Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Fruit of the Spirit: Sanctification in the Life of Those Who Belong to Christ (Galatians 5:22-25)

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The Fruit of the Spirit: Sanctification in the Life of Those Who Belong to Christ (Galatians 5:22-25) · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine you're walking into this, this massive unlit
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industrial factory floor, and the noise is just deafening.
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Oh, I can picture that. Just total sensory overload.
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Yeah, total chaos. You look around and you see the
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sprawling assembly line, but it's violently spitting out
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these defective jagged machine parts.
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Like it's completely broken down.
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Right. There's a gear labeled Jealousy
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and it's flying off a belt and just smashing into a wall.
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Wow. And over in the corner, there's
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a piston labeled Bitter Rivalries, and it's just
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grinding against itself until it sparks and, you know, catches
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fire. That sounds like a disaster
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waiting to happen. It is.
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The whole place is disjointed, chaotic, and just completely out
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of control. And that terrifying mechanical
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chaos is the very specific image the Apostle Paul uses to
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describe human nature when it's left entirely to its own
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devices. That is such a vivid way to look
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at it. Welcome to Reformed Thinking, a
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deep dive into the theological source material that shapes our
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understanding of the world today.
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We're taking a massive, detailed look at a very specific passage
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of Scripture, which is Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 through 25.
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And that factory floor image is it's incredibly accurate to the
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text we are looking at today. Yeah, I think it sets the stage
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perfectly. We're going to look at this
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passage through a strict Reformed theological lens,
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adhering to the framework laid out in the Westminster
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Confession of Faith. Absolutely.
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Because the reason this text requires such a comprehensive
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look is that it directly confronts the dominant religion
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of our modern era. And that modern religion is the
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siren song of absolute autonomy, isn't it?
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Spot on. It really is.
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Our culture aggressively promotes this secular philosophy
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that promises that true freedom is found only when you cast off
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all moral restraints, reject all divine authority, and just, you
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know, follow your own unrestricted desires.
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Yeah, the pitch is very compelling.
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Oh, it's everywhere. We are told from our movies to
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our marketing campaigns that this absolute self rule is the
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guaranteed path to human flourishing.
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You're the captain of your soul, the master of your fate.
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Right, the sole author of your reality.
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But when we step back and look at the reality on the ground,
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that promise yields A vastly different result.
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It really does. It creates A tremendous burden
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on the individual her. Huge burden.
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Instead of a flourishing utopia, this relentless pursuit of self
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sovereignty has led to a massive fragmentation of the human soul.
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The psychological toll is just staggering.
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I mean, we live in an era of unprecedented technological
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advancement, medical breakthroughs, material
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abundance. We have everything we could ever
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want. By all earthly metrics, we
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should be the most content human beings to ever walk the planet.
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But we aren't. No global levels of anxiety,
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anger, depression and stress have reached historic peaks.
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The liberation the world sells turns out to be a cruel
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taskmaster. Because when you are your own
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God, you are also your own slave.
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Oh man, that is a heavy thought. When you are your own God, you
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are your own slave. Which brings us right to the
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historical context of our source material.
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Because this illusion of autonomy is not a new problem.
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Not at all. It is the exact same deception
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the Apostle Paul was confronting in the 1st century.
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Paul writes this letter to the churches in Galatia to shatter
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that very illusion. But he is fighting A2 front war
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isn't he? He absolutely is In Galatia,
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Paul is actively combating a false gospel of legalism on one
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side. Let's break that down for
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people. So legalism is the attempt to
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measure spirituality by works of the law.
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Right, checking boxes. Yeah, it's the belief that you
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can earn a right standing before a holy God through rigorous
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behavior modification and rule keeping.
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The Galatians were being tempted to add their own human effort to
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the finished work of Jesus Christ.
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Which is a huge error. But while Paul is dismantling
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that legalistic framework, he has to simultaneously guard his
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other flank. He makes certain he gives 0
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ground to antinomianism. OK, let's define that term for
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clarity, because that's a big theological word.
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Antinomianism literally means anti.
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Law, right? Precisely anti law.
