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The Amish Voice 2
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free men from the law, from its judgment and condemnation.
Therefore, standing before God, the believer is not there
because he has kept laws and has earned the right to stand
there. He is there because of his faith in Jesus Christ. His faith
honors God’s Son, and God loves His Son so much that He
honors anyone who believes in His Son. Therefore, the man
who believes that Jesus Christ makes him acceptable to God
becomes acceptable to God.
The point is this: since the believer has to approach God
through Jesus Christ and not through the law, he is freed from
the law. He is under Jesus Christ, not under the law. Does this
mean, then, that the believer has no restraint upon his life and
behavior—that he is free to live like he wants? Is he free to
follow the desires and lusts of his flesh—to seek the things of
the world and give in to the urges to look, think, touch, taste,
and do?
The answer is no! A thousand times no! For the believer has
been given God’s nature; he walks through life bearing God’s
nature (2 Pe.1:4; Ep.4:24; Col.3:10; 1 Co.6:19-20). God has
absolutely nothing to do with sin, not within His nature.
Therefore, the believer is not to cave in to the lusts of the flesh;
he is to walk bearing the fruit of God’s nature, that is, the fruit
of God’s Spirit.
OUTLINE:
1. The believer is to walk bearing God’s nature (vv.22-23).
2. The believer is to walk bearing a crucified flesh or sinful
nature (v.24).
3. The believer is to walk consistently with his position in
God’s Spirit (v.25).
4. The believer is to walk free from super-spirituality and
envy (v.26).
1. THE BELIEVER IS TO WALK BEARING GOD’S
NATURE (vv.22-23).
Note that the word fruit is singular, not plural. The Holy Spirit
has only one fruit. It is broken down into a list of traits in order
to help us understand His nature. However, the Spirit has only
one nature, one fruit. Therefore, when He lives within a person,
all these traits are present. The genuine believer does not
experience and bear just some of them: the Spirit of God
produces them all in the life of the believer. Whether or not a
believer displays all the traits of the Holy Spirit depends on
whether the believer suppresses the Holy Spirit or calls on Him
to live actively through and in his life.
1. There is the fruit of love (agape). Agape love is the love of
the mind, of the reason, of the will. It is the love that goes so
far...
that it loves regardless of feelings—whether a person
feels like loving or not
that it loves a person even if the person does not
deserve to be loved
that it actually loves the person who is utterly unworthy
of being loved
Note four significant points about agape love.
a. Selfless or agape love is the love of God, the very love
possessed by God Himself. It is the love demonstrated in
the cross of Christ.
It is the love of God for the ungodly.
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time
Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
It is the love of God for unworthy sinners.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us” (Romans 5:8).
It is the love of God for undeserving enemies.
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans
5:10).
b. Selfless or agape love is a gift of God. It can be
experienced only if a person knows God personally—
only if a person has received the love of God, that is,
Christ Jesus, into his heart and life. Agape love has to be
shed abroad (poured out, flooded, spread about) by the
Spirit of God within the heart of a person.