Feb 23
19
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 11:1-5; 27:6; 32:14-17; 44:2-4
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” (Isaiah 11:1–5, ESV)
“In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.” (Isaiah 27:6, ESV)
“For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” (Isaiah 32:14–17, ESV)
“Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.” (Isaiah 44:2–4, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Galatians 5:16-26
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16–26, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
The sermon today is about the Holy Spirit’s work in building God’s temple-church. If I were to come to you later and ask you the question, what was the sermon about? (and our young people know that that question will most likely be asked of them by someone, either their parents or one of their pastors ), the right answer would go something like this: the sermon was about the Holy Spirit’s work in building God’s temple-church and in making it fruitful. And if I were to ask you, what the main points of the sermon were, you should say, One, God the Father creates his temple-church, through the Word, and by the Spirit. Two, it is the Spirit who indwells or fills God’s temple-church. And three, it is the Spirit who makes God’s temple-church fruitful.
I’ve presented these points to you here in the introduction of the sermon for the sake of clarity. We will soon return to them. But before we do I would like to connect a few biblical dots. Or perhaps another way to say this is, I would like to trace out a very important biblical theme. Recognizing this biblical theme and tracing its development from Genesis to Revelation will help us to better appreciate the role that the Holy Spirit plays in building God’s temple-church. Recognizing this theme will also help us to better understand Paul famous “fruit of the Spirit passage” which we have just read. The theme is this: God the Father works through the Son (or Word) and by the Spirit to produce life in us that is abundant and fruitful.
As you know, there is only one true God, and God is one. This truth is summed up in the famous words of Moses found in Deuteronomy 6:4 , “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one”. There is only one true God, and he is one. He is simple. He is not made up of parts like we are. All that is in God is God. And yet the scriptures also reveal that the one true God is triune. In this divine and infinite Being, there are three subsistences, or persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are “of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him” (Second London Confession, 2.3).
That is a mouth full (and an earful), I know. If you were present in the Sunday School class that we offered on the Trinity not long ago, these words and concepts will sound familiar to you. If not, they might sound perplexing. The simple point is this: God is one, and God is triune. There is one divine nature (not many), and within the one God there are three persons or subsistences, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father eternally begets the Son (or Word) (filiation), and the Father and the Son eternally breathe forth the Spirit (spiration). And yet all three persons (or subsistences) are fully God.
Now, with the doctrine of the trinity having been very rapidly stated, here is what I would like you to see. These eternal relations between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit which I have just mentioned, are displayed or revealed to us in time in God’s works of creation and redemption. Here is what I mean: God the Father created all things through the Word and by the Spirit. God the Father sustains and upholds his creation through the Word and by the Spirit. And God the Father has accomplished our redemption and applies it to his elect through the Word (the Son) and by the Spirit. So then, the works that God has done in creation and redemption correspond to or match what God is in eternity. The Father begets the Son, and the Father and the Son breath forth the Spirit.
Do you remember what the very first verses of the Bible reveal to us? “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1–3, ESV). The rest of the Bible confirms and clarifies that it was the triune God who created the heavens and earth. The Father created the world through the Word (or Son) and by the Spirit. It was the triune God who created the heavens and earth in the beginning. And it was the triune God who made the earth into a fruitful place suitable for human habitation. God the Father created all things through the Word (or Son) and by the Spirit. And he caused the earth to be fruitful. He planted a garden and filled it with fruit trees of every kind. The garden was a place for Adam and Eve to dwell in his presence. The garden was a temple. And there the man and woman were commanded to be fruitful themselves. They were to be fruitful physically – they were to tend to and keep the garden and expand its borders; they were to bear children and fill the earth. And they were to be fruitful spiritually speaking too – they were to bear the fruit of righteousness obedience unto the Lord and reverential worship. Can you see it? The triune God is life. And the triune God is the fountain of all life. In the beginning the Father created all things seen and unseen through the Son (or word) and by the Spirit. And life was good, very good, fruitful, and blessed.
Now, we know that paradise was lost by man’s fall into sin. When man fell from his upright state, the blessed fruitfulness of God’s original creation was lost.
Considered from a physical perspective, the ground no longer produced fruit with vitality. It produced thorns and thistles. Man’s work became toilsome. Childbirth became difficult. And physical death entered as the destiny of every man. When Adam sinned, the world that was brought into existence by the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit passed from a state marked by abundant life and blessedness into a cursed state of sin and death.
