Loyalty is such a rare commodity, but the Holy Spirit. gives it as a fruit. And one of the reasons is that the Spirit gives to us what mirrors God's own virtues. Our God is a loyal God. God has never been disloyal to any of his children.
He's never betrayed one of us at any time. As we pursue righteousness, as we strive by the Spirit of God to put to death the deeds of the flesh, there's also fruit, fruit of the Spirit that should be evident in our lives. Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And that's what we'll consider today on this Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Yesterday, we learned about the works of the flesh, and we're switching gears today as you hear another sermon from RC Sproll's series in Galatians.
These two messages are from a much longer series, and those sermons form the basis for his expositional commentary on Galatians. For the final time, you can request the hardcover edition when you give a donation before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call us at 800-435-4343. Thanks for standing with us as we seek to serve the global church with faithful discipleship resources.
Well, there are worldly ways to think about love, joy, and peace.
So here's Dr. Sproll to consider the Bible's definition of the fruit of the Spirit. The last time we were together I talked briefly. about the cosmic war That rages in the soul of every Christian. It's a war not with flesh and blood.
But a battle with powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places. And we were talking about this war that goes on unceasingly. Between the flesh And the Spirit. And at that time we looked carefully. And what the Apostle Paul delineated as the works of the flesh.
Which works are so destructive. that if we in our lives are characterized by them We can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God. And we've also seen a revival of interest in the 20th century. of the gifts of the Spirit and many people deeply Desire The anointing power of the Holy Spirit in the gifts that God bestows upon his people. And again, not everybody, as Paul describes the diversity of the body of Christ, not everybody is endowed with every gift of the Spirit.
And the gifts are plural. Just like the works of the flesh. But when we come To Paul's description of the fruit of the Spirit. He uses the singular. And that's significant for us to understand because what he's describing here.
is not a Christian life. Wherein one believer has the fruit of love, and another believer has the fruit of gentleness, or the other believer has the fruit of joy. No, no, no, no, no. The idea here. is that the marks of a Christian.
Include all. of the fruit of the spirit. That we are to display and manifest every one of these fruits. that the Apostle describes here in the text. In fact, When Jesus was teaching His followers.
And Asking the question, how are you going to be able to discern who is a believer and who isn't. And how did our Lord answer that question? By their fruit. Ye shall No them.
Now, that's a little bit problematic because if we look at this list of the fruits of the Spirit. We all know people who are unconverted, unregenerate, unbelievers, who to some degree manifest these fruits. We see people who've Display love, we see people who display joy, we see people who are patient. And in many respects. Manifest the fruits of the Spirit.
So, why would Jesus say you shall know them by their fruits when it's possible that pagan people? can display the same kind of fruit.
Well, it's not really the same kind of fruit. Because what the Apostle Paul is talking here. is about fruit. that is not ordinary. But extraordinary.
Not natural virtues that we can display. but supernatural virtues. that we can discern. Look, for example, at the beginning of this list where Paul spells it out, but the fruit of the Spirit. Is love.
We all know that there's a natural kind of human love that people display one for another, a mother for Her baby, the husband for his wife, even Ava Bond found something to love in Adolf Hitler, and maybe Hitler's mother loved him as well. But that's not the kind of love that we're talking about, the natural. Manifestation among people. Paul speaking here about a spiritual Level of love, a whole different dimension. A transcendent manifestation of love.
You know, one of the most important works that Jonathan Edwards ever wrote. was religious affections. We'd hear of him for writing Freedom of the Will or his famous sermons. But that volume on religious affection is The Puritan divine probed it deeply. into what happens.
When the soul has been changed supernaturally. Bye. God. In your natural state and in my natural state, God is our enemy. That's what the scriptures say: that we are by nature at enmity with God.
We don't want God in our thinking. Like Luther said at one point, love God.
Sometimes I hate him. But when the Holy Spirit Changes the constituent nature of a fallen human being by regeneration, by conversion. What is kindled in the soul is now a profound affection. And love. For God.
Well, at the beginning of this list of fruit, he mentions Love Then joy, then peace.
Some commentators have looked at this list and they say those first three are standing at the beginning of the list for a reason. It's reminiscent of Paul's writing about love in 1 Corinthians 13 when he. gives what many Christians believe is the nicest and Favorite chapter in all the Bible, the love chapter. I hear it read at weddings all the time. You know, if we speak in the tongue of men and of angels and have not love, you know, we're clanging cymbals and sounding grass and all that sort of thing.
And then Paul goes on to a vivid and graphic description about what love is. And frankly, there's one sense in which I really don't like. to read that chapter. Because when I read that chapter, I am filled with conviction of sin because I see how short I fall. From the love that is being described.
