Galatians and their confusion as well as ours cleared up
Trinity 14 Galatians 5
Charles Spurgeon the well known reformed Baptist said it this way about joy in our lives that touched me:"
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists , and inhale the bracing element upon the hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I now invite you. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety , and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount."
"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." 5:22
1. Our faith should be the center of our joyful Christian walk. As we discussed last week the Apostle was arguing that the OT law had been fulfilled in Christ and that to add requirements of that law which had been observed by Jews was not " liberty." 5:1
Remember if you read Acts 15 you will see this was a problem in the early church and they had a council to discuss it. .." the council at Jerusalem." That decision is in 15: 20. Circumcision is not required of Gentile believers.
But holiness and love are under Christ. " The faith...must be so real as to involve complete submission to His will, so vital as to manifest His virtues, so true as to follow His perfect law of love." Charles R. Erdman
So how do we apply this now? That should always be our question , should it not? Our faith may be small or large. Jesus said in Mark 4 that the kingdom of God " is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sownin in the earth is less than all the seeds ...but when it is sown, it grows up, and becomes greater than all..." Some of the disciples such as Peter struggled with their faith in so many ways that Peter even denied Jesus three times, yet the Lord said unto Peter, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.." ...that is upon Peter and his faith because the two go together, don't they?
We are just as human as Peter and we have valleys as well as mountains in our spiritual lives.
Some may be going thru storms as Peter and the disciples did on the lake (Luke 8) and they thought they were going to perish. Well the ship did fill with water ( and any sailor here knows that is not good), and Jesus was asleep . When they nudged him saying, Master , master we perish , he said, " Where is your faith?" I personally think he was not questioning whether they ever had faith in Him but He was exhorting them to trust in the midst of struggles and trials, because He is Lord of all.
2. Secondly look at how faith , that is true, not relying on rituals or external rites and ceremonies, how it must blossom.
Someone said, " Faith alone justifies , but the faith which justifies is not alone." " Faith works by love" Gal 5:6. Faith is not wrought by love but we must have faith before we can have true love for Christ. Paul said it this way in Romans 7:5 , " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."
In other words our salvation is not in deeds but comes through genuine faith in Christ by which we show forth His love to others because as we hear in another place, " He first loved us."
Therefore we believe that the fruit of the Spirit of God is love and joy and peace, etc...long-suffering, patience, gentleness. We have been brought into the church of Christ through our faith savingly and now want to show forth His love to all . And I wonder if we realize that cannot be manufactured or produced by our own effort but it must come from God Himself, our faith which produces love. We first receive it then it blossoms.
Sometimes flowers get left out in conditions that do not cause them to grow very well. They may get too much heat, or too much water, or not enough...you get the idea. Christians are refreshed by God's Spirit. They are born anew by the word of God ( Peter)I Peter 1:23 through faith and hope in God.
We are human. We go through things and we should look to God to grant us His Spirit in our activities, sorrows, joys and concerns. What we heard in the beginning is necessary for our continuance on the journey :"
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists , and inhale the bracing element upon the hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I now invite you. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety , and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount."
Charles Spurgeon the well known reformed Baptist said it this way about joy in our lives that touched me:"
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists , and inhale the bracing element upon the hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I now invite you. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety , and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount."
"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." 5:22
1. Our faith should be the center of our joyful Christian walk. As we discussed last week the Apostle was arguing that the OT law had been fulfilled in Christ and that to add requirements of that law which had been observed by Jews was not " liberty." 5:1
Remember if you read Acts 15 you will see this was a problem in the early church and they had a council to discuss it. .." the council at Jerusalem." That decision is in 15: 20. Circumcision is not required of Gentile believers.
But holiness and love are under Christ. " The faith...must be so real as to involve complete submission to His will, so vital as to manifest His virtues, so true as to follow His perfect law of love." Charles R. Erdman
So how do we apply this now? That should always be our question , should it not? Our faith may be small or large. Jesus said in Mark 4 that the kingdom of God " is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sownin in the earth is less than all the seeds ...but when it is sown, it grows up, and becomes greater than all..." Some of the disciples such as Peter struggled with their faith in so many ways that Peter even denied Jesus three times, yet the Lord said unto Peter, " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.." ...that is upon Peter and his faith because the two go together, don't they?
We are just as human as Peter and we have valleys as well as mountains in our spiritual lives.
Some may be going thru storms as Peter and the disciples did on the lake (Luke 8) and they thought they were going to perish. Well the ship did fill with water ( and any sailor here knows that is not good), and Jesus was asleep . When they nudged him saying, Master , master we perish , he said, " Where is your faith?" I personally think he was not questioning whether they ever had faith in Him but He was exhorting them to trust in the midst of struggles and trials, because He is Lord of all.
2. Secondly look at how faith , that is true, not relying on rituals or external rites and ceremonies, how it must blossom.
Someone said, " Faith alone justifies , but the faith which justifies is not alone." " Faith works by love" Gal 5:6. Faith is not wrought by love but we must have faith before we can have true love for Christ. Paul said it this way in Romans 7:5 , " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."
In other words our salvation is not in deeds but comes through genuine faith in Christ by which we show forth His love to others because as we hear in another place, " He first loved us."
Therefore we believe that the fruit of the Spirit of God is love and joy and peace, etc...long-suffering, patience, gentleness. We have been brought into the church of Christ through our faith savingly and now want to show forth His love to all . And I wonder if we realize that cannot be manufactured or produced by our own effort but it must come from God Himself, our faith which produces love. We first receive it then it blossoms.
Sometimes flowers get left out in conditions that do not cause them to grow very well. They may get too much heat, or too much water, or not enough...you get the idea. Christians are refreshed by God's Spirit. They are born anew by the word of God ( Peter)I Peter 1:23 through faith and hope in God.
We are human. We go through things and we should look to God to grant us His Spirit in our activities, sorrows, joys and concerns. What we heard in the beginning is necessary for our continuance on the journey :"
It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world to something nobler and better. It would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and the fever mists , and inhale the bracing element upon the hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I now invite you. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety , and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount."
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