Sep 16
25
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS . . .FAITH
Galatians 5:22
Like all things good and right, faith is not a product of man’s evil
nature, but of the blessed Spirit of God. Faith is wrought in the elect
by the working of His mighty power. This is a vital issue to the truth
of the Gospel. There have only ever been two religions in this world and
these can be distinguished by two words, grace and works. All of the
immense volumes of argument both written and verbal regarding the
ancient contention between Sovereign Grace and Free Will can be summed
up in this one question: Where does faith come from?
If faith is a product of man’s nature and can be exercised at his
discretion, then salvation is of the free will of man. If faith is God’s
gift given freely at His discretion to those whom He has chosen in
eternal discriminating love, then salvation must be attributed to the
sovereign grace of God. What sayeth the scriptures?
1.Faith is initially wrought in the sinner by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God.
2.Faith is sustained and increased by God. Luke 22:32 But I have prayed
for thee, that thy faith fail not. Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto
the Lord, Increase our faith.
3.Faith as a work in us is performed and completed by Christ. Hebrews
12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Any honest reader/hearer of truth must conclude himself to be an
immeasurable debtor to that grace whereby we are made partakers of that
gift whereby we lay hold of God’s unspeakable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chris Cunningham.
FAITH AND WORKS
Any man that has faithfully preached the Gospel of God’s wonderful and
marvelous grace (found only in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ) has
probably been accused of being an antinomian. This term refers to one
that is without law….one that cares not for the “works of salvation”.
I can without reservation say that faithful men of God’s calling DO care
for the works of God’s salvation. The problem in the mind of carnal man:
is that there is a misunderstanding concerning what these works actually
are! The works that are associated with God-given faith are not the
feeble efforts OF MEN trying to earn some sort of right standing before
the Trice Holy God, but are actually GOD’S works which are evidences of
His presence. The works that are connected with true faith are
these…Love, Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Meekness, and
Kindness. All that we have ever done has been mixed with sin, but the
work that God, for Christ’s sake has done (in His people), is a work
that brings honor, glory, and praise to the Son Of Righteousness. It is
the WORK OF GOD, and not the works of men that is associated with true
faith. Marvin Stalnaker.
STAND FAST IN LIBERTY
The greatest preacher and defender of sound doctrine apart from Christ
Himself was most likely the apostle Paul. None could charge him with
compromise, none could call his message unclear, and none could accuse
him of giving anyone a false hope. But as one who earnestly contended
for the faith of God’s elect, he stood firmly in defense of the liberty
of those in Christ and their total deliverance from all bondage. His
admonition to all true believers rings loud and clear today. “Stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1) He knew that all
whom the Son had made free were free indeed, He knew that where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. There had come to the Galatians
those who, though zealous, had by their preaching brought these people
under the spirit of bondage and fear. They no doubt preached Christ and
all the particulars concerning salvation by grace but there was a subtle
spirit of legalism and works woven into their message. It produced in
the hearers a feeling of fear and great heaviness of heart due to the
unbearable yoke that was always being laid upon them. Paul, knowing full
well that false professors and religionists always wrest the scriptures
to their own destruction, was not hindered in encouraging those in
Christ to untangle themselves from this yoke of legalistic bondage and
to rejoice in their liberty in Christ. The message he preached to them
was the same message of God’s grace and full salvation accomplished
solely by the merits and blood of Christ and that was good news. Those
who were trusting in Him went away rejoicing! The gospel is our
“emancipation proclamation” and the joy in our Lord Jesus Christ
strengthens, liberates and lifts us. “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” When
those who truly believe on and confess Christ hear His gospel they
breathe the fresh breath of freedom; but when they hear something else
they feel stifled under the tightness of the yoke. “Ye did run well; who
did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” The truth is that
those in Christ are “Free from the law, O happy condition! Jesus hath
bled, and there is remission.” Stand fast!
Pastor Gary Shepard
Throughout the book of Romans, when Paul refers to those who walk after
the flesh and those who walk after the Spirit he is speaking of
religious folks, not immoral folks.
The commandments of men teach that believers are yet under the law which
was given at Mt. Sinai. Most say that the believer is not under the
ceremonial law but that the believer is to be ruled by the ten
commandments. That is a precept of man. God never divides the law. Those
who are constrained by law mind the flesh. It is impossible to be
constrained by law without having your mind set on the letter of the law
and your own flesh. This passage declares that everything that is done
in religion, when constrained by law, is all “enmity against God.” The
reason is because the carnal mind “is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.”
