Galatians 5:13-26 The Fruit And The Weeds Introduction: Do you think the gospel is big enough to do that?

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1 Galatians 5:13-26 The Fruit And The Weeds Introduction: We get sucked in to the American dream so easily, and without even realizing it, we turn the gospel into a program to help us with our problems and fix our lives. Yet God's agenda is so much bigger than this! The Spirit's purpose in our lives (the one that we are called to "keep in step with" Gal 5:24) is to change us into the likeness and character of Jesus Christ. Do you think the gospel is big enough to do that? Can you believe that God wants to change your character not just help you live with it! Review: The fruit is gospel-character produced by true doctrine believed and felt, the deeds of the flesh are produced by living under law, they are the inevitable results of believing the false doctrine that your performance keeps you in God's good graces. The fruit of the Spirit is Christian character, it is a multifaceted way to describe holiness! There are fruit lists in other places in scripture (Rom 5:3-5, 1Tim 6:11, 2Tim 3:10, 2 Pet 1:5-7) and the differences are because of the different pastoral situations. I. Fruit Not Fruits Why It Is Important To Understand What is Meant By Fruit 1. The fruit come with one another. Jonathan Edwards, in his book Charity and It's Fruits, notices that "fruit" is singular in Gal 5:22. Thus Edwards points out that by nature we may exhibit one or the other of the fruit but a true Christian will have them all growing. Natural ability can't produce them all together! For example, some people are naturally gentle but if it was gospel-gentleness they would be able to be bold and courageous as well! "When we look at the fruit lists, we notice that we are naturally stronger in some rather than in others. But our strengths, apart from the Spirit, are due to natural temperament (we have a trait through brain chemistry and early training) or to natural self-interest (we learned a trait to handle some issue or condition we met.) John says, "if a man says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar." Notice he does not say "he is unbalanced" he says "he is a liar!" True love to God goes along with love to others (kindness.) If they are not all there, they are not there at all." Tim Keller Applications: If the fruit is really just a multifaceted way to describe holiness then we must: Beware of looking at our natural strengths as a sign of our Christ-likeness -- fruit can be counterfeited for awhile by the flesh! This means that we are spiritually only as strong as our weakest graces -- because temperament can masquerade as spirituality! Beware of trusting in your gifts! Gifts are not a safe indication even that you are a true child of God! And gifts can be working when our faith is practically nonexistent. Growth in fruit is the test for a child of God - not great gifts! 2. The Acts Of The Sinful Nature Are Like Weeds! "Living apart from God is said (Jer 17:5-8) to be like a worthless desert plant (a weed.) Weeds are worthless because they have no divine life to produce them, they are the products of hatred for God. They may masquerade as fruit for a while but soon their weed-like character will be apparent." (John Sanderson) The Galatians had drunk in enough of the false doctrine of justification by works that weeds were beginning to spring up -- they were biting and devouring one another (5:15), they were boastful and envious of one another (vs. 26.) This conduct is the inevitable result of rejecting Christ and His grace. 3. John Sanderson and Tim Keller have developed this idea of weeds in a helpful way. (Much of the following is based on their excellent work.) With each of the fruit we can find a weed (which is its opposite and halts the growth of the true fruit), as well as a Satanic counterfeit of the true fruit. The "weed" that corresponds to each fruit is a violation of God's Law - but so is the counterfeit fruit, that masquerades as the real thing, a violation of God's Law! Weeds are what choke out the fruit, and the counterfeit is the way our flesh seeks to masquerade as the fruit. Remember the fruit are the communicable attributes of God. That means they are attributes He Himself possesses and which He gives to us through the knowledge of His love expressed to supremely in the gospel! Love (here in Galatians 5 the context shows this is love for others) The Definition: To serve a person for their good and intrinsic value, not for what they bring to you. Actually the Bible describes love more than it defines it (see 1 Cor 13, Lev 19:9-18) 1. Fear and self-protection There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1John 4:18) 2. Hatred, using and abusing people Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1John 4:7-8)