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It is the dangerous error of using grace as a cheap excuse
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for sin. Like a get out of jail free
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card. Yeah, it's the mindset that
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says, well, since God's grace covers all my failures, my moral
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choices no longer matter. I can live however I want.
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And Paul argues that both legalism and antinomianism are
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dead ends. Total dead ends both stem from
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that same factory of human flesh you mentioned earlier.
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So instead, Paul introduces the biblical doctrine of union with
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Christ, which destroys both the pride of the legalist and the
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rebellion of the antinomian. It cuts right through both of
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them. That sets up the core contrast
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in our sources. The text draws a razor sharp
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distinction between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the
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Spirit. We are looking at 2 opposing
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realms here, 2 completely different governing authorities.
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Right. The flesh produces corruption,
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disorder, and rebellion against God.
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Like the broken machine parts. Yeah, but the Holy Spirit
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organically produces holiness and moral beauty.
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The sources highlight the specific grammatical choices
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Paul makes in the original Greek here, and the shift in his
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vocabulary is pretty striking. It really is.
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The grammar is the key that unlocks the theology here.
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Break that down for us. Well, when Paul describes the
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output of fallen human nature in verse 19, he uses the Greek word
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erga. Erga OK.
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Yeah, which is a plural. Now, meaning works plural,
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right? But when he pivots to describe
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the output of the Holy Spirit in verse 22, he shifts to the Greek
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word carpals. Carpals.
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And this is a singular noun meaning fruit.
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This shift from plural works to singular fruit is not an
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accident of dictation. Paul is an incredibly precise
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thinker. So the plural nature of works
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implies that human sin is scattered and fragmented, just
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like that broken factory we discuss at the start.
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Spot on. The works of the flesh are
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disjointed. Meaning they don't all show up
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the same way in every person. Yeah, I mean, a person might be
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consumed by greed but utterly lack the drive for physical
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gluttony. Or another person might be given
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over to fits of rage but have no interest in sorcery or idolatry.
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The flesh produces this chaotic grab bag of rebellions.
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But the singular noun carpose or fruit proves that the Holy
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Spirit produces A unified singular moral profile in the
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elect. Yes, it is the exact moral
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profile of Jesus Christ Himself. Paul is not presenting 9
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unrelated virtues on a buffet table from which a believer
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might select their personal favorites.
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Like, I'll take a little patience, but pass on the
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self-control. Right, you can't do that.
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He is describing one single spirit produced character you'd
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from 9 different angles. I really want to visualize this
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difference for the listener. The works of the flesh operate
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like that broken manufacturing plant.
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It requires sweat, exhaustion and mechanical effort to produce
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all these terrible, isolated outcomes.
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It's fabricated by human depravity.
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Yeah, in contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is like a single
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perfectly formed apple growing on the branch of a tree.
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That's a great image. You cannot pick and choose
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pieces of the apple. You cannot look at the apple and
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say I will take the patient slice, but I will leave the
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self-control slice behind. Because it's one thing.
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Right. It grows organically from a
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living source. The entire apple grows together,
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even if some parts take, you know, time to ripen fully.
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That analogy captures the massive gulf between mechanical
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fabrication and organic regeneration, and the
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implications for our daily lives are just staggering.
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How so? Well, this biblical framework
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completely refutes the entire industry of modern self
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improvement and moralism. Oh totally, the self help aisle
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at the bookstore. Right.
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The world attempts to manufacture virtue from the
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outside in. We see this through social
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engineering programs, behavioral psychology, or just sheer white
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knuckled human willpower. Just trying really hard not to
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be a bad person. People try to staple good
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behavior onto an unregenerate heart.
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They try to tie apples onto a dead branch and call it a living
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tree. But it might look good from a
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distance, right? Like a tight on apple looks like
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an apple, but the moment a storm comes, all those stapled on
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apples just blow away. Because there's no life in them.
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Yeah, the wind reveals the deadness of the branch.
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Precisely true holiness is an internal harvest caused by the
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sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
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Fruit only grows because the fundamental nature of the tree
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has been changed by God. You can't fake it forever.
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You cannot produce a spiritual harvest through external
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pressure. It requires internal life.
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This is the doctrine of regeneration.
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God must give you a new heart before you can produce new
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fruit. Which brings us to the specific
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breakdown of this singular fruit.