In that chapter, love seeketh not its own. And so this love. That is supernatural. then is linked. to joy.
and peace. The joy. That is mentioned here. I know people who are pagans who seem, at least on the surface, as outwardly. satisfied, content, happiness, although Natural man has d been described as living lives of Quiet.
Desperation. That those who are without Christ ultimately are without hope. And there is a gnawing deep despair within their souls. that won't be quiet. although they may laugh and joke And Be merry.
But that merriment. is not what Paul is talking about. when he speaks of the fruit of joy. Think of Jesus. whom the Bible describes as a Man of sorrows.
and equated with grief. But yet, deep within the soul of our Lord, there was something. Finally, and ultimately, and transcendentally settled. He had a joy. that could not Be destroyed.
Just as Paul said, a person can fall, but never in despair. We may suffer. We may grieve. But nothing could take away that settled joy that abides in the soul of the believer. Job.
When he was exposed to the unfaktung, the unbridled assault of hell. And his wife said, Give it up, Job. Curse God and die. Job said, Hey. Though he slay me.
Yeah. Will I trust him? That's the non-negotiable joy. It is rooted. In the soul.
of every Christian. Peace. Again, we have to take some trouble. to define it because they're all kinds of goofy. understandings and definitions of peace.
in this world. Jeremiah had to deal with it in the Old Testament days when he was surrounded by false prophets at every turn when God put on his lips the message of judgment that was coming upon Jerusalem. And every time Jeremiah would stand up and prophesy about the coming judgment of God. The false prophets would drown him out. Say, don't listen to that sarpus, that crying, weeping prophet.
God loves us unconditionally. There's peace. Jeremiah said. You cry peace. Peace.
When there is no peace. It's like Neville Chamberlain. Leaning over the balcony at Munich with his umbrella, saying, We have achieved peace for our times, while Hitler, at that very moment, was mobilizing The Blitz Creek. There is what's called a carnal peace. A fleshy piece, but this is not what Paul is talking about here with respect to the fruit of the Spirit.
When Paul in Romans talks about our justification by faith alone, what's the first fruit? Of our justification. He writes. Being justified. Therefore We have Peace.
With God. You talk to the pagan, they shake their head. What do you mean, peace with God? I didn't know we were at war. Yes, you're so jaded in your hostility towards God as He is.
You're not even aware you're at war. But to be justified And to be having peace with God means. The estrangement is over. We have experienced the joy of reconciliation and the peace that we have. In our justification.
Is not a guarded truce. It's not something that's going to explode into a new war by the next rattling of the sword. It's an endless peace, a permanent peace, a peace that is won for us by the prince of peace.
So that even if we sin God does not pick up the sword again. To slay us. Because he's adopted us. into his family. What was the last will and testament of Jesus?
His final legacy to his disciples when he met with them in the upper room. And he said, Let not your hearts be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe also in me. And then he went on to say, What?
Okay. Peace. I leave with you. My peace. Not a carnal piece.
Not a fraudulent piece. Not a cheap piece. But the peace that only the Prince of Peace could leave behind when he said, My peace I leave with you. It's the peace that passes understanding. It's the peace that maintains its reality in the presence of chaos.
and pain. It's an abiding peace. That is a fruit. Of the Holy Spirit, and no pagan has ever experienced that peace. They don't know what we're talking about.
when we talk about this kind of peace. Patience. No, I'm not crazy about this one. I pray for patience. I say, Lord, give me patience right now.
Please let me have it soon. But there is a patience or what is Really described here in Scripture as Long suffering. And what is presupposed in this text is Bing attack. Being attacked by unbelievers. being attacked by The Prince of Darkness.
That even in the midst of that attack that does inflict pain and suffering. that sometimes endures and lasts. I remember visiting in the hall both Uh Famous football player that whose name you would recognize if I mentioned it, his wife. Had been suffering with terminal cancer for like nine years. And she was a Christian.
And I spoke with her and she was lying there in the bed. And a tear came downside one part of her cheek and she looked at me and she says she said, Arcee I really don't know how long I can take this. It's been nine years. Without any relief. And it just doesn't seem to be any s End to my suffering.
Just this week we got a A card from Johnny Erickson Tata. celebrating her life 50 years. In a wheelchair. Prayed with this dear lady that had been suffering from cancer all that time. And she said, I just want to go home.
And one week later. She went to glory. But for nine years. She had patiently suffered through the burden of her illness without cursing God. without renouncing God.
But with a Unbridal joy. within her soul. Kindness. Goodness. Kindness is is often disc translated as friendliness.
