over ANYTHING in our lives and the answer is to live by faith.
Whew! Now on to the fruit evaluation. Oftentimes we may confuse someone being lost because they have simply backslidden. Now I am not excusing backsliding, but we are often quick to condemn a weak believer for a weakness while overlooking more obvious signs in others or maybe even ourselves. First off we must recognize a difference between occasional sinning and habitual sinning. Occasional sinning cannot be excused, but we may “slip” (I hate that usage as we actually leap into sin) when we take our eyes off of the Lord. We must also recognize that some who “slip” are genuinely saved and others who “slip” may have never been saved and are living quite a lie. Their “slip” is actually an area where they cannot be consistent in living the lie. While the others who are saved and “slip” may just be struggling, by their own choice I might add based on Galatians 2:20. We must take into account that many have never been taught or taught themselves correctly with the Word of God.
But how do we know which is which? As I said we have those who “slip” which one can only know by asking the Lord to search their hearts. But there are others that are a bit more obvious. Sadly we will excuse the obvious signs as character traits, personality, upbringing, etc. All of which fly in the face of being a new man in Christ.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
That is not to say that you are an instant “angel”, although you can be if you wanted to, but that your nature has changed. So let’s look at some verses that reveal much about the difference between fruit.
Galatians 5: 19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
We can so often become literalist in the sense that we will use the Webster’s definition of these areas rather than God’s. Let’s examine these bad fruit.
Adultery, Fornication, Uncleaness, Laciviousness = All these are sexual sins. All these are misdirected desires. These are not only what you do physically, but how you think.
Mt 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Pr 23:7a For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Idolatry, Witchcraft – These are obvious enough, or are they? Idolatry can be anything that you put that takes a place before God. This may be one of the most overlooked sins in Christianity as we tend to only put a material description such as homes and cars when in fact there are many other things such as pride, comfort, ease of life, etc that fall into the description of idolatry.
Hatred (we can be against things without hating the person)
Variance = contention, strife, debate. Not that these are wrong, but to do them for the sake of doing them as well as the spirit in which they are done. This is one area that we may confuse and choose to be passive rather that defend God’s truth under the Spirit’s control
Emulations (envy and jealousy) = This is definitely overlooked. We may be envious or jealous not just based on if someone has a possession that we do not have. We may not even want the possession, but may not want them to have it. We also may be envious and jealous that someone is something we are not.
Wrath (fierceness, wrath, indignation) This may be the ultimate sign of lack of surrender to the circumstances that God has allowed us to be in. It is basically an argument with God saying that He has no right to do what He is doing.
Strife = again it is not a matter of fighting for right, but a desire to fight.
Seditions = cliques, pitting one against another, it is basically a sign of insecurity.
Heresies = This falls a bit under sedition except that it allows for a desire to pair off due to doctrinal errors being promoted. This is very prevalent yet overlooked as due to bad teachings people may stray off or take up false beliefs without necessarily wanting to start a “sect”.
Envyings, Murders, Drunkenness, Revellings, and such like: These are easy enough to understand and I like that the Bible uses “such like”. This basically mean things that are similar.
So if we are to be honest with ourselves, and most importantly with God, we must look and see if any of these things describe us. In fact, due to our flesh, it may be better to ask a friend or loved one if any of these things describe us. But be prepared, they may answer honestly. If indeed this describes you as a way of life or you never truly accepted Christ due to weak teachings regarding repentance then it is time to come to God and truly get saved and start on the walk of manifesting good fruit.
This leads us to the “good fruit”. The bad fruit was from the flesh. The good fruit cannot come from the flesh, but from the Spirit.
Ro 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Galatians 5: 22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Note the distinction? As a believer you cannot trust the flesh. It must constantly be brought under the power of the Sprit of God. But we should also take a close note of the good fruits and how they tie into what I said earlier regarding addictions, insecurities, etc. Notice that the fruits called love, joy, peace all have to do with surrender. It doesn’t speak of circumstances, but with who you are in Christ. Not where you are in life. Not even who you are, but whose you are.
Love = We cannot give what we do not have
Joy = An acceptance that what you have and are experiencing is being allowed by God in order to make you complete. It is trusting God. If we do not have joy we do not trust God. We must not confuse certain emotional pain as lack of joy. Joy is a state not just a reaction. You can be a very joyous person and still cry over a loss. The issue is that the loss cannot steal your overall joy. God made our emotions for a reason, but to be used under His control and not the flesh.
Longsuffering = It cannot get more basic than that. Just turn the word around and it will explain itself. It means to be willing to suffer long, to endure, to be patient. That requires accepting what God has allowed.
Just the good fruit we have covered thus far can deal with any insecurity, addiction ,etc, if we only choose to put our lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit rather than feeding the flesh.
Gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. How is that for a mouthful?
Gentleness is in contrast to wrath. It is choosing to respond in a Spiritual rather than a fleshly manner. It is trusting God’s way rather than the way of the flesh. It is a decision between good fruit versus bad fruit.
Goodness = An upright way of life. A desire to be and do good unto others because of who(Holy Spirit) is in you.
Faith = Assurance, belief, trusting God. This is basically a good fruit that reproduces more good fruit. It is the core of all good fruit.
Meekness = Another contrast to the pride of the flesh. It means putting others before yourself because you see them as more important than you are in a humbling and serving way. It is a tremendous manifestation of love. If we are not meek then what we are is weak.
Temperance = Self control. This speaks volumes regarding not only physical addictions, but self control in what we say, think, react, etc.
And finally……
Galatians 5: 24-25 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
How can I add anything to that?