And considered from a spiritual perspective, man no longer produced the fruit of heartfelt obedience and reverential worship unto God. No, apart from the saving grace of God, man, in his fallen and sinful condition, produces the fruit of unrighteousness, sin, and rebellion. What does the life of man produce now that he is fallen? Paul tells us in the Galatians 5 passage we read earlier, saying, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” These are the kinds of sinful things that fallen men and women do. It is what our “flesh”, that is to say, our fallen and sinful flesh, produces.
Think of the narrative of Genesis chapters 3 through 11 and all of the wickedness, division, violence, and corruption that is described there. Think of the whole course of human history. It is marked by idolatry, sin, and rebellion against God, and division, violence, oppression, and perversion among mankind. Look around you even now and consider the fruit produced by those living according to the flesh.
Brothers and sisters, when Adam sinned, it was not simply an individual who sinned. Adam was the representative of humanity. When Adam sinned, humanity sinned in him. Humanity was plunged into an estate of sin. Now, what does our flesh, this is to say, our fallen and unregenerated flesh, produce? Not righteous fruit, but unrighteous. Not obedience unto God, but rebellion. Not life, but death.
The good news is that God our Creator is now also God our Redeemer. Shortly after man’s fall into sin, the LORD promised to provide salvation through the offspring of the woman. With the passing of time, it became clear, through subsequent revelation, that this offspring of Eve would be Emmanuel, “God with Us”. The Messiah, or Christ, would be the God-man. He would be the eternal Son, or Word of God, come in the flesh. And in his humanity, he would be anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure so as to produce the fruit of righteousness. In other words, God the Father would accomplish our salvation through the eternal Son, and by the eternal Spirit. Just as the original creation was an act of the triune God, so too the accomplishment of our salvation was an act of triune God.
In fact, when the Son accomplished our salvation in obedience to the Father and by the working of the Spirit, he did not only earn salvation for individuals like you and me – he also ushered a new creation. The first creation has been ruined by sin. Through Jesus Christ, the triune God will establish a new creation. If you wish to have a glimpse at what that new creation will be like you may go to Revelation 21 and 22 to see it symbolized there. It is portrayed as a consummated garden of Eden. In Revelation 22:1-5 John says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:1–5, ESV).
So then, the new creation will be fruitful. The creation itself will produce abundant fruit, and all who are there will produce the fruit of righteousness to the glory of God. “No longer will there be anything accursed”, the text says. Only the servants of God will be there, and they will worship him. Don’t you long for this day? Don’t you eagerly wait for it?
But just a moment ago I said when the Son accomplished our salvation… he did not only earn salvation for individuals like you and me – he also ushered a new creation. And here is what I mean. Though the new creation that is described to us in Revelation 21 and 22 is clearly not yet here in its fullness, it is already here in part. To use terms that you have heard many times before, the new creation has been inaugurated. We await its consummation.
This can be demonstrated from the scriptures in many ways. We could demonstrate the presence of the new creation using the theme of “kingdom”. God’s new creation kingdom is here now, but it is not yet here in its fullness. We could also use the theme of temple. God‘s new creation temple is here now, but not yet in its fullness. We could also speak in terms of regeneration, as Paul does in 2 Corinthians 5:17, saying, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). You see, the new creation is here now. And where is it found? It is found in Christ’s church, which is the inauguration of God’s eternal kingdom, and the inauguration of God’s eternal temple. The church is the inauguration (or beginning) of God’s new creation because the Father and Son have poured out the Spirit on the church. The Spirit convicts and calls sinners to repentance and faith in Christ. The Spirit regenerates sinners to make them willing and able to believe. And the Spirit fills and empowers believers to sanctify them and to produce in them the fruit of righteousness.
God the Father accomplished our salvation through Christ, the Son, who was anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure (in his humanity). And Christ the Son, having finished the work the Father gave him to do – having lived a righteous life, having suffered and died in the place of sinners, and having been raised in victory – ascended to the Father’s right hand and sent forth the Spirit to apply the salvation he had earned to the elect.
Think of the events of the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2. Think of the signs that were displayed in the early church in connection with the ministry of the apostles – signs such as the ability to speak in tongues (that is, in other known languages), the ability to heal, and to prophesy. These were signs (or proofs) that the Spirit of God had been poured out by Christ from on high, not upon the Jews only, but upon people from every tongue, tribe, and nation.