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The sources divide the 9 virtues listed in Galatians into 3
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distinct categories. Yes, this is very helpful for
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categorizing them. We have Godward affections,
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manward graces, and inward disciplines.
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Let's start with the Godward affections, which are Lovejoy
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and Peace. Love is listed first because
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it's the baseline disposition of the renewed heart.
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It sets the tone for everything. Else it does.
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It is a love that sees the glory of God above all things.
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But the second one, joy, is often misunderstood today.
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Really misunderstood. Joy in this text is not
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described as a superficial bubbly cheerfulness, is it?
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No, the worldly counterfeit of joy is just circumstantial
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happiness. Like if I have a good day, I
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have joy. Right.
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If your bank account is full, if your health is good, if your
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relationships are smooth, you feel happy.
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But the moment those circumstances crack, the
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happiness just evaporates. So what is the joy Paul is
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talking about? The joy Paul writes about is a
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theological gladness rooted in your eternal security.
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Theological gladness. I like that.
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It is a robust, resilient gladness that persists even
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while you are suffering. A believer can stand at the
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graveside of a loved one experiencing agonizing grief
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while simultaneously possessing a bedrock joy because they know
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the tomb is empty and Christ is victorious.
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That is a stunning contrast. You can grieve and have joy at
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the exact same moment. Absolutely.
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And the third God, where affection is peace.
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Again, the worldly definition of peace is just the temporary
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absence of conflict. Sitting on a quiet beach
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somewhere. Right, taking a vacation.
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But the biblical definition is the settled tranquility that
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comes from being objectively reconciled to the Creator of the
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universe. The war between you and God has
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ended. Yeah, the justification achieved
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by Christ brings a legal peace, which then produces an internal
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psychological peace. It flows from the legal standing
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to the internal feeling. Yes.
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Then we move to the manward graces, which are patience,
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kindness, and goodness. These dictate how the believer
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interacts with the people around.
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Them right In an era defined by digital hostility, constant
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outrage and bitter rivalries online, the Holy Spirit
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cultivates supernatural long-suffering.
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Which we desperately need. This patience is the ability to
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endure the faults and provocations of others without
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retaliating. That's incredibly hard to do.
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It is kindness is a sincere benevolence, a readiness to do
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good, and goodness is kindness in action.
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It is moral excellence that actively benefits a neighbor.
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I want to look closely at the third category, the inward
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disciplines. This includes faithfulness,
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gentleness, and self-control. The sources note that it's vital
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to define these terms pastorally because our modern lexicon has
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twisted them quite a bit. Very much so.
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Let's take gentleness, OK? The Greek word is prouts.
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Prouts Yes. In our culture, gentleness is
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almost always equated with weakness.
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We think of someone who is timid, passive, or easily rolled
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over. Like a pushover.
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Exactly, but Prouts is the exact opposite of weakness.
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No, really. Yeah.
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In the ancient world, this word was often used to describe a
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powerful wild horse that had been broken and tamed by its
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master. Oh wow.
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The horse still possesses all its massive physical strength.
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It could crush a man's skull with a single kick.
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Right. But that immense strength is now
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yielded to the command of the rider.
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It is strength under control. Strength under control.
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That changes everything. A gentle believer is not weak.
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They're a person of tremendous conviction and capability who
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has submitted their reactions to the sovereignty of God.
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So they don't have to prove themselves.
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Right. They do not need to lash out,
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scream or dominate a room because they trust that God is
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defending their 'cause. Then we have the final grace
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listed which is self-control. The Greek is ecritea, which
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requires the mind and the body to master the self through the
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word of God. Critique.
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Now I have to step in here and pose a question for you, because
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I think this is a huge sticking point.
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Sure. Go ahead.
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In modern culture, and even in many contemporary church
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movements, people often equate the Holy Spirit's activity with
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a chaotic, highly emotional loss of control.
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Yes, we see that all the time. You hear people talk about being
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slain in the Spirit, or barking like dogs or laughing
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uncontrollably as definitive proof of the Spirit's presence.
