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Love (Part 1 of 2)

Truth for Life / Alistair Begg
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February 3, 2025 3:04 am

Love (Part 1 of 2)

Truth for Life / Alistair Begg

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February 3, 2025 3:04 am

What is the fruit of the Spirit? How is it generated? And how can we know if our faith is fruitful? Think through the answers to these questions when you join us for a study in Galatians chapter 5. That’s our focus on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg.



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This listener-funded program features the clear, relevant Bible teaching of Alistair Begg. Today’s program and nearly 3,000 messages can be streamed and shared for free at tfl.org thanks to the generous giving from monthly donors called Truthpartners. Learn more about this Gospel-sharing team or become one today. Thanks for listening to Truth For Life!









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Welcome to Truth for Life where today we begin a study of the fruit of truth. I invite you to turn with me to the fifth chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Galatians 5, and we'll read from the sixteenth verse.

Galatians 5 16. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.

For these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident—sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Almost inevitably, you find yourself asking the question, Well, why this, and why now?

So let me tell you. In that concluding study in Ephesians chapter 2, we noted the fact that Paul says that the church universal, big C, and the local church, if you like, small c, is the place on earth where God lives, so that when people encounter those who are gathered in this way, they have the opportunity to see that this is the dwelling place of God with man—not exclusively so, but certainly so. And we noted in that final study that since this is true, that since God is building a temple that is emblematic of his glory and of his majesty, that what he does within the framework of the church, local church, is work in such a way that the things that are found outside of the church in terms of cultural elements will be radically different inside.

So, for example, in our culture this morning, the divisions that are represented in the week that has passed are divisions of race and of class and of status. In the local church, these things are dismantled by God's grace. Therefore, within the framework of a local congregation, the things that are routinely encountered in our culture are not to be manifested among us. Paul is going to go on, when we come back to Ephesians, and say expressly that he is praying for the congregation at Ephesus that they may be rooted and grounded in love, so that the pervasive impact of the love of God may be almost tangible among them. Now, given that that is the case, and this is the progression of my thought, I began to wonder whether, if it were a crime to be such a congregation—so if it were a crime to be a congregation where the love of God is so manifest among us that these barriers and boundaries and divisions of culture are eradicated—if it were a crime, I find myself saying, I wonder if there's enough evidence at Parkside for us to be convicted.

I mean, would they come in, investigate, and say, Yes, this place is going to have to be punished, because they are dismantling the very structures of culture as we know them. Now, that's fairly easy to do, because it's in generic, it's in corporate terms, but of course, congregations are made up of individuals, and so the circle got tighter around me in my thinking, because it's impossible to ask the question generically without facing it personally, privately. And so one is confronted by this question. Am I, in every way, making the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ attractive? You remember when Paul writes to Titus, he says, I want you to teach the congregation there in Crete not to be like the surrounding culture.

I want you to teach them how important it is to be good. And he comes to good and good and goodness and good again and again. And he says it's vitally important that this runs through the whole framework. It happens in the family life, it happens in employers and employees, it happens within the structure of the state and politics and so on, in order that, in every way, we might make the gospel attractive. Or, as it is paraphrased by Kenneth Taylor in the Living Bible, the question is, Does my character make people want to believe the gospel? Now, that is the question. It's not the question, Does my ability to articulate the gospel make people want to believe it? That's a fair question. Does my ability to be an apologist for the gospel and for the truth of the Bible make people want to believe it?

That's not the question. The question is, Does my character make the gospel attractive so as to make people wish that they actually believed it? Because coming out of a week in which the brokenness of our culture has been seen in so much that is ugly and is disruptive, is hostile and is distasteful, we then come under the jurisdiction of the Bible, and we hear, for example, Peter writing to the scattered believers of his day in an alien environment, and he says to them, Now you're the folks who are the faith people, he says. You are the ones who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You go out and you talk with people about the nature of faith in this Jesus.

He says, Listen to what I want you to do. Make sure that you make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, with knowledge, with self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. So his little paragraph actually begins with faith and ends with love. It's the recurring emphasis in the epistles, whether it is John or James or Peter.

The same thing is said again and again. He encourages the believers in Colossae to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, and bearing fruit in every good work. So the attractiveness of coming into a beautiful horticultural area, where there is a fragrance in it, there is a beauty in it, there is that which just consumes you in its loveliness, when Paul says, in actual fact, that is the purpose of God in relationship to the people of God.

