MPC 30th October 2005.Galatians 5 - "Spiritual Fruit"
Phil Campbell MPC 30th October 2005.
Early last century, the London Times ran a series of essays by famous English writers. All of them were asked to submit an essay on the question, "What is Wrong With the World Today?"
And week by week, each author took a turn. In long and flowing and impressive prose, spelling out their complicated theories and complaints.
Until it came to the turn of G.K. Chesterton.
Who simply submitted this: "Dear Sirs, What is wrong with the world today? I am. Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton."
What is wrong with the world today? I am. I'm the problem. Not the education system. Not a broken down health system. Not the economy. But the human heart.
Who can change it?
That's the issue that we've seen forms a story line that runs right through the bible. And we've followed it right from Genesis, through the words of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 30; right through the words of the prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Who promised Israel that one day, God was going to act decisively to change their hearts.
In the Old Testament, Israel had God's law. A description of what right living would look like. And yet they didn't take any notice. Which brought them undone.
But through the prophet Ezekiel, God says (Ezekiel 36:26-27), one day... I'll give you a new heart... and put a new spirit in you. One day, I'll remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. One day, I will put my spirit in you... and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
And we saw in the second part of this series, that day finally come... with Jesus. Who was the one who came to baptise people with the spirit. To wash hearts. And so when the time was right, God's spirit finally came. Acts chapter 2. And as people put their faith in Jesus, lives changed. From the inside... out.
The last two weeks we've been on something of a diversion. As people in the church in Corinth were overly fascinated with what they were calling spiritual gifts. And Paul says to them, the main thing the Spirit wants for you is that you follow the way of love.
Because the Corinthians have somehow missed the point. As perhaps countless Christians today. That God has given us the Holy Spirit first and foremost... to make us holy people. To renovate us from the inside out. By changing our hearts.
It's been fascinating these past ten or fifteen years. Fascinating that so many of the churches that say their focus is on the Holy Spirit, they make claims of healings and prosperity, they have people literally falling over as they do what they call slaying them in the spirit. The last year or so, it seemed like every time you turned on Briz 31 Community Television, that's all you'd get. Rodney Howard Brown marching up and down the stage slaying people in the spirit.
So the spirit will make you rich. And the spirit will make you well. And the spirit will even make you feel dizzy and faint. He's the same guy a few years back who said the spirit will make you laugh hysterically and even bark like a dog.
But where's the holiness?
Because as we're going to see this morning, first and foremost, that's what the Holy Spirit is about.
Now if those are the issues Paul addresses in the church at Corinth, there are very different problems a few hundred kilometers to the east in Galatia. If the Corinthians are being a bit self centred and over enthusiastic about the coming of the Holy Spirit, it's like the Galatians are in danger of overlooking the most important point of all.
You'll remember, the prophets like Jeremiah said one day God was going to give his people a new heart. That actually wanted to do what was right. A heart of flesh replacing the cold hearts they had before.
In the light of that, Paul's facing an interesting problem. What are you going to say when a bunch of gentiles, a bunch of absolute non-Jews, become Christians... and receive the Holy Spirit? It's one thing for a Jew. But what happens when a bunch of Galatians have their hearts changed?
Well I'll tell you what the Jewish Christians say. They say, you gentiles, if you want to follow our messiah, you've got to take on our rules. Because our Old Testament rules and laws have always been the way we're meant to serve God. So get yourselves circumcised, give up your bacon and eggs, and here are the rules.
Can I suggest to you this morning, if today's charismatic churches are a bit like the Corinthians, we Presbyterians have been a bit like these guys.
And so Paul has a word here in Galatians 5 for people like us.
He says, you've missed the point. The Spirit has come. And the law's in our hearts now. So don't go insisting these Gentiles take on a whole set of rules that have expired.
He says, don't trade your freedom... for slavery again. That's what he's saying at the start of the Galatians chapter 5. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm. And don't be yoked again by the slavery of the law. He says, don't let yourself be circumcised. Don't fall for any of it. Because if you take on part of the law you're taking on all of it. At which point Christ is no value to you any more.
And pick up verse 4; here's where he puts his point. You who are trying to be justified... which in the Greek is literally, declared righteous; you who are trying to be... righteousified... you who are trying to get your righteousness by law... have been alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. But by faith... here's the point... we eagerly await through the Spirit... the righteousness for which we hope.