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Like if you're not out of control, the Spirit isn't there,
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right? How does the biblical inclusion
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of self-control and gentleness challenge that modern mystical
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view? This is a crucial corrective for
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the modern church. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of
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order, not a spirit of chaos. OK, Paul explicitly states in
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his letter to the Corinthians that the spirits of prophets are
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subject to prophets. Meaning what practically?
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Meaning the Spirit does not override your volition and turn
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you into a mindless puppet. If the Holy Spirit is the one
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actively producing self-control, then the true, undeniable
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evidence of His presence is a mind and body brought under the
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sovereign mastery of Scripture. So the Spirit makes you more
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truly human, more in control of your faculties, not less.
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Spot on. The Westminster Confession of
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Faith addresses this beautifully in chapter 16, which covers good
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works. Let's bring the confession in
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here. The Confession explains that
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these graces are the visible evidence of a true and lively
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faith. They distinguish the immediate
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internal work of the Spirit in the New Covenant from the
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external civil and ceremonial laws of national Israel.
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So it's an internal reality producing external fruit, yes.
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We must guard against the error of believing we can manufacture
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this fruit by our own grit, but we must equally guard against
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the era of thinking the Spirit bypasses our mind and will.
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He doesn't just hijack us. No, He heals and restores our
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faculty so we can exercise genuine God honoring
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self-control. If these 9 virtues the singular
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moral profile of Christ, if they represent the standard of
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holiness, someone might be wondering how they relate to the
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10 commandments. That's the natural next
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question. Yeah, and that brings our
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conversation to the N WIC. After listing the fruit of the
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Spirit, Paul writes a very fascinating phrase.
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He says against such things there is no law.
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It's an amazing statement. The sources explain that the law
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can command righteousness, and it can certainly expose our
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miserable failure to meet that standard, but it lacks the
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capacity to impart life or create righteousness in fallen
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humanity. We see here the brilliant
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harmony between law and gospel. A lot of people harbor a subtle
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belief that the law is somehow bad or inherently oppressive.
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Like God was just in a bad mood when he gave it.
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Yeah, exactly. But the moral law of God is
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holy, righteous, and good. It, Florida State reflects the
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unchanging character of God. The weakness does not lie in the
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law itself. The weakness lies entirely in
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sinful humanity. The law is perfect.
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We are broken. Yes, if the Law can stand over a
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spiritually dead Sinner in command, you shall love the Lord
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your God with all your heart. But the law cannot reach into
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that sinner's chest and pour divine love into a hostile,
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rebellious heart. I want to offer an analogy here.
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It's easy. The moral law functions very
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much like an MRI machine in a hospital.
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OK, I like where this is going you.
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Feel sick, right? So you go to the clinic and they
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slide you into this massive, loud tube.
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The machine does its job perfectly.
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It accurately reveals the disease in your body.
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It prints out an image showing the exact location and size of
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the tumor. Gives you the full diagnostic
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picture. Exactly.
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The MRI is a good necessary tool, but that MRI machine
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cannot cure the disease, it just exposes it.
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Right? You could run a patient through
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the MRI 100 times a day and the tumor would only grow worse.
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The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is the skilled surgeon who
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steps into the operating room and actually performs the
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healing. He removes the heart of stone
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and inserts a heart of flesh. That is a phenomenal way to
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visualize the dynamic, the law diagnosis, the fatal condition,
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the spirit administers, the cure.
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And the MRI can't be blamed for the tumor.
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No, it's just telling the truth, and the Spirit actually produces
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the very things the law demands. The Spirit actualizes what the
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law proves. In Reformed theology, this
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aligns perfectly with what we call the third use of the law.
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Breakdown the uses of the law for us.
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For those who might not be familiar with that terminology,
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sure. Historically Reformed thinkers
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identify 3 uses of the moral law.
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OK, what's the 1st? The first use is pedagogical.
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It acts as a schoolmaster to show us our sin and drive us to
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Christ for mercy. Like the MRI showing us the
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tumor. So we seek the surgeon, yes.
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The second use is civil. It restrains evil in society
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through the threat of punishment.
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Just keeping basic order. Right, but the third use is
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normative for the Christian. Once a person is saved, the
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moral law functions as a guide for the believers grateful
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obedience. So it's a guide now.
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It shows us what pleases our Father.