2 The Counterfeits: 1. Limited love On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25-37 esp vs. 29!) 2. Selfish affection (so called "co-dependency") Being attracted, not to the person, but to how this person's love makes you feel about yourself. Needing to be needed. How does the gospel grow love in our lives? One of the best doorways into understanding the love of God is to really try to love someone you don't like -- you'll never appreciate God's love until you see how hard love is! Joy (which must be able to co-exist with sorrow because both are commanded in Romans 12:15) The Definition: Delight in God and His salvation for the sheer beauty and worth of who He is. 1. Hopelessness and despair: This is beyond sorrow, this is losing sight of the big picture because the trees are so huge! John Newton said, "The gospel makes the worst things bearable and the best things leavable." 2. Sorrow because we are frustrated by God's providence: This often appears as self-pity, and exposes the fact that we have a false basis of security and joy. (Usually we are looking to our definition of success for our happiness!) Murmuring is another version of this weed. "God does not always work as we want Him to -- our source of joy must be God, not His ways of working!" (John Sanderson) Ungodly sorrow is practical atheism -- it ignores God and His attributes! 3. Rejoicing in the downfall of others: Because we want everyone else to join our misery! It feeds our suspicion that life is pointless and unfair as well. The Counterfeit: Joy that is based on circumstances (and thus is very temporary!) Keller further explains it as "Elation that comes with blessings not the Blesser! Mood swings based on circumstances." Peace How does the gospel grow true joy in our lives? By directing us to gaze back at the cross and forward at the joy to come. True sorrow and joy can and do co-exist in a fallen world, but for a Christian, joy is more deep-seated than sorrow because we have been reconciled to our God and because one day our tears will be wiped away! (Rom 5:1-5) The Definition: Confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God rather than in your wisdom and sovereignty! The objective peace with God that the reconciliation of the gospel brings drives peace with yourself and with others! 1. Anxiety and worry: Anxiety is the preoccupation with things of lesser importance, in the false confidence that if they are well cared for, life will move along smoothly. Anxiety counts some things more important than God and seeks to derive security from these things rather than from God Himself." (John Sanderson) Like Martha in Luke 10 we get our priorities screwed up and we have too many non-negotiables! Anxiety comes when we believe we must carry the weight of the world and we know we aren t up to the task! 2. Jealously and envy: You can't ever have peace in what God has ordained for you because you are always worried about what others are getting (see John 21: When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.") We believe the lie that if we only had "that" we would be able to rest! The Counterfeit: Apathy and Indifference! "I don't care" "Whatever." This is a way to produce what looks like peace, but peace is very different than deadness and numbness! Much of pop-psychology is an attempt to counterfeit this fruit of peace by getting you to quit caring about things -- and we like this strategy -- but it is a cop out! Jesus had peace and He could weep over Jerusalem! How does the gospel grow peace? By giving us faith in the sovereignty and love of God. As Peter says, Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1Peter 5:6-8) God has a mighty hand and He cares for us! Peace comes from knowing that both of these are true. Looking at the salvation Christ wrought on the cross proves it! At the cross we see the power of God and the love of God manifest! (cf. Hebrews 1:3)

3 Galatians 5:22-23 "The Fruit Of The Spirit: Part #2" Introduction: This is a sobering list, but also an encouraging one because God is committed to producing this! A. The fruit is to be seen: The 2nd century Roman emperor Julian, complaining to a pagan priest why he couldn't seem to stamp out Christianity no matter how hard he tried, "Nothing has contributed to the progress of the superstition of these Christians as their charity to strangers. The impious Galileans provide not only for their own poor -- but for ours as well!" In the 1 st 2 centuries Christianity was often dismissed as a religion for women and slaves. But why did the early church have so many women? (especially if Paul was a misogynist?) Because the Christians used to rescue babies who were "turned out." In those days, huge numbers of unwanted babies, mostly