I mean, that's the goal, isn't it? To stand before God and be counted righteous. To be transformed from the heart so we're living right lives. That was the problem. The law could never do that. But Paul says, the Holy Spirit can. And all we have to do is keep our faith focused on Jesus. He says, why go back to the law when the days the prophets promised have come. Don't ask people to live under laws and rules. Because it's time to live by the Holy Spirit. With changed hearts.
Now think about it for a minute. Isn't that what people really need? Isn't that what G.K. Chesterton was saying? The real problem with humanity, it's not in a lack of laws. It's what's in people's hearts.
I remember a few years back there was a cricket betting scandal. One commentator said, we need tougher rules about this sort of thing. To which another commentator said, I'm not sure that would actually help. We need a change of attitude. And he was right.
Paul says to us here, the only solution... is for the human heart to change. And the only way for the human heart to change is by the work of the Spirit who brings holiness. Anything else is to fall away from God's grace. To miss the point. As we eagerly await... through the Spirit... the righteousness we're longing for.
And what's it going to look like in practice? Very simple... over and above anything else, it's going to look like love. Verse 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value - Jew, non Jew, whatever - the only thing that counts.... the only thing that counts... is faith... expressing itself through love.
Exactly like yesterday's Garfield cartoon from the paper.
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You've been given freedom. What are you going to use it for? By writing God's law on your heart you've been set free from your slavery. So make sure you use your freedom the right way. Verse 13.
You my brothers, were called to be free. But don't use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature... rather, serve one another in love. The entire law - and Jesus said this, didn't he - the entire law is summed up in a single command... love your neighbour as yourself.
And yet right through the history of Israel, that's not the way it was. Until now, says Paul, with the coming of the Holy Spirit... there's finally the possibility of something different. The freedom - to be something different. To express your faith in Jesus - through love. You, my brothers and sisters, says Paul, weren't called to be bound up under a pile of laws. You were called to be free.... free to serve one another... in love.
Which in a nutshell, is what the spiritual life is going to look like. Which is what the spiritual church is going to look like as well.
Not the chaos of Corinth with everyone trying to out-do one another's gifts.
And not the harsh sort of legalism you get among so many Presbyterians either.
The Holy Spirit is going to move you, not with rules. But with love.
Which isn't for a minute going to be a walk in the park. Which isn't for a minute going to be easy. But it is at every point going to be possible. And more than that, it's going to be what in the depth of your heart you most want.
Notice in the next section, Paul says the spiritual life is going to be a struggle. If you bought into Christianity on the promise that all your problems would go away, that you'd be prosperous, that you'd be well, that you'd live the victorious Christian life, that's not exactly the picture Paul's painting.
It's more like a visit to Bagdad. Because when you've become a Christian, Paul says that immediately puts you in conflict. Between what Paul calls your sinful nature, the selfish, self-absorbed, do-whatever-feels-good part of you that used to run things. And the Holy Spirit. Pulling the other way.
I want to say to you, if you know that sort of conflict, if you live with that sort of conflict, if you've got the urge to do wrong fighting it out with the urge to do right... good news. That's exactly what the Christian life is meant to be like.
The question is, though, which side are you going to fight for?
And the answer's obvious, isn't it? Verse 16. Read what he says:
So I say, live by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
See, here's the question. You've got the conflict going on. In the end, which side are you going to go with? Moment by moment, decision by decision: the Spirit, or the human nature?
In the Old Testament, the law was no help. All it did was highlight the problem.
Because this is a fight on the inside. And Paul says to us, and it's an instruction, not a suggestion, he says when it all comes down to it, what you've got to do is walk by the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. And put the sinful human nature part of you to death.
Verse 19. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality. Impurity and debauchery.. Idolatry and witchcraft. Hatred. Discord. Jealousy. Fits of rage, selfish ambition. Dissensions, factions and envy; when's the last time you we green with envy, and you didn't know it was wrong? Drunkenness; orgies and the like.
Paul says it's obvious where that stuff comes from. You can smell the sulphur a mile off.
And if you think when Paul says you're not under the law any more he means you're free to do that stuff, that's not what he's saying at all. Just the opposite. What he's saying is, by the spirit, you've been set free not to. If you want to keep living that way, you've missed the point of your freedom. And there are consequences. The end of verse 21. I warn you as I did before, says Paul, that those who live like this... will not inherit the kingdom of God. Don't use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Rather - remember what he said before? - rather, serve one another in love.