Here is the good news for those born of the Spirit of God. The believer
does not have to worry about the carnal mind being enmity against God
because “ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the
Spirit of God dwell in you.” And the believer does not have to worry
about subjection to the law because the body of the law is dead to us
because Christ has taken care of our sin, “And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin.” Since Christ has taken care of our sin
when he laid down his life for us, the believer is dead to the law and
the whole body of the law is dead to the believer so that we are married
to Christ and worship him in newness of Spirit, not in the oldness of
the letter. (Rom 7: 4, 6) That is exactly what is declared in this
passage, if Christ be in you, the body of the law is dead, because
Christ has dealt with our sin before the law. And the Spirit of God
dwelling in us shall also do the same for our mortal bodies.
“Therefore brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” If we mind
the law, mind our flesh and try to live constrained by the law, we will
not have our hearts set on Christ alone, and we shall die. But as we
continually hear of the faithfulness of Christ through the preaching of
the gospel, the Spirit sets our affection on Christ above, strengthens
our inner man to rest in Christ and makes us treat our body, and the
body of the law, as God says they really are, dead. (Col 3: 1-4)
So if you are in religion, which are you? Are you constrained by men,
constrained by their precepts, constrained by the law? If so you have
your affection continually set on your flesh rather than on Christ. You
glory in appearance, not in heart. (2 Cor 5: 12) It is to have a carnal
mind. All such religion is enmity against God. You are not, and cannot
be, subject to the law given at Mt. Sinai nor subject to the gospel by
which God commands us to cease from our works and believe on Christ. (Jn
6: 28-29) God says that those who have not the Spirit of Christ are none
of us. All who worship this way are worshipping by works.
If you are constrained by the love of Christ for you, then you live unto
Christ rather than unto yourself. You have been given the Spirit, not of
bondage, but of adoption. You have discernment to judge that when Christ
died, right then, all things that needed to die, died before God: your
old man of sin died, you died to the law and the law died to you. (2 Cor
5: 14-15; Rom 6: 6-7; 7: 4, 6) You worship and live unto Christ in
newness of spirit because you are a new creation, old things are passed
away. All things are become new. The Spirit has revealed in you that you
are now a son of God. So now, you glory only in God and his Son, who has
worked this great work for us by his Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Cor
5: 17, 18) This is the true religion, the religion of grace.
Clay Curtis.
What a demonstration of contrast between the way of the wicked flesh and
the way of sovereign grace when God’s servant, Stephen was being stoned
to death for the gospel’s sake. The enemies of the gospel were filled
with rage; Stephen was filled with joy in the Lord (Acts 7: 56; Phil.
3:3). They were occupied with hatred; Stephen was bursting with the love
of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). They were
packed with fear; Stephen was occupied with faith (Heb. 12:2). They were
chock-full of persecution; Stephen was jam-packed with prayer (Acts 7:60).
Oh, what a difference the sovereign grace of God makes in the believer
(Rom. 9:15-16; 1 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim. 1:9). Oh, how dreadfully wicked is the
way of the sinful flesh (Rom. 3:9-18). Tom Harding
ALL CHRIST OR NO CHRIST AT ALL!
Do you think that you are to get onto the scale, with your beautiful
righteousness, and that you are to be accounted somebody of great
importance, and that Christ is to do the little that you cannot do; that
it is to be “Christ and company,” or rather, “Self and Company,” and
that you are to be the head of the firm, and Christ to be a kind of
sleeping partner? He will not do it; it would be a disgrace to Christ to
yoke you with Him in such a fashion. You might as soon yoke a gnat with
an archangel as think of your going in to help Christ to save you. To
join a filthy rag from off a dunghill with the golden garments of the
King cannot be permitted. Christ will be everything, or else He will be
nothing; you must be saved wholly by mercy, or else not at all. There
must not be even a trace of the fingers of self-righteousness upon the
acts and documents of divine grace. It must be all of grace; “And if by
grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no
more work” (Romans 11:6). There can be no more mingling of the two
together as the ground of hope than oil will mix with water, or fire
will burn beneath the sea. You cannot be saved by your own merits.
C. H. Spurgeon
The Scripture distinctly teaches us that we are not justified by the law
nor is the law a rule of life. That which can only curse can never
justify and that which can only kill can never be a rule of life (Romans
3:20). Both the Jews who had received the law and the Gentiles who had
never had the law were now to be saved through grace (Acts 15:11). Not
only were they to be saved by grace, but also they were to “stand in
grace” (Romans 5:2) and to grow in grace” (II Peter 3:18). All who seek
to put believers under the law are tearing down the very foundations of
the Christian faith. Listen to the strong words which came from the Holy
Spirit in Galatians 5:12; “I would they were even cut off which trouble
you.”
—Pastor Scott Richardson