girls, were regularly left on trash heaps to die (either from exposure or by being eaten by dogs), or to be gathered up and raised to be temple prostitutes! B. Where the fruit comes from: Our faith should make us look different! The church should be a colony of the coming kingdom demonstrating for all the world to see that brings freedom to live life as it was meant to be lived! How can we live this way? Only by seeing the fruit manifested in God, not just as a model for us, but as used on our behalf. We must see Jesus as long-suffering for us, we must see God's kindness towards us (in word and deed), and we must see that God is good, and that all that He does for us and to us is an expression of His goodness toward us! Romans 5:1-5 shows that it is the security that comes the good news of the gospel that produces godly character in us (what Paul calls the obedience that comes from faith in Romans 1.) I. Patience or Long-Suffering: A. Definition: The ability to take trouble (from life and others) without being destroyed. It is a patient endurance under injuries inflicted by others. Christians endure suffering (see 2 Cor 4:8-12, 12:7-10, 1Cor 4:9-13 beware those who teach that having enough faith will keep you free from suffering!) Patience is a steadfastness in obedience to God despite pressure to deny Him. It is a refusing to look for a "quick out", because Jesus never took a "quick out." B. The Counterfeit Fruit: Enduring hardship through sheer will-power and/or by shutting off emotionally. What is our motive in enduring? Is it to gain something for ourselves (the praise of men, or the avoidance of entering into pain and confusion) or is to see the kingdom of God progress in us and in the world? Christian patience is not stoicism it does not deny hurts but it is the ability to trust God in spite of it seeming that He has abandoned you. C. The Weed That Threatens To Choke Out The Growth of This Fruit In Our Lives: Impatience with God's timetable: We resent what God is doing because we don't see the big picture, and can't understand what He is doing. We must learn to trust God to bring judgment on sin when His time has come! We are not to give up our hunger for justice, but we are called to relinquish our right to revenge to the One who says, "Vengeance is Mine!" (Rom 12:17-19) D. How Does God Grow This Fruit In Us? It always grows by the true doctrine of grace being felt and relied upon (as the context of Galatians makes abundantly clear.) The fruit of patience is produced by 1) the settled peace and security that comes from knowing that Jesus died rather than abandon us, therefore He is always with us in the midst of our trials ( When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2) and, 2) by the sense of humility that comes from knowing that what we have is all because of grace. (Ex. Cooper got a Pump It Up Party last night because of what his den did without him even being there!) John Sanderson says well, "Faith is an ingredient of patience. Christian patience is based on the belief that a sovereign God is at work in men's affairs, and it springs from the expectancy that a believer will not be mocked or forgotten by the God to whose keeping he has committed his soul. Just as the weed of impatience grows in an atmosphere which leaves God out of our thinking, so the fruit of the Spirit which is patience grows where there is a continual awareness of God." II. Kindness A. Definition: The meeting of felt needs with deeds, loving our neighbors in tangible ways. B. The Artificial Fruit: Kindness used to manipulate others, good deeds that lead to self-congratulation and selfrighteousness. Kindness that quickly turns to hatred and resentment when it is not noticed and praised -- either by God or by other people. A good test is always, "How do you feel when you good deeds don't seem to be appreciated?" We are to be kind not for what it will get us, but because all people are made in the image of the God we love! How often have you found yourself quick to help out someone who is attractive or powerful and slow to help those who are outcasts and can't give you anything in return? Example: Ever notice how guys are quick to help a pretty girl? A smart girl will watch how you treat girls you aren't attracted to because this is where your true character is manifest! Are you kind to them too? If not, then the pretty girl will never feel secure in your love because she will always think it is based on her remaining pretty! C. The Weed That Chokes Out The Growth of This Fruit: Selfishness Rooted In Pride: Seeking our own pleasure because we matter most. A heart that is without mercy because it has lost sight of what we have been forgiven! (see Matt 18:21-35) And of course, envy and an inability to rejoice in other people's joy is there too!