And it's love that's first in the list he spells out in verse 22 of what it's going to look like when the Holy Spirit is at work. Producing... not so much a dramatic stage show - but fruit.
So while there's conflict in the Spiritual life, there's fruitfulness as well. And the bottom line as we come to the end of our series, is if you want to know what "spiritual" looks like, if you want to start asking what a church looks like when the Holy Spirit is at work, Paul says look for the fruit.
Like Love. And Joy. Changes of heart. That are going to profoundly effect the way you live on the outside. Peace. Patience. We're in verse 22. Bit the fruit of the Spirit... is those things. Growing the personality of Jesus... in you.
I was talking to a friend the other day about a couple of brothers we know. And he said, you know, it's funny, in a way they're different. But they react to some things exactly the same way. There's a family likeness.
Did you ever notice that about Christians as well? You meet a Christian here in Brisbane; you meet a Christian in Sydney... you meet a Christian the other side of the world... and there's something the same about them.
There's something about their personality that gives a family likeness. And let me tell you, it's not the laws they keep, is it? It's something way deeper. It's the Holy Spirit at work on the inside... producing love. And joy. And peace. And patience. And kindness. And goodness. And faithfulness. And gentleness. And self control. Qualities, says Paul, against which there is no law. Because no law is needed.
Paul says it's not about the law. Because exactly as promised... now it's in the heart. The Christian life is a life lived out from the inside. Rather than laws pushing in from the outside. And that's the difference. That's the difference we saw Jeremiah was looking forward to in the Old Testament. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." By pouring out the Holy Spirit.
Now can I ask you to think for a minute, is that how it is with you? Not that you're suddenly perfect when you become a Christian. But that there's fruit growing. That maybe brings a tension with the way you were. Because now your hearts greatest desire is to walk by the Spirit. And not just do what always came naturally.
Paul says, it's a fact. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. And so since we live by the spirit he says, let's keep in step with the spirit. And not give into the urges of conceit. Provoking. Envying. Which can pull a church apart.
Keep in step. Nothing more comical, is there, that a marching band... with someone out of synch with everyone else.
Paul says, it's a fact - you're in the band. You've decided you're going to live by the spirit. But that means every step... every decision... make sure you keep in step with the Spirit. And not your sinful desires that have got no place in the Kingdom of God.
So if you're someone caught up in sexual immorality - and it may be that some of you are - you need to get back into step. If you're caught in a spiral of drinking too much maybe - you need to get back into step. And you say, but I can't. Paul says, but you can. With the help of the Holy Spirit. Specialist in making people holy. Maybe you're consumed by envy. It's not fair, is it... that someone else gets so much attention, and you don't. Paul says that's the sinful human nature talking. Get rid of selfish ambition. Keep in step with the Spirit. Because once you couldn't. And now you can.
Paul says, the seeds of dissension, the possibilities of gossip, the opportunities to envy... walk away. And keep in step with the spirit instead. Because the Spirit produces patience. Kindness. Gentleness. Self control.
Friends, no matter what you might expect from the Holy Spirit, no matter what you might want from the Holy Spirit, this is where the action is. And if you're not excited by that, if you're not thrilled with the prospect that God's at work in you to turn your heart around, then you're missing the point.
My friend Terry West, he became a Christian ten or twelve years ago now. And I was working with him through some basic bible studies for new Christians. Study number 3 was about the Holy Spirit. And looked at exactly this passage we're looking at today. The fruit of the spirit.
Terry had been a Christian maybe 12 weeks.
And as we were looking at the list of the fruits of the Spirit, Terry got this strange sort of smile on his face. He said this is amazing. He said, this is exactly the sort of stuff that's been happening to me. He said people are noticing a difference in me. And it's this stuff. The fruit of the spirit.
Which is equally what God is at work growing in you. So how are you going at keeping in step with the spirit? And growing in love. Growing in joy? How are you going at growing in peace? In putting to death your impatience while the Spirit grows a new crop of patience? Have you done anything kind lately? Because if the Spirit's at work in your life, you'll want to. By the work of the Spirit, in your heart, you'll be hungry for goodness and yearning for faithfulness and growing in Gentleness. Like Terry, you'll be finding new ways of being self controlled. Because the Holy Spirit is at work in you. Making you holy. As we grow to be a people who are no longer what's wrong with the world... but part of the solution.