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Post by moniqueh on Dec 12, 2006 15:27:12 GMT -5
In Galatians 5:6 it tells us "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Can any tell me what is God tell us. When he say "live by the Spirit" is he talking about the fruit of the Spirit Thanks once again for helping me understand God's beloved book.
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Post by TaQuilla on Dec 13, 2006 15:38:12 GMT -5
I think you're talking about Gal. 5:16 Yes, I do think that he tells us of the "fruit of the Spirit" so that we can better gauge whether our actions are spirit-led, or led by our sinful nature. Because anyone can say that once I receive Jesus into my heart, I have the Holy Spirit, yet if they are still led only by their carnal desires, then they do not posses the Spirit of Christ.
To dive further into what it means to live through the Spirit, we can use the Bible to explain itself. This subject is also discussed in Romans 8:1-17. We are told that if we're living in accordance w/the Spirit, our minds will be set on what the Spirit desires Rom. 8:5, and those desires are the fruit of the Spirit. This also lets us know how important it is to ask the Lord for His precious Holy Spirit to come and live in us, and guide us. ** We see that if we do not have the Spirit, then we do not belong to Christ. (Rom 8:9) ** If we are led by the Spirit, then we are considered sons of God. (This would also mean that the opposite is true, If we are not led by the Spirit, then we are not sons of God. (Rom 8:14) ** On judgment day, we don't have to worry because the Spirit will testify that we are God's children (Rom 8:16), and ** The Spirit will be a seal, our deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance from God. (Eph. 1:14)
Although the Holy Spirit may not be received as soon as we become Christians, as we are often lead to believe, it is promised to us(Eph. 1:13), and will give us wisdom and revelation of some great mysteries in the Bible. This is why the apostle Paul says to keep asking for the Holy Spirit, so that we may know God better, have our eyes and heart enlightened, and we may gain his great power (Eph. 1:17-19)
This is where the fruit will come into play, once we have received the precious Holy Spirit, our eyes will be enlightened to things that we do, or say that do not line up w/His word. These things may have seemed OK before, but when the Holy Spirit has full control, we get a rude awakening. At first glance at the "acts of the sinful nature" vs the "fruit of the spirit" it seems like we've got it down, no problem. But as we take another look, God shows us the real deal. For instance, many of the acts of the sinful nature truly are obvious (Gal 5:19) and we don't take part in them out of sheer will power of our own. It may be easy for the average Christian to stay away from sexual immorality (probably easier for women than men), impurity, debauchery (being morally corrupt), witchcraft, drunkenness and orgies, because they truly may not even entice us. But as we dig deeper, how often have we participated in: (with the help of the American Heritage Dictionary & the Bible) ~idolatry - defined as "excessive devotion" to ANY thing other than God. Be it, a man, a job, money, education, etc., it is all too common to attend to certain things "excessively" more than we do to the matters of God. ~ hatred - intense animosity or hostility ~discord/dissension/factions - causing strife, refusing to conform to the authority and doctrine that God has established. Is it a coincidence that this same "act" is mentioned using three different words, three different times, in one verse? The Word is clear here that this will be a problem, even among those who claim to be His. This is why He tells us ahead of time that these acts DO NOT come from Him, but from Satan. We must not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive ourselves (into thinking that we are His,) but also DO WHAT IT SAYS (Jam. 1:22) ~jealousy/envy - discontent and resentment aroused by desire and for possessions or qualities of another (how hard is it to not be resentful when other's get what we want - I've definitely struggled w/this one) ~fits of rage - a sudden appearance of violent, or explosive anger (how many of us struggle w/this one in our own households, when we don't get our way? Boy, if you could hear it from Steve...) call it PMS if you wanna, but the Lord calls it a "fit". ~selfish ambition - a strong desire to achieve something that only benefits YOU. Ever went after something just because YOU wanted it? It didn't matter if it was what God wanted, or your husband wanted, or was best for your kids? I know I have! This particular "act of the sinful nature" is where we as Christians can become extremely lukewarm in our faith, following what society labels as success, just doing what feels good to us, whether God approves or not.
Just looking more deeply into these "acts of the sinful nature" can show us that there is absolutely no way that we can tackle these on our own. We will fail every time. We will be able to do a few by sheer determination, but not all. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we do. Before we receive the Holy Spirit we may still receive guidance from God, but it is nothing compared to the unexplainable power that comes from sharing in His promised Spirit. Once we receive that Spirit, it is then up to us to give Him total control, and to listen when He speaks to us through the Spirit. Then our lives will naturally begin to bring forth the fruit, because these are all that the Spirit knows.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Acts 19:2,3
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