Which then, of course, brought me to our verse, which we're going to use to study over these weeks, Galatians 5.22, providing, as it does, a picture of practical godliness. And people say, What does it look like to be holy? This is what it looks like. What does it look like to be godly? This is what it looks like. What does it look like to be Christlike?

This is what it looks like. Now, this, of course, is in keeping with the whole of the Bible. In the Old Testament, God describes Israel, his people, as a vine that he has brought out of Egypt and cares for in the wilderness. The psalmist begins—he opens the book of Psalms with the one who is like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season. Jesus says to his disciples, I am the vine, and you are the branches. And if a branch does not bear fruit, it is cut off, and it is thrown away, and it's burned. And, quite challengingly, he says to them, the true disciple of nine will be recognizable by her fruit. By his fruit. So it won't be recognizable, first of all, as a result of the things we say, but as a result of the evident fruitfulness in our life. Well, what kind of fruit?

Well, we just read of it, didn't we? Love and joy, peace, patience, kindness, and so on. It's very challenging, isn't it? Now, in light of that, let me just make a number of statements that you can search the Scriptures and ensure that I'm telling you the truth. First thing that we need to notice about this fruit is that it is a consequence of our having been brought to faith in Jesus.

It is a consequence. All the way through the letter of Galatians, Paul is making sure that the readers understand the wonder of what it means to be in Christ. He is addressing those who are suggesting that the work of Christ needs to be supplemented by the addition of external factors that are expressed classically in circumcision.

We needn't go there now. But Paul has made it clear from the very beginning that this exhortation and this encouragement is in light of the fact that those to whom he writes are, according to verse 4 of chapter 1, those who have been delivered. Jesus has given himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. In chapter 4 and verse 5, it is those who have been redeemed and have received the adoption of sons. In chapter 5, it is those who have been set free in the Lord Jesus Christ. Previously, chapter 4, verse 8, we were enslaved to these things.

We are now no longer enslaved. It's very, very important that we get this—that it is a consequence of the wonder of God's grace to us in Jesus. So that this fruit is fruit. It is not artificial. This is not plastic. This is not a Christmas tree. We understand a Christmas tree where you attach things, they look attractive for a little while, but they're not real, there is no life in them, and so they eventually fade away.

That is not the picture. No, this is fruit which emerges as a result of life. What life? The life of the Lord Jesus Christ implanted in us by the Holy Spirit. Verse 24 of our chapter, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, recognizing all that is involved in being converted. So the fruit is not produced by us, it is produced in us, it is organic, it is not mechanical. Now, let me just pause and drive this home, because it is very important. It is clearly possible—it is clearly possible—for a person interested in religion or concerned about these things to create something of an outward change in one's habits without ever having experienced an inward change in one's heart.

All right? An outward change in habit without an inward change in heart. If that is your experience, this whole attempt at Christianity on your part must be frustrating you beyond comprehension. Because you're left now simply endeavoring to attach another ornament to the tree of your life. And it is frustrating because it doesn't work.

It doesn't work because it can't work. Because the life that produces the fruit is the life of Christ implanted within the believer. Remember in Ephesians he says, And this was true of you when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and you believed it and you were sealed in him by the Holy Spirit.

He's describing what had happened when the lights went on in the hearts and minds of many of these people, and he said, Oh, I get it now. It's not about my endeavoring to do this to put myself right with God. It is the wonder of what Christ has done in order to reconcile me to God, and I rest in the provision of this reconciliation. Now, the New Testament consistently warns of the danger of deceiving ourselves in this respect and calls for us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Now, you say, Well, I don't like to do that. Well, I don't mind whether you do or you don't.

This is what it says. 2 Corinthians 13 5, Examine yourselves—he's writing to the Corinthians—to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

Unless indeed you fail to meet the test, I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. As Luther puts it, it is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. Or in more contemporary terms, as I've heard Tim Keller say, we are not saved by fruit but by faith, but not fruitless faith. We are not saved by fruit but by faith, but not fruitless faith. How do you know that the plant is alive? Because of the fruit. Otherwise, it's an indication of death. So that's the first and most important, isn't it? That this fruit— because it's very easy to go to a church where you will get a series on the fruit of the Spirit, which essentially goes like this, try and be a little more loving, try and be a little more joyful, do be a little more patient, you're such a pain in the neck, and so on.

And it's just a great chronicle of despair. You go out, you go, I tried my best and I can't do it. I've done it fifty times, I did the thing, it doesn't work. Well, no, because there's no life. You see, we can only work out what the Spirit of God works in. And that's the test. Is there any fruit? Examine yourself and see. Don't listen to yourself talk. Examine yourself.

