Living in the Grace of God: A New Life of Fruit and Grace

April 12, 2015

Living in the Grace of God

A New Life of Fruit and Grace

Galatians 5:16-26

(Advance Slide #1)

Introduction

Once a man prayed this prayer:

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"So far today Lord, I've done alright. I haven't gossipped. I haven't lost my temper. I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that!"

"But in a moment Lord, I'm going to get out of bed and from that moment on I'm going to need your help!"

This is us right?

Generally speaking before we get out of bed we are doing pretty good.

• However, what happens when we get out of bed?
• Our lives can be disastrous!
• Sure some days we are considerate to other, loving, serving, helpful, kind and patient.
• Then there are other days.

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This is not how life is suppose to be.

• In Christ...because of His grace...we can have a new life filled with fruit and grace!

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Text

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26

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These 'fruits' do not appear in a particular order although some have proposed it.

• One scholar suggested that in these nine 'fruits' that there are three groups:

1. Attributes to God
2. Attributes to others
3. Attributes to self

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Paul describes the 'flesh' in terms of 'works', while he sees the Spirit's work as 'fruits.'

• With this change in terms we move from human responsibility to our divine guidance.
• It's interesting that Paul shoulders the responsibility of the Spirit’s fruit onto the Christian:
• “have crucified their flesh” (v. 24)
• “let us keep in step” (v. 25)
• “let us not become conceited” (v. 26)—not to mention verses 13, 16, and 18.

(Advance Slide #7)

While “love” is not the only “fruit” of the Spirit, it is the most important to Paul.

• It summarizes the demand of God’s law (Gal. 5:14).
• It endures forever (1 Cor 13:13).
• It unites all the virtues of life (Col. 3:14).

As we look over this list, we observe the reverse of the list of the works of the flesh.

• The flesh destroys fellowship; here the Spirit creates fellowship, unity, and holiness.

In an effort to summarizing his whole point, Paul says that:

1. Those who have surrendered themselves to Jesus Christ “have crucified the flesh” and so should not be involved in the works of the flesh.
2. Those who have been given God’s life by the Spirit and Christ (cf. 2:20; Rom 8:9–11) should march according to the Spirit’s orders (Gal 5:25).
3. Those who live in the freedom of the Spirit should not be conceited and so fight with one another (v. 26)

Lesson

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How do we live this new life of grace?

• Paul describes it involving a conflict, a crucifixion, and conformity.

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The Conflict - vs. 16-23

What is the 'conflict' we have?

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• The truth of the matter is that there is a WAR inside each of us.
• It is a daily battle that we all fight...Paul did too!

"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Romans 7:15

• We have a darkside don't we?

In vss. 19-21 Paul describes the dark side, the conflict...our 'sinful nature.'

• Just take a look at that list of sin.
• The warning in the end is that those who do "such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Paul then contrasts this 'life of sin' with a new life with the fruits of the Spirit.

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• Which of these lives will win?
• Which of these lives will we choose to feed?

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A Crucifixion - vs. 24

For this new life to happen there must be a crucifixion.

• The sinful nature of man must be put to death.

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Do you realize that at every baptism that we witness we are also witnessing a death.

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"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4

• Your 'buried' with Christ
• Your own wills and desires are buried too.

Before your buried what needs to take place?

1. BELIEVE - in Jesus; as the Son of God; His death for our sins.
2. REPENT - turn away from your old life; putting to death your wills and desire!

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Our Conformity - vs. 25-26

After our death there is a conformity of His ways in our life!

• The world wants us to conform, doesn't it?

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"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." Romans 12:2

EX.

I read of a road that had a bump going across it.

• Instead of fixing the bumps the roads dept. just decided to put up signs.
• Signs would fade and newer signs replaced the old ones.
• Why not just fix the bump?

We proudly show off the 'bumps' in our lives don't we.

• We don't want to rid ourselves of them...instead we make excuses for them.
• We fight with all that is within us to not conform to His will.

Do you know the difference between paint and stain?

• Paint covers while stain goes deeper!

Conclusion

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There was a young painter who became extremely unhappy with his painting.

• Somehow he talked a famous painter to let him borrow one of his brushes.
• But the brush of the famous painter didn't make a difference!
• A friend suggested to him, "Its not the Master's brush you need...it's the Master's Spirit!"

How true is that?

A brush would be nice to cover things up.

(Advance Slide #18)

• But the 'blessings' of His Spirit's fruit are far greater!
• "Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control"