Josh Benner

Tag: fruit of the Spirit

  • Sermon: Life in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-25

    We often reduce the Christian life to a list of rules. Do’s and don’ts. But in Galatians 5, Paul calls upon Christians to walk and live by the Spirit and talks of the fruits of that Spiritual life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are not commands here. They’re the byproduct of a Spirit-filled walk.

    Sermon manuscript

  • Fruit of the Spirit – something we can’t produce

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    BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS,23 GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL; AGAINST SUCH THINGS THERE IS NO LAW.

    -GALATIANS 5:22-23

    In the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

    It’s a section that fascinates me. Because the fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

    There are certain areas in our lives we can control.

    Think about it.

    Honesty. You can force yourself to be honest. I’ll just choose to not lie. You can decide

    that for yourself. Honesty isn’t a fruit of the Spirit.

    Generosity isn’t a fruit of the spirit. You can choose to give more or to serve more to others.

    Those are things you can control.

    But the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

    These are things we don’t control in ourselves.

    They’re…the fruit of the Spirit. Not the fruit of our effort.

    Nine graces that God produces in believers.

    Love is a fruit of the Spirit.

    So what this passage is saying is that if you’re wain gin the Spirit, it will manifest itself in love.

    Now there are commands to love given in many places throughout the Bible. We should love people. We should demonstrate love towards others by actions.

    And that we can control.

    But it’s not just external actions, but in the depths of our soul, are we doing things out of love out of obligation or because we actually love people?

    Some people say that love is a choice, that it’s not about a feeling…

    That would be wrong. That’s JV love.

    Of course love is a feeling too. We are supposed to actually love people, to have affection in our hearts for people. To actually have a desire for what’s best for them and their own salvation and joy and grace.

    And there are people in our lives who are hard to love.

    And so to love those people is not something we have in ourselves. It must come from God.

    Another example: joy. You can’t create joy in your own heart. You can’t make yourself joyful.

    You can’t say “I didn’t have enough joy yesterday, but today, I’m going to make myself joyful.”

    You can’t do it.

    No matter how glad half full you try to look at things, no matter how much you try to force yourself to ignore the little inconveniences, you cannot make your own joy.

    You can pretend. You can bury emotions. You can try whatever the self-help gurus are saying to do. Just like love you can outwardly convey joy. But what about internally?

    True joy is something that you can’t produce. Joy comes from the Spirit.

    Joy is a supernatural delight in God brought about  by the Spirit. It’s because joy is supernatural that joy can exist even in difficult circumstances. We have joy from seeing the glory and goodness of Christ.

    The Spirit illuminates us to the good things of God. Jesus talks of this in John 16:14: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

    Let’s look at another piece of fruit.

    Peace.

    Peace is not merely the absence of war. But peace is safety, harmony, wholeness and unity.

    The peace that Jesus brings is a restoration of a relationship that had been lost due to sin.

    You cannot give yourself internal peace. You cannot make yourself feel peace with God.

    It’s a fruit of the Spirit.

    Romans 14:17 says: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

    The fruit of the Spirit is supernatural.

    It’s fruit.

    You don’t cause fruit to grow.

    Quoting Tim Keller: “A gardener doesn’t make the things grow. The gardener just creates the conditions through which the power of the seed is released.”

    Another idea Keller brings up. What doe she contact the fruit of the Spirit with?

    It’s not the weeds of the flesh. It’s the works of the flesh. We commit our own sins. We choose to sin. We are responsible for our own sins.

    And again, there’s both an internal and an external aspect to the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. So with something like kindness or patience, yes you can behave at work and act nice to someone.

    But are you thinking nasty things about them while you’re doing it?

    Then you’re not really kind are you? True kindness is because you desire to be kind not because you feel you have to be. And you can’t make yourself kind.

    We should know the fruit of the Spirit.

    We should desire to grow in all of these areas.

    And yes, there are times where our outward actions might outpace our inward desires.

    We should be loving, or kind, or good to people, because we know it’s what God desires. But as we walk in step with the Spirit, as we walk with the Lord, more and more, we will do these things because it’s what we also want.

    It’s the new life God produces in believers.

    Originally published January 8, 2019

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

     

  • The fruit of the Spirit – something we can’t produce

    photo-1545135933-53630a9f3537.jpeg

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
    -Galatians 5:22-23
    In the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.
    It’s a section that fascinates me. Because the fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.
    There are certain areas in our lives we can control.
    Think about it.
    Honesty. You can force yourself to be honest. I’ll just choose to not lie. You can decide that for yourself. Honesty isn’t a fruit of the Spirit.

    (more…)

  • The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life

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    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.
    -Galatians 5:16-17
    God is supposed to be the focus of everything we do, everything we have, everything we are, everything we think.
    God doesn’t get the scraps, he gets our whole lives.
    To some, that might not sound appealing.
    “I want to do may own thing,” or “”That’s too demanding.”
    Then you’re not going to have much of a relationship with the Lord.
    But if you want joy, if you want peace, if you want kindness, if you want love, walk in the Spirit.
    It’s about having a love for God.
    Walking with God. Not so he will love you. Not so you’ll earn brownie points. But so that you’ll live on earth as it is in heaven. So that you’ll experience God more fully. So that you’ll have a fuller life, based around God not based around yourself, or your hobbies, or your own pursuits.
    God freely gives grace. But having a relationship with the Lord takes commitment and intentionality. We must cooperate with the Spirit.
    Philippians 2:12-13 says: “As you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
    The Christian life is not meant to be a bunch of rules. It’s living life in the Spirit of a good God who brings life and purpose.
    It’s about seeing the beauty of God.
    Psalm 27:4 says:
    One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
    that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
    to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.
    Psalm 50:1-2 says:
    The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
    Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.
    It’s about enjoying the goodness of God.
    Psalm 34:8
    Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
    So again, the Christian life is not about “do this” or “don’t do that.” Rather, the more closely you walk in step with the Spirit, the more your love and affection are in the beauty and glory of God, the more you taste and see that the Lord is good, the more you hunger and thirst for righteousness, the more fruit God produces in your life and the more your life reflects God’s moral character.
    The Spirit enables us to live out God’s law.
    Galatians 5:18 says, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
    Romans 8:3-4 is a significant verse on this idea:
    For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
    We couldn’t follow the Law. We needed a savior. The law is kept by virtue of faith and through walking according to the Spirit.
    Submit your life to the leadership of the Spirit.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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  • The war within: Spirit vs Sin

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    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.
    -Galatians 5:17
    The flesh vs the Spirit.
    For Christians, the Sprit filled life is meant to be a life of growth and maturation.
    But just because Christians have the Holy Spirit in us, it certainly does not mean that everything in life suddenly becomes easy or that we never struggle with sin. (more…)