joyalministries
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith...
Galatians 5:22
Peace comes from a mind stayed on Christ. The
Bible calls it setting our affection on things above (Col. 3:2). Peace is also
listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. The concept of keeping my mind
focused on Christ is relatively easy for me to understand and even accomplish.
I know if I try hard enough I can control what I think about, and I can keep my
mind on Christ. But, how do I get the fruit of the Spirit? What do I do for
that? Where does it come from? Obviously it comes from the Holy Spirit, but
how do I know if I have the Holy Spirit?
This brings us back to a very foundational place.
Salvation. This is why it's so important to allow doctrine to be formed from
the Bible and not from what men (and women) teach. There are many varying
teachings about the Holy Spirit. Some groups believe the Holy Spirit is kind of
a come and go thing. Some days you've got Him, some you don't. Others believe
that being filled with the Spirit is a whole separate occurrence apart from
salvation. They give all these requirements and formulas for supposedly getting
the "anointing." Some believe that having the Spirit is evidenced by
"manifestations" of shaking, uncontrollable laughter, and a whole lot of other
weird behaviours (none of which are seen in the Scriptures). Undoubtedly these
manifestations are the result of a spirit, but I'm pretty sure it's
not the Holy Spirit.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise (Eph
1:13).
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:11, 14-15).
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Cor. 3:16).
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at salvation. It's not a separate event. Jesus talked in John 14 about giving us another Comforter when He ascended back to heaven. That Comforter is the Holy Spirit, and it's He who indwells us at salvation. Salvation is instantaneous when a person repents of his or her sin and puts their faith and trust in Christ. However, sanctification is a process. The Bible talks much about sanctification. In fact, Galatians 5, where the fruits of the Spirit are listed, is all about sanctification. It's about becoming more like Christ. It's about learning to follow Him and live for Him. It's about avoiding error and false teaching. It's the practical, everyday, being a Christian stuff. It would be nice of salvation erased our sin nature, but it doesn't. That's why following Christ is a journey. My position in Him is secure. I can never loose my salvation, and with that assurance comes great peace. But, I'm not perfect. I will sin. Galatians 5:25 says If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we're saved, we do indeed live in the Spirit. He's a part of us. But we need to act like it. Too many Christians are acting like the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with their lives. They are still living in their sin, and thus, they have no peace.
Galatians 5 also tells us that the fruit of the Spirit comes when we crucify the affections and lusts of our flesh. It lists a whole bunch of those affections and lusts. Things like adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, strife, heresies, envy, and drunkenness to name a few. We get the fruit of the Spirit by killing these things in our lives. Killing sin requires us taking action against it. It doesn't just die on it's own of old age. Sin must be stopped... crucified... put to death... killed! Why? Because this chapter also says that the flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another. They cannot co-exist. Christians that try to let the flesh (ie. sin) co-exist in their lives with the Spirit will never enjoy those fruits of the Spirit, one of which is peace. We can't have it both ways.
The peace that's part of the fruit of the Spirit is more than just thinking right. It's acting right too. It's taking action to rid our lives of sin, and to fill our lives with righteousness. It's a wonderful cycle, because when we're thinking right we'll be acting right, and when we're acting right we'll be thinking right. It all goes hand in hand, and the end result is... peace.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:11, 14-15).
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Cor. 3:16).
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at salvation. It's not a separate event. Jesus talked in John 14 about giving us another Comforter when He ascended back to heaven. That Comforter is the Holy Spirit, and it's He who indwells us at salvation. Salvation is instantaneous when a person repents of his or her sin and puts their faith and trust in Christ. However, sanctification is a process. The Bible talks much about sanctification. In fact, Galatians 5, where the fruits of the Spirit are listed, is all about sanctification. It's about becoming more like Christ. It's about learning to follow Him and live for Him. It's about avoiding error and false teaching. It's the practical, everyday, being a Christian stuff. It would be nice of salvation erased our sin nature, but it doesn't. That's why following Christ is a journey. My position in Him is secure. I can never loose my salvation, and with that assurance comes great peace. But, I'm not perfect. I will sin. Galatians 5:25 says If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we're saved, we do indeed live in the Spirit. He's a part of us. But we need to act like it. Too many Christians are acting like the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with their lives. They are still living in their sin, and thus, they have no peace.
Galatians 5 also tells us that the fruit of the Spirit comes when we crucify the affections and lusts of our flesh. It lists a whole bunch of those affections and lusts. Things like adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, strife, heresies, envy, and drunkenness to name a few. We get the fruit of the Spirit by killing these things in our lives. Killing sin requires us taking action against it. It doesn't just die on it's own of old age. Sin must be stopped... crucified... put to death... killed! Why? Because this chapter also says that the flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another. They cannot co-exist. Christians that try to let the flesh (ie. sin) co-exist in their lives with the Spirit will never enjoy those fruits of the Spirit, one of which is peace. We can't have it both ways.
The peace that's part of the fruit of the Spirit is more than just thinking right. It's acting right too. It's taking action to rid our lives of sin, and to fill our lives with righteousness. It's a wonderful cycle, because when we're thinking right we'll be acting right, and when we're acting right we'll be thinking right. It all goes hand in hand, and the end result is... peace.
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