Okay. People who are born of the Spirit. Should never have a mean spirit. You can be firm and uncompromising. But never mean.
I told Vesta A few years ago. I'd like to see chisel on my tombstone. This was a kind man. I got a note this week from Maureen Bookman is my administrative assistant. And she wrote this little note and she said, RC, three years ago.
She said, I heard you say that you'd like to have kindness written on your tombstone. She said, So I wrote that down. And I'm writing to you now after hearing the sermon last week. She said, I'm going to try to see that, that takes place.
Well, I don't want it to be Untrue. But we should all Covet. The fruit. of kindness. That person was a kind person.
Given to friendship, not. Mean-spirited. Goodness. Faithfulness. Here Paul uses a word that is Written bold print in the Old Testament, the Hebrew term.
which has been translated in so many different ways, sometimes by Faithfulness. or covenant faithfulness. Or loyalty. And one author defines chased in the Old Testament by the terms. Loyal.
Love. Again, the other day, Vesta and I Watch a movie we hadn't seen since it was in the theater. And if you remember Braveheart, you remember. How he was betrayed. By the man in the mask.
And almost destroyed his spirit. when he suffered such betrayal. And betrayal, of course, is the polar opposite. Of loyalty. Loyalty is such a rare commodity.
But the Holy Spirit. gives it as a fruit. And one of the reasons is that the Spirit gives to us what mirrors God's own. Virtues. Our God is a loyal God.
God has never been disloyal to any of his children. He's never betrayed one of us at any time. Sometimes we get angry at God, sometimes we feel betrayed by God. But when we feel betrayed by God, that's a signal that we're betraying Him. Because he doesn't know how.
To portray us. His mercies are tender. And his love. is loyal. Gentleness, self-control.
Paul goes on to say. Against these things, they're is no law. There's no law against self-control. There's uh no law against being gentle. It's not a crime to be patient.
It's not a sin to have joy. The law doesn't crush us with respect to the fruit of the Spirit. Paul goes on to say, and those who belong to Christ Jesus. have crucified the flesh. with his desires.
And pleasures. What a metaphor. You can see our flesh. Nailed to the cross with Christ. Our sins are crucified with Christ spiritually.
Metaphysically, transcendentally, we. Participate. And the cross. Our flesh is put to death. with him.
Even though we spend our whole lives as Christians. In the process of sanctification by putting to death. the works of the flesh.
So Paul concludes this section by saying. If we live by the Spirit... And let also let us also keep step. with the spirit last week or two weeks ago. People said to me they noticed that the or the last time we had communion that the elders and deacons had been meeting before the service started and they were practicing marching up and down the aisle.
And people said, What's this all about? And I said, I talked to the session about this. I said, you know. It's a holy moment. When we gather to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and when you distribute the elements and you bring the elements back to the table.
This is a high and holy moment. And I would ask you to be careful. For the form of that you take place here. I'd like to be able to close my eyes and hear the footfall of the session as they come in front of the church with the elements. And I didn't make a big deal out of it, but they...
They went and said, let's get together on our own with the deacons and practice it.
So we can be in step.
Well, it's one thing to be in step when you're marching back and forth up and down the aisle. It's another thing to be in step with the Holy Ghost. That's what we're called to do. 'Cause we're marching. For the long haul.
We're walking. And the Spirit is leading us. It's his parade. And we're not to be sloppy. Or cavalier.
But to walk in step. with the Spirit of God. And let us not become conceited. Provoking one another. and envying one another.
Somebody said the other day to me, you know, you could preach on this text for six weeks. I said, Well, I did more than that with a whole series I did on developing Christian character, but. We don't have six weeks for this. But I hope that we've had a taste this morning. of the Spirit's teaching.
of what it means to walk in the Spirit. May the Lord grow the fruit of the Spirit in each of us. An RC Sprawl's headstone does read, He was a kind man, redeemed by a kinder Saviour.
Well, that concludes a two-day study of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and I'm glad you're with us. These sermons in Galatians 5 are from his series through the entirety of Galatians. If you'd like to go deeper, studying this week's topic further and also walking through Galatians line by line, you can request his hardcover commentary when you give a donation before midnight tonight at renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343.
This commentary could be used in your daily devotional reading or as a reference volume as you study Galatians. But it is the final day, so use the link in the podcast show notes or visit renewingyourmind.org with your donation while there's still time. And the e-book edition is available right now for our global listening audience at renewingyourmind.org/slash global. RC Sproul mentioned Jonathan Edwards today, but who was he? And what was his big idea?
That's where we'll start next week as we're joined by Stephen Nichols.
So be sure to listen Monday here on Renewing Your Mind.
