KASUMIGAOKA （Communion Service）
2018/01/07 SERMON:
“The Fruit of Christ’s Spirit” 「キリストの御霊による実」
TEXT: Galatians 5:16-26
I. INTRODUCTION
Last week we looked at Jesus’ well-known metaphor of the “True Vine and Its Branches” in John 15. “I am the vine; you are the branches,” Jesus said. “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.” Jesus said that He came into this world so that we—His disciples—may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). But what is an “abundant life”? This is the question we have been thinking about. An abundant life means more than just being comfortable and wealthy. Sadly, there are lots of wealthy and materially comfortable people who are not happy; their lives are empty and without purpose. They have material abundance, but they are spiritually barren. A truly “abundant life” is not that kind of life. If you have Christ’s abundant life, you may be rich–or poor. But all who are united to Christ by faith will be filled with the spiritual riches of heaven! Christ’s abundant life is not self-centered; that is, it is not just for us to enjoy by ourselves. Rather, it is a life that overflows with super-natural virtue—that is, “spiritual fruit”–that others can recognize and enjoy. In this way, God’s goodness and power is shown to the world through His people. This is not a kind of “fruit” that we can produce by ourselves. It is the result of Christ abiding in us, and we in Him. It is the “abundant life” that Jesus Christ can give to us. Only when we “abide in Him” by faith, will He cause us to “bear much fruit.”
In our passage this morning, Jesus’ apostle Paul gives us further instruction about the “fruit” that Christians will bear when they “abide in Christ.” In this letter Paul explains to Christians in the churches of Galatia how their life as Christians must be different from the life of ordinary unbelievers. The ultimate test of a religion is how its followers live their lives. Christians will “walk by the Spirit” and bear “the fruit of the Spirit” in them. But those who do not know Christ simply do what they want to do. Even those who try to follow some moral code or “law” will ultimately follow the “desires of the flesh.” They do not have the Spirit of Christ to help them to resist the desires of the flesh. Paul lists some of the “works of the flesh” in vv. 19-21. “Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God,” Paul warns in v. 21. Those who carry out the desires of the flesh are under the condemnation of God’s law, because they have rebelled against their Creator God. But Paul says in v. 16, “walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” And again in v. 18 he says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” All who put their trust in Christ are set free from the condemnation of God’s moral law. Some of the Galatian Christians were being tempted to return to a legalistic way of life. Paul says to them in 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The Pharisees taught that only Jews who strictly kept all of their laws would enter into God’s kingdom. But Jesus had explained that no one could satisfy God’s perfect moral standard simply by following rules. Man is dead in his sins. He has no power to resist the evil desires of the flesh. But God has not left man in this miserable, helpless condition. Because of His mercy and grace, God has sent a Savior who can redeem us from the power of sin and give us new life! Not by our own efforts, but simply through faith in the Savior, we are set free from the condemnation of the law. Through faith in the Savior Jesus we are given a new life and a new Spirit.
II. THE FRUIT OF CHRIST’S SPIRIT IN US
It is this new Spirit that allows us to enjoy the “abundant life” that Jesus promised. The Christian’s new life is united to Jesus Christ by faith, and filled with Christ’s Spirit. It is impossible to please God by any other means. That is why Paul warns the Galatians not to return to a legalistic way of life. The law had never offered the Jews any hope of salvation. So why would anyone who had found real salvation through God’s grace return to the hopelessness of the law? You cannot mix law with grace. Either you will try to justify yourself through works of the law—and fail; or you will entrust your life to Christ by God’s grace—and live. You must choose. But let’s be clear: only union with Christ offers us hope. Paul warns the Galatians who were mixing “legalism” with faith (in v. 4), “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Our hope of a righteous, richly blessed life depends not on our strenuous efforts to keep God’s law, but rather on our union with Christ by faith. When our faith in Christ is strong, then we will be filled with His Spirit. It is the Spirit of Christ in us that will produce the good fruit of righteousness. When you are connected to Christ by faith, you will “bear much fruit.” Instead of doing the desires of the flesh, Paul says, you will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As we think about this promise of a fruitful, abundant life, we must ask ourselves if our lives are producing this “fruit.” When the Christians at Corinth gathered to share the Lord’s Supper, Paul wrote to them as follows: (1 Cor. 11:18) “In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.” (vv. 20-21) “So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.” The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament that shows the spiritual unity of Christians who belong to the church, which is called “the body of Christ.” But in Corinth, when the church members assembled to share in “communion,” there were divisions among them. What kind of divisions? They were not doctrinal divisions! I have often heard preachers emphasize doctrinal divisions in the Corinthian church, but what the apostle is talking about here is not a doctrinal problem. The problem is that these Corinthian church members lacked the spiritual fruit that Jesus promised to those who truly abide in Him. There were divisions in the body of Christ because of the way they treated one another. The fruit of the Spirit of Christ will heal divisions, but that fruit was lacking in the church in Corinth.
