By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

Gal 6: 15 “It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God”

 In the previous post, we defined the fruit of the spirit as the manifestation of the new nature we received when we accepted Christ as our Lord and savior. The fruit of the spirit can also be explained as the evidence of the power of Christ in us. We also highlighted that the most important concept regarding the fruit of the spirit is that it is the SPIRIT’S fruit. We are often encouraged to be more loving, peaceful, patient, joyous, etc. But we genuinely cannot do any of it without the Holy Spirit. We simply cannot behave our way into possessing and exhibiting the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit has nothing to do with our own human effort. It is solely the tangible evidence of the Holy Spirit in us.

It was always God’s desire for us to be like Him. In the beginning, God said “let us make man in our own image and likeness” (Gen 1:26). But then man sinned and as a result acquired the sinful nature. Humanity became sinful, not just in theory or practice but by nature. The sinful nature is a natural inclination to sin. The Bible says in Romans 3: 23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

God then chose Abraham and his descendants (Israelites) to be His people through whom He would reveal Himself. God gave His people laws to guide their lives. God showed them ways to atone for their sins by making various sacrifices so they could enjoy limited righteousness with Him-limited access to Him. They did not have complete acceptance because they could not come into the presence of God. Only the High priest could do that once a year with the blood of animals.

Even with this makeshift process to access and worship God, the Israelites still failed woefully. Remember that they were still sinful by nature. So, the law could not restore them back to the glory of God. Neither could the law achieve God’s original intent for creating mankind which was to make man in His image, with His glory, character, and authority to reign on earth on His behalf.

Romans 8: 3-4 “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”

God then intervened yet again by giving us something greater than the law, someone that has the real image and character of God; love. He sent us someone powerful enough to put an end to our sinful nature. God sent us His son Jesus. The above Scripture captures it well. What the law could not do because of our sinful nature God did by sending His son to earth to restore us to peace with God by being a sacrifice for our sins and by mediating forgiveness for all who accept what He has done by faith.

Col 1:20-21 “and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.”

 By Christ’s death, He destroyed our sinful nature and gave us a new nature. Christ gave us His own life. We now have the life of God in true holiness and righteousness. We are now restored to the glory of God and to His image just as God intended it to be in the beginning.

1 John 5:11-12 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

 Eph 4:24.”Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”

SO HOW DO WE NOW LIVE OUT THIS LIFE AND MAKE IT OUR REALITY?

Let us review how Paul did it. First of all, Paul believed in and acknowledged his new life. He acknowledged the work that Christ died to accomplish in him. Paul didn’t take credit for this work; he credited it all to Christ. We can see his testimony of this in the verse below.

Romans  6: 6-11 “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.”

 After Paul acknowledged the work Christ did, he then appropriated them for himself. He branded his name on it. Paul knew and acknowledged that his old nature has been crucified and that he has a new life. If we deny and neglect the work of Christ, it will not work for us. Note that Paul not only believed, but he also confessed them.

 2 Cor 5:14-18 “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”

Secondly, we live out our new life by allowing Christ to abide in us. John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

We had discussed in the previous post (Doctrine of the Holy Spirit Pt. 1) that the way to abide in Him is to be grated into Christ by faith when we accepted Him. So how then does Christ abide in us? Christ abides in us by His word. He is the word of God.

1 John 1:1 “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.”

 So, if the word of God abides in us, meaning if the word is alive in us, then it will bear fruit. It will produce after its kind. But if the word is not in us, there is nothing there that will bear the fruit of the word.

Mark 4:26 “Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. 28 The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. 29 And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

 Jesus used the above parable to accurately describe how the word of God in us bears good fruit. The word is a seed. It is alive, it contains life. If we want this seed to produce, it must be planted in our hearts by speaking and meditating on the word. Once it is planted, it will grow. Will it take some time? Sure, it will! Many nights and days may go by without any visible change but the seed (word of God) is working on the soil. Contained in the seed, is an innate power. Once planted the seed begins to work in the ground(heart). Verse 28 says the “crop produces its own” meaning the seed has built in power that comes from God. Once the word of God is planted it does not need your help to do what it is supposed to do.

Another important point is that growth happens gradually and in stages. “First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.” Don’t expect to see all the manifestations of growth immediately. The seed will produce results in stages so don’t be discouraged.

The scriptures also explained this is in 1 Peter 2:2-3 “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,  3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

While this seed is working to produce, the flesh might challenge your faith and try to dominate you. Fight back with your faith and declare who you are. Declare that you are a new man with the righteous and holy nature of Christ empowered by His strength to say no to the flesh. Consider yourself this way:

Romans 6:11-13“So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” NLT

Let us now examine ourselves. What word is alive in you? What word do you acknowledge? Just like Paul did, do you acknowledge that you are a new creature? Remember the word you believe is what you experience. Remember God’s word is always ready and waiting to be planted in your heart. Then, by the Spirit, His word will germinate, take root, and grow, bringing life to all dead areas of your life. When we genuinely encounter the word, our lives can’t help but be changed by its transformational power. So be encouraged and start planting the word.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of  Fountain of  The Living Word Church, New Jersey.