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It is no longer a covenant of works that condemns us to hell,
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but a brilliant light illuminating the path of
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sanctification. We look at the 10 commandments
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not as a ladder to climb to heaven, but as a description of
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how heaven citizens behave on earth.
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If we apply this framework to the local church, the
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implications are absolutely massive.
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They really are. Relying on legalistic rules to
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force behavior modification in a congregation is like trying to
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heal a dying patient by repeatedly shoving them into the
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MRI machine and yelling at them for having a tumor.
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Which is madness. It does not work.
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It might produce a respectable, well dressed, compliant exterior
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on Sunday morning, but it leaves the heart incredibly proud,
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anxious and self-righteous. Legalism relies on external
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pressure and fear, Yeah. But true obedience is the
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grateful, joyful response of those who have received
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staggering mercy. The believer obeys, not as
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terrified slave trying to earn life, but as a fully accepted,
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dearly loved child walking in the liberty of grace.
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The motivation for obedience shifts entirely.
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You are no longer trying to bribe a judge, you're trying to
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honor a father. But if we are indeed cured, if
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that spiritual surgery has taken place and the healing has begun,
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there must have been a definitive moment when the
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disease lost its lethal grip. There has to be a starting
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point. Right, there has to be a
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transition point that brings us to the theological anchor of
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this entire passage found in Malaysians 5 verse 24.
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Paul writes. And those who belong to Christ
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Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
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This is the definitive rupture. This single verse is the
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theological bedrock for everything we are discussing
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today. It's huge.
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The Apostle Paul uses the Greek verb estarasan.
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Estarasan. Which translates to have
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crucified. We need to look at the grammar
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here because its significance is staggering.
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Grammatically, this verb is in the aorist active indicative.
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OK, let's make sure we unpack that because most of us don't
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speak Greek. What does an aorist active
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indicative actually mean for the person listening right now?
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It's a great question. In Greek, the aorist tense
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signifies a definitive completed action in the past.
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Completed, not ongoing. Right.
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It's a snapshot of an event that is already finished.
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Paul is not giving an imperative command here.
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He's not saying you need to try really hard to start crucifying
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your flesh today. Oh, that's a huge distinction.
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It is he is declaring A redemptive historical reality.
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He is stating a fact. This crucifixion happened at the
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exact moment of your regeneration.
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When you were saved, yes. When the Holy Spirit granted you
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faith, you were brought into a federal and spiritual union with
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Jesus Christ. You were united to His death on
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the cross and united to His resurrection.
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So when Christ died, the ruling power of my fallen nature and
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died with Him. Yes, the flesh Paul mentions
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refers to the entirety of fallen human nature.
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The whole factory, the whole. Factory.
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It is defined by disordered loves, rebellious cravings, and
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a deep seated hostility toward God.
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Paul is declaring that the absolute dominion and tyranny of
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that flesh has been definitively broken.
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It is a completed action. You are no longer a slave to it.
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I have to ask the obvious glaring question then.
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I think I know what it is. If the flesh is definitively
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crucified. If it is completely dead and
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it's dominion is broken in the past, why do Christians still
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sin? Yeah, the tension.
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Why is there still a daily, brutal, sometimes exhausting
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struggle against temptation? I mean, if the surgery was a
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success, why am I still coughing up blood?
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That is the tension every single believer experiences.
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It is the reality of the already and then not yet.
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To answer that, we look directly to the Westminster Confession
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again, Chapter 13 on sanctification.
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What does chapter 13 say? The Confession teaches that
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while the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, the
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remnants of sin abide in every part of the believer.
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The remnants, yes. The ruling power is broken, but
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the lingering presence remains. The great 19th century preacher
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Charles Spurgeon provided A vivid, almost shocking analogy
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for this reality. I love Spurgeon.
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What was Spurgeon's analogy? Spurgeon said we should think of
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the old man, the flesh, as a sentenced criminal who has been
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nailed to a tree. OK, a criminal on a cross.
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Because the criminal is nailed to the cross, his dominion is
21:59
over. He can no longer walk around and
22:01
rule the city. He no longer holds the scepter
22:03
of the soul. He's bound right.