How should we describe the attitudes shown by those church members? They were selfish; they were greedy; they were unkind; they lacked self-control. Each one wanted to put himself first. They did not remember the words of Jesus, who said, “whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:44). They had forgotten how their Lord Jesus had stooped down before His disciples and washed their feet. He had told them, “”Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:14-15). But the church in Corinth had forgotten Jesus’ words and example. They did not treat each other with love and kindness and respect. They were divided because they lacked the fruit of Christ’s Spirit in their lives. To those Christians in Corinth, Paul wrote, “I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good” (1 Cor. 11:17). Think about that for a moment! The apostle Paul says that it would be better if the Corinthian church did not assemble, rather than treat each other so badly! And in 1 Cor. 11:27, Paul adds, “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” Those who do not show the fruit of the Spirit in dealing with one another in the church should not participate in the sacrament, for they do not belong to Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is essential to maintaining and building up the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
III. CONCLUSION
As we conclude our study today, I want to consider one very important question. That is, “what can be done if we see little evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in the church?” I want to emphasize that I am not thinking of a particular problem in our church right now. But sooner or later, I think every church will need to deal with this problem. So let’s prepare now to face the problem when we must.
When relationships between members of the church become difficult, what should we do? Some will criticize the church or its leaders, and soon leave the church. But this is what the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 11:28-29: “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.” Before criticizing anyone else, each one should first examine himself. What do you see? Do you see the fruit of the Spirit of Christ in all of your relationships within the body of Christ? Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The fruit of the Spirit—beginning with love—is our proof that the Spirit of Christ is dwelling in us. If our lives are not bearing this fruit, we should honestly ask ourselves: “Does Christ really dwell in me by faith?” Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And Paul writes, “If I . . . do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I . . . do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1, 2). If you consistently fail to show “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control” in your relationships, you probably need to confess your failures to Christ and ask Him to become the Lord of your life. By yourself, you can do nothing to produce that good spiritual fruit. You must ask Christ to take control of your life and bring forth the fruit of His Spirit in you. Sometimes people who have never really humbled themselves before God and never really experienced the new life in Christ pretend that they are Christians. They even pretend that their lives have been renewed and filled with the Holy Spirit. To show this, they may try to “decorate” their lives with “fruit” that they themselves have made. But it is all artificial—like putting colorful ornaments on a Christmas tree! Those ornaments can be put on display for a short time, but they do not last. They are impermanent, because man-made ornaments do not grow from a changed heart by the work of Christ’s Spirit. When it becomes inconvenient to show such “fruit”—for example, when they go to their job, or spend time with unbelievers–that “artificial fruit” can be quietly put away. But the fruit of the Spirit cannot be taken down today and put back on display again tomorrow, according to our own will. It will always be growing and always be visible, as proof of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in your heart.
Finally, we should notice that “the fruit” of the Spirit is a singular noun in Greek. Some people may think that they have one or more “fruits” of the Spirit, but they do not expect that they will produce the entire spectrum of spiritual fruit. But I think that the singular “fruit” expresses an important truth. That truth is that all of these virtues—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, and self-control—are produced by the Spirit of Christ in each one of His people. All of these overlap and influence each other. They do not represent different, distinct “fruits,” but rather one “fruit of the Spirit.” All of the delicious “flavors” of righteousness are mingled together in this one delightful fruit. And you will certainly bear much of this delightful spiritual fruit when Christ dwells in you by faith!