4 D. How This Fruit Is Cultivated: Humility Produces Kindness! The Good Samaritan parable teaches us that one must become like a Samaritan, a social outcast without pride or status, in order to really love those who are broken. And isn't this what the cross is all about?!!! The cross undercuts the pride that feeds the weeds! III. Goodness and Faithfulness A. Definition: Both of these words really are very closely related, because they both speak of a person of integrity. Goodness is honesty and transparency, being the same in all settings and situations. Faithfulness is loyalty, and courage. It is being principle-driven, committed, utterly reliable, and true to one's word. (Tim Keller's definitions cf. 1John 2:1-6 and James 1:22-2:19 - great passages re: the importance of being a person of integrity and consistency.) B. The Artificial Fruit: Truth without love (the so-called courage of getting it off your chest for your own sake) And, love without truth (being loyal when you should be willing to confront or challenge!) C. The Weed: The False Belief That You Need To Protect Yourself Because No One Else Will. This leads to phoniness and hypocrisy --probably the cardinal sin in the eyes of college students! And yet, we are what we hate so much of the time because of our commitment to stay safe by staying uncommitted which drives us to being two-faced so that we can keep everybody happy! D. How This Fruit Is Cultivated: A big view of God's forgiveness: The forgiveness of Jesus is vital to understand if we would be people of integrity - unless we are convinced of forgiveness it would be insane to be open, honest, and vulnerable. Those who are not hiding in Christ and His righteousness have to hide everything else! A solid sense of God's consistency: The gospel gives us courage by convincing us that God will never leave us or forsake us no matter how bad things look or how wretched we are revealed to really be. God demonstrated his commitment at the cross and God wants us to know that He is consistent! That's why He says He is not one who lies or changes His mind (1Sam 15:29) and that is why He swore an oath so that He could make "the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised!" (Heb 6:13-20) IV. Gentleness or Meekness A. Definition: It is not weakness -- it takes great courage to be meek. Meekness has been defined as the strength to put yourself below another for their good. (2Tim 2:24 ff, Isaiah 42:1-4) B. The Artificial Fruit: Inferiority, letting people walk all over you, "false modesty, self-depreciation, and spineless refusal to stand for anything" (John Sanderson) C. The Weed: The Pride Of Rejecting What God Says About Your Worth And Dignity In His Eyes. D. The Means To Cultivate This Fruit: We are to think of ourselves soberly not higher or lower than we ought. The gospel gives us boldness and tenderness by teaching us that we are hid in Christ -- therefore rejection by others doesn't devastate us, and by teaching us that we are weak - Jesus says apart from Him we can do nothing - therefore we must be patient with others and never think that we are better than they are! V. Self-control A. Definition: The ability to choose the important thing over the urgent thing. The ability to choose the glory of God over the desires of the sinful nature that comes from an inner strength produced by the gospel. B. The Artificial Fruit: "Self-control" that comes from will-power, pride, and more functional idols. "Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world." (John Owen) A lack of self-control is always connected to our idolatry (see Phil 3:18 ff), therefore we must beware of trying to deal with one idol (like gluttony) by using another idol (like will-power, or vanity.) Example: trying to quit eating too much by always telling yourself you are going to get fat (and appealing to your vanity.) But see how Jesus describes the danger of using one idol to drive out another in Luke 11: One of our greatest idols is that of stoical selfcontrol by our own will-power and we constantly appeal to it to deal with lesser idols. But when we do this, we may be getting rid of one "evil" only to be feeding an even worse evil! For the Greeks in Paul's day, stoical self-control was the supreme virtue! Tim Keller says most of our parents were stoics! They wanted us to be self-controlled and moral - - but without "religion" getting out of hand. He says that religious parents often have stoic kids, and that stoic parents have Epicurean kids ("eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!") and Epicurean parents produce kids who are dying without direction and they often return to religion! C. The Weed: Being a driven, impulsive, uncontrolled person. Having no aim in life, no ability to stay focused, and no inner strength to help you choose the best over the evil or even over the lesser good.

5 D. The Means To Cultivate This Fruit: Aspiration (fixing our eyes on the goal) and mortification (taking our sin to the cross and holding it there until it withers) are the two ways to stay focused -- we are to fix our eyes on Jesus and throw off the sin that so easily entangles! (Heb 12:1-3)