It's challenging. Secondly, growth in this regard—growth of fruitfulness—is an evidence of the transforming power of the gospel, that the work which God begins in us he brings along the line to completion. Chapter 2 of Galatians is, "...no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live I live by faith, and the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me."

So that we recognize that the evidences here are an indication of the fact of God's goodness to us. And so the work of God within us to produce fruit is as a result of something that has happened instantaneously, whereby he has regenerated us by the power of his Spirit. But the production of that fruit is something that then takes place continuously and takes place often quietly and in an unhurried way and in a process that is often lengthy. I say that because some of us are aware of the fact that we are not as fruitful as we might be, and we need to look to these things, and then we need at the one hand to be encouraged by the promise that this will be produced, and then perhaps to be patient with ourselves. There are seasons in our souls, there are periods where it would appear that nothing is happening, it's wintertime for our souls, the springtime comes, there are shoots, and so it is.

But the growth is the evidence of the transforming power of the gospel. The third thing to notice is that this fruit is singular. It's singular.

You'll notice that if you look at the text. For the fruit of the Spirit is. Not the fruits of the Spirit are.

It is one fruit. This is in contrast to spiritual gifts. You know, when Paul writes about spiritual gifts, he says, gifts are apportioned to the church in all multivarious ways. You remember, he asks, you know, do all do this? No. Do all do that?

No. So that God gives gifts to the church in order that together we might become all that he wants for us to be. All the gifts are not shared by all alike.

But in relationship to the fruit, no, it's different. Because these nine graces, if you like, of Christian character together form one indivisible fruit of the Spirit. In other words, the work of the Spirit of God in the child of God is to create the full-orbed reality of this Christ-likeness that is seen in this way. Now, at the head of the list—and to this we need to come, as time passes us by—at the head of the list, and understandably so, is love. The fruit of the Spirit is, first of all, love. Love, if you like, is not so much a trait or a characteristic as it is the inner disposition out of which all these other things flow, so that true love is seen in joyfulness and in patience and in so on. Paul says that the love of God has been poured out by the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. That's Romans chapter 5, isn't it? God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

It's a wonderful picture, isn't it? It doesn't say that it has been injected through a narrow vein. It doesn't say that it has been eked in. It says that it has been lavished in. It has been poured out upon us. And this is the work of the Spirit of God. And the outpouring of the love of God is the story of the Bible. It is the unique nature of God himself. God is both light and God is love.

He is more than that, but he is not less than that. The sources in God, the emphasis that comes from God, is in the self-giving of his only Son, the story of amazing good news. And this is lavished upon us. And the strange and yet wonderful thing about it is this, that when you and I think about love and about loving somebody else, if we are deep down honest, more often than not, our expressions of love are directly related to the attractiveness or the worthiness of the object of our affection.

So, we will express love because we find the person attractive, or because we believe they are worthy somehow or another. But that is not the love of God. You remember in Deuteronomy 7, where you have that immense thought that God did not set his love upon you, says Moses, because you were greater or bigger or more significant.

No! The Lord loved you because he loved you. Well, what does that mean? Well, it means exactly what it says, that God's love has no regard to our merits, has no regard to our merits. You're listening to Bible teacher Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. We'll hear more about the fruit of the Spirit tomorrow. This month marks a major milestone for us here at Truth for Life. At the end of February, we will celebrate 30 years of teaching the Bible. It was back on February 27th, 1995 when Truth for Life broadcast its first daily program on 31 radio stations. Today, Truth for Life can be heard in every major city across America on more than 1,900 radio stations. And our teaching reaches a global online audience. We're grateful to God for all he's made possible and for his steadfast faithfulness to Truth for Life through these many years. Now, many things have changed in the world since 1995, but our mission has stayed the same. We teach the Bible every day with clarity and relevance so that unbelievers will be converted, believers will be established in their faith, and local churches will be strengthened. Throughout this month, we are inviting listeners to share your experience, what you've learned from Truth for Life.

Maybe you've been listening for 30 years, or maybe you've just discovered the program in the last 30 days. Either way, we would love to hear from you. You can email us. Write to letters at truthforlife.org. Or you can send a handwritten letter if you'd like. Our mailing address is Truth for Life at post office box 398000 Cleveland, Ohio 44139.

I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for joining us today. Almost everyone is capable of loving someone or something. So what should make Christian love stand out from the rest of the culture? That'll be our focus tomorrow, and I hope you can join us. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-02-03 06:26:39 / 2025-02-03 06:34:52 / 8

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