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The execution has commenced and the outcome is absolutely
22:08
certain. But Spurgeon notes the criminal
22:11
is still alive on that cross for a time.
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He still thrashes against the nails, he still bleeds, he still
22:17
screams out curses, and he still causes immense trouble for
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anyone standing nearby. He's dangerous even while dying.
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Exactly. The flesh is a dying beast, and
22:27
dying beats are incredibly dangerous.
22:30
Sin remains in the believer, but it no longer reigns over the
22:33
believer. That brings so much clarity to
22:35
the daily Christian experience. It is a lethal, permanent break,
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but the execution takes the entirety of our earthly lives to
22:43
finalize. The criminal is nailed down, but
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he is loud. Precisely.
22:48
And this biblical reality, secured by that a wrist
22:51
indicative, forces us to reject historical theological errors on
22:55
two major fronts. Let's talk about those errors.
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1st, we must reject the framework of Arminianism.
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In practical terms, Armenianism often treats a believer.
23:03
Standing before God is precarious.
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Like you could lose it at any moment.
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Right. It suggests that you must
23:09
maintain your own crucifixion of the flesh in order to stay
23:11
saved. It places the burden of
23:13
maintaining justification on the believers performance.
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Which would mean you could lose your salvation if you failed to
23:18
fight the flesh adequately on any given Tuesday.
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Yes, and that produces endless anxiety.
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You never have peace. And what's the second error?
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2nd, we must reject the Roman Catholic framework.
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Historically, Roman Catholicism frequently confuses
23:34
justification with sanctification.
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Blurring the lines between the two.
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Exactly. It views the ongoing
23:40
mortification of sin as a cooperative work that gradually
23:44
earns or increases your right standing before God.
23:47
But Paul's grammar dismantles that, yes.
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Paul's use of the aorist indicative have crucified
23:54
shatters both of those errors. It secures the believers
23:57
positional reality as an irreversible, unchangeable gift
24:01
of sovereign grace. It's done.
24:03
You do not fight the flesh to achieve union with Christ.
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You fight the flesh because you already possess union with
24:08
Christ. You fight from a position of
24:10
absolute victory. Which means this completed
24:13
action in the past does not mean Christians just sit back, kick
24:16
up their feet and do nothing today.
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No, not at all. The fact that the war is won
24:20
does not mean we stop fighting the remaining skirmishes.
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That leads us directly into the act of command of verse 25.
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Right the transition from theology to practice.
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Paul writes If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step
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with the Spirit. The sources note a critical
24:34
detail about the word if in this sentence.
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It is a first class conditional clause in the Greek.
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A first class conditional assumes the premise to be true
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for the sake of the argument. So it's not a question of
24:45
whether it's true. No, it is better translated as
24:48
since we live by the Spirit. Since that changes the tone.
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Paul is saying, since it is an objective fact that the Spirit
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has given you new life, let your daily conduct match that
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reality. The indicative of our secure
25:02
position mandates the imperative of our daily practice.
25:05
God's grace does not make us passive, it fuels our active
25:09
obedience. Exactly.
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This is where we must dissect the Greek verb steuschmann,
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which is translated as keep in step.
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Steuschmann, Yes. This is a present active
25:18
subjunctive verb, and it carries very distinct, rigorous military
25:21
connotations. Military, not just a casual.
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Walk. No, it does not mean a casual,
25:26
meandering walk through a garden.
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It means to March in a straight line, to stay in rank, to line
25:32
up behind a leader, and to conform to a strict standard.
25:35
The Holy Spirit gives the life, and now the believer must
25:38
actively order their conduct to align with that life.
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I picture a highly disciplined marching band acting in complete
25:46
unison under the direction of a conductor.
25:48
That's a perfect visual. Every single foot strikes the
25:51
ground at the exact same fraction of a second.
25:54
The brass section, the woodwinds, the percussion,
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they're all following the exact same sheet music.
25:59
No one is improvising a jazz solo.
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You can't have a rogue trombone player.
26:04
Right. Contrast that heavily with an
26:06
aimless wandering stroll, or worse, a chaotic mosh pit at a
26:11
concert where everyone is just slamming into each other,
26:13
following their own blind impulses and raw adrenaline.
