May 10th am ~ From Flesh to Fruit

So the question is not is never can I improve enough? The question is, do I belong to Christ, and do I live under his lordship? Because my acceptance before God does not rest on how much fruit or how good you have been this week because you will never be good enough. But begins with that acceptance from the one who judges our sin. Fruit is not the basis of justification, but the fruit is the evidence that the spirit is at work in us. [00:34:22] (38 seconds)  #BelongToChrist

Holiness is so important, but holiness cannot be produced by relying on the law. The law can command, but it doesn't create. The law can say be loving, but will not pour love into our hearts. The law can say be patient, but we will not wake up the next day and suddenly be patient with everybody. But the law will expose your sin, it will name your sin, and it will condemn your sin, but the law in itself does not heal the heart. [00:28:58] (37 seconds)  #LawRevealsNotCreates

And it's why I say religious activity alone is not the answer. It can shape our appearances. It can restrain certain behaviors. We may come and have our Sunday best on a on a Sunday morning. We might look respectable, but are you producing the fruit of the spirit in your life? And some of us I wanna be careful in what I say, but some of us can confuse Christian activity with Christian maturity. We can be very busy but barren in our walk. [00:29:35] (35 seconds)  #ActivityIsNotMaturity

The flesh is trying to be its own savior and own lord. That's why the Christian life is such a battle. But Paul takes it further now. He doesn't just show us the conflict. He he is showing us that contrast. And I compare that to verses 19, the works of the flesh are evident as we've read, but verse 22, the fruit of the spirit is. In the passage, there is two ways of life, two outcomes, two sources, and their contrast, the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit. [00:26:57] (44 seconds)  #FleshVsSpirit

There's two amazing things for us to see in that. Number one, those who belong to Christ Jesus. The Christian life begins with belonging to him. There is nothing that we can achieve that will ever earn our way to heaven. Paul does not say if you crucify the flesh yourself well enough, perhaps you can belong to Christ. He says, those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. The foundation of change in your life is your union with Christ, and that's why the gospel is so beautiful. [00:32:40] (48 seconds)  #UnionWithChrist

We do not have to obey every desire that rises inside of you. In Christ and by the spirit, our sin is still real, but sin is no longer our master. So right from the beginning of our series, as we go through these fruits, Paul is teaching us this. There is nothing in the Christian life to tell us to that that that suggests that we will earn our favor with God through trying harder and becoming nicer people, but rather we are called to walk by a power that does not belong to us but is given freely to us. [00:18:06] (38 seconds)  #WalkByGraceNotWorks

Jesus is the only fruitful man that ever lived. He was the one in whom love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self control are found in its perfect fullness. The fruit of the spirit is seen in the life of Jesus so clearly. And yet this perfect fruitful man, he went to the cross, and who did he go to the cross for? Well, he went for the impatient and the anxious and the proud and the envious and the bitter and the harsh and the impure and for those who are self righteous. [00:33:27] (39 seconds)  #JesusPerfectFruit

We might feel if I belong to Jesus, why do I still have temptation to battle? Why am I still angry when I want to react to what somebody has said? Why does lust still reign in my life? Why am I still anxious? Why do I have envy and fear and bitterness and pride and self pity? Why do these things still show up if I know Jesus? Well, in some sense, I want to say to you that this struggle may show you that something has changed in your life. [00:19:56] (33 seconds)  #StruggleShowsChange