26:16
The Christian life is the marching band, not the mosh pit.
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That marching band imagery perfectly captures the essence
26:23
of Stoyish men. You are following the rhythm set
26:25
by the Holy Spirit and the sheet music you are reading is the
26:28
written word of God. So it's heavily structured.
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It is, and this strict discipline standard completely
26:34
refutes the modern evangelical trend of quietism.
26:36
Explain quietism for us. Quietism is that incredibly
26:39
popular. Let go and let God mentality.
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Oh, I've heard that phrase a million times.
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It is the idea that you should just be completely passive in
26:47
your sanctification. Proponents of this view say
26:50
things like stop trying and start trusting, as if making any
26:54
moral effort is somehow a lack of faith.
26:56
They treat sanctification as a purely passive reception.
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Right. But the great Puritan theologian
27:02
John Owen vehemently oppose this passive mindset.
27:06
He understood the thrashing criminal on the cross.
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What did Owen say? Owen famously declared that
27:12
believers must be actively killing sin, or sin will be
27:15
killing them. Wow, actively killing sin.
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Sanctification requires rigorous, intentional blood,
27:21
sweat and tears. Exertion.
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You are commanded to March. The sources also point out that
27:27
this act of marching confronts another major issue in the
27:30
modern church, which is seeker sensitive pragmatism.
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Yes, that's a huge issue today. This is the ministry model that
27:35
sacrifices robust biblical truth in order to achieve rapid
27:39
numerical church growth. It often relies heavily on
27:43
corporate marketing tactics, demographic studies or
27:45
psychological manipulation to fill the seats on a Sunday
27:48
morning. Pragmatism is a severe error
27:52
because it relies entirely on the works of the flesh to
27:54
produce spiritual results, which is a theological impossibility.
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You can't use the broken factory parts to build the apple.
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Exactly. You cannot manufacture the fruit
28:03
of the Spirit using the machinery of the broken factory.
28:07
You cannot March in step with the Holy Spirit while
28:09
simultaneously employing the manipulative, fleshly tactics of
28:13
the secular business world. God won't honor that.
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God will not bless methods that contradict His character.
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Furthermore, there is a substantial eschatological
28:21
dimension to this military March that we cannot ignore.
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Eschatological meaning it relates to the end times and the
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future Kingdom. Yes.
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The Holy Spirit is described elsewhere in Scripture as the
28:34
arhabam, that is a Greek business term meaning the
28:38
earnest money or the down payment of our future
28:40
inheritance. Like a deposit on a house.
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Exactly when a believer displays the fruit of the spirit, when
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they exhibit supernatural patience, gentleness, and
28:48
self-control, they are providing the washing wool with a visible
28:51
testimony of the coming millennial Kingdom.
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That gives so much weight to our daily actions.
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They're showing a flash of the future era where Jesus Christ
28:59
will rule the earth perfectly. Our discipline Marching today is
29:03
a cinematic trailer for the coming Kingdom of Righteousness.
29:07
All this massive theology requires rigorous everyday
29:11
application for you, the listener.
29:13
It cannot just stay in our heads as an abstract academic
29:16
exercise. No, it has to be lived out.
29:18
We have to bring it down to the ground that moves our discussion
29:21
into the practical implications for the local church and how we
29:25
examine our own lives. The source material provides a
29:28
brilliant application model categorized as head, heart and
29:31
hands. It's a very thorough diagnostic.
29:33
The text calls for stringent self examination, it exposes the
29:37
terror of false assurance, and simultaneously it offers massive
29:41
encouragement to struggling believers.
29:43
We have to know how to measure true spiritual health in a local
29:47
congregation accurately. And let me be clear, church
29:51
health is absolutely not assessed by weekend attendance
29:53
numbers. It's not about how full the room
29:55
is. No, it is not assessed by the
29:58
Polish and production value of the youth programs.
30:01
It is not assessed by the visible emotional excitement
30:04
during a loud worship set. So what are the actual metrics?
30:08
True Church health is measured by the abundance of sacrificial
30:11
love, the relentless pursuit of unity and peace, and the
30:15
faithful exercise of patience among the members when they
30:18
disagree. When they actually have to bear
30:19
with one another. Right.
30:21
If a person makes a very loud vocal profession of faith, but
30:25
completely lacks the accompanying fruit of the Spirit
30:27
over a long period of time, they are clinging to a dangerous,
30:31
damning illusion. Look your own local church.
30:33
Are we evaluating our churches by flashy metrics?
30:37
Are we judging success by the size of the freshly paved
30:39
parking lot, the wattage of the lighting rig on the stage, or
30:43
the charisma of the lead pastor? Those are all fleshly metrics.
30:46
Or are we evaluating our churches by the slow, steady,
30:49
organic grows and gentleness, faithfulness and self-control in
30:52
the lives of the actual congregation?
30:54
That is the diagnostic question every single Church must answer
30:58
honestly. But as we issue those warnings,
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we must also offer robust pastoral encouragement to the
31:06
tender conscience believer. We don't want to leave people in
31:09
despair. Right.
31:10
There's someone listening to this right now who feels
31:12
completely crushed. They hear this standard of
31:15
holiness, they look at their own life, and they feel utterly
31:18
overwhelmed by their daily failures.
31:20
They just see the thrashing criminal.
31:22
They feel the criminal thrashing on the cross and they assume
31:24
they must not be saved. But if you are grieving over
31:27
your remaining sin? If you are mourning your lack of
31:29
patience, that very grief is proof that you are no longer at
31:33
peace with the flesh. Because dead men do not fight.
31:36
Exactly. Dead men do not fight.
31:39
The struggle itself is a definitive evidence of the Holy
31:42
Spirit's life within you. The old you wouldn't have cared.
31:44
The old unregenerate nature would never mourn its own
31:47
corruption, it would celebrate it.
31:49
The fact that you hate your sin proves that the Spirit has given
31:52
you new life. That is incredibly comforting.
31:56
Dead men do not fight, and the sources connect this preached
32:00
word to the visible word of the Lord's Supper.
32:03
Which is such a vital grace when?
32:04
Believers gather at the table and take the bread in the cup.
32:07
They are being physically assured that they truly belong
32:10
to Christ Jesus. The sacrament nourishes the
32:13
soul. It is God giving us something
32:15
tangible to strengthen us for the ongoing daily rigors of the
32:19
military March in the Spirit. The Lord's Supper is God kindly
32:23
accommodating our physical weakness.
32:26
He knows we are prone to doubt. We doubt all the time.
32:29
So He gives us something to taste, to chew, and to swallow
32:32
in order to seal the promises of the gospel to our anxious
32:35
hearts. It sustains us for the battle.
32:38
Let's bring this all together. We have covered a massive amount
32:41
of theological ground. Today we discussed the
32:44
definitive crucifixion of the flesh at the exact moment of
32:47
regeneration. The completed action.
32:49
We looked into the singular supernatural fruit produced
32:51
organically by the Holy Spirit, which fulfills the righteous
32:54
demands of the moral law, and we outline the active discipline
32:58
military March required of every single believer.
33:00
The progression of Paul's thought is clear.
33:03
We move from the indicative of who we already are in Christ to
33:08
the imperative of how we must now live.
33:10
The reality fuels the action. Sovereign grace pardons the
33:14
Sinner, but it also unequivocally changes the
33:17
Sinner. Which leaves us with a final
33:19
consideration, thinking back to the anxiety and fragmentation of
33:23
the modern world we discussed at the very start of the show.
33:25
The. Absolute autonomy issue.
33:26
Right. The secular world constantly
33:29
demands instant results and manufacturers hollow, fragile
33:32
virtues, but the Holy Spirit works organically, like a Master
33:37
Gardener. Slowly and surely.
33:38
If the singular fruit of the Spirit is the exact moral
33:41
profile of Jesus Christ Himself, and if the Holy Spirit is slowly
33:45
and organically growing that profile inside you over a
33:48
lifetime of stumbling, failing, and learning, how does seeing
33:52
your own slow stumbling growth completely alter the way you
33:55
view Christ's daily enduring patience with you?
33:58
That is the staggering reality of grace.
34:00
He planted the seed and he never abandons the harvest.
34:03
Thank you for joining us on this deep dive.
34:05
Keep marching.