Jesus said that he would do this. In John 16:7-11 we find the words of Christ: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:7–11, ESV). The Helper is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the triune God. Just as the Father and Son have breathed forth the Spirit for all eternity, so too the Father and the Son send forth the Spirit in the accomplishment of our redemption.
And this was prophesied long before Jesus was ever born. At the beginning of this sermon, I read a series of passages from Isaiah. Taken together, the prophet spoke of the coming Messiah as “a shoot from the stump of Jesse… a branch from his roots” who would “bear fruit”. The Messiah would be anointed with the Holy Spirit, and the Messiah would pour out the Holy Spirit upon his new covenant people to make them fruitful. And this he has done. The Spirit was poured out upon the Apostles of Christ on the day of Pentecost. Tongues of fire rested upon them (as a visible sign), and the Apostles spoke in tongues – not in some angelic and unknown langue, but in the tongues of the people of the earth who had gathered in Jerusalem to worship. As the gospel went forth, and as Jews and Gentiles believed, the gift of tongues was given also to some of them to show that the New Covenant era – the era of which the prophets spoke – was here.
I should also cite Joel 2. In verse 28 the Lord speaks through the prophet Joel, saying, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit” (Joel 2:28–29, ESV). Ezekiel 36 should also be mentioned. The Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel concerning the coming New Covenant, saying, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:25–27, ESV).
If you wish to see that these prophesies were fulfilled (at least in part) at Christ’s first coming and on the day of Pentecost, then simply read Peter’s speech which he delivered on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. In that sermon, Peter cites or alludes to the passages we have just read from Isaiah, Joel, and Ezekiel.
The point is this: After Christ accomplished our salvation, he ascended to the Father’s right hand, and he sent forth the Spirit. This pouring out of the Spirit of God upon the New Covenant people of God marked the beginning of the New Covenant and the beginning of the new creation. All of this was promised long beforehand through the prophets. And it was prefigured in the Exodus event. After God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage by his Word, he sent the Spirit. The Spirit led Israel in the wilderness in the glory cloud. And the Spirit filled the tabernacle once it was constructed according to God’s Word. When Christ sent forth the Spirit from on high it was in fulfillment of these promises, prophesies, and types. And please hear me. Not only was the Spirit sent to convict the world concerning sin, to renew his people and to cleanse them from their sins, but to also make them fruitful. The Spirit produces life, brothers and sisters. The Spirit produces abundant life! This he did at creation. And these he does in redemption too. It is the Spirit who gives life to God’s elect, and it is the Spirit who produces fruit in them and through them.
I hope you can see why I wanted to trace this biblical theme before talking about the Spirit’s work in building God’s temple-church and in producing fruit within God’s people. Recognizing this theme and its development from Genesis through Revelation will help us to understand and more fully appreciate what the writers of the New Testament Scriptures mean when they say things like this: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16, ESV). And, “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4, ESV). And, “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ‘Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:44–48, ESV). And, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, ESV). And, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:22–26, ESV).
All of these references to the outpouring, indwelling, and fruitfulness of the Holy in the lives of the New Covenant people of God must be interpreted in the light of the totality of the Scriptures, Genesis through Revelation, and in the light of the progress of the history of redemption. When the Messiah came and accomplished our redemption he ushered in the new creation by sending forth the Holy Spirit. Just as the original creation was brought into existence by the Father, through the Son and Spirit, so it is with the New Creation. The new creation is the work of the triune God. The Father sent the Son to accomplish our salvation. The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to apply it to the elect of God and to make the fruitful.
Let us turn now to the three points of the sermon. And as we consider these three points we will also consider the Galatians 5 passage and the fruit of the Spirit that are mentioned there. It won’t take long. These three points are intended to bring some clarity and sharpness to the things that have already been said.
God The Father Creates His Temple-Church Through The Word And By The Spirit
First, I want you to see that it is God the Father who creates or builds his temple-church, and this he does through the Word and by the Spirit.
Who are the stones of God’s eternal temple? They are those who believe in Christ, who is the Word of God incarnate. And we know that those who believe in Christ believe because God has chosen them. They are called elect. They are said to have been predestined. They are those written in the Lambs Book of Life before the foundation of the world. And how to they come to believe in Christ? Through the preaching of the word of God, and by the working of the Holy Spirit. As the gospel is preached, at just the right time, the Spirit works upon the elect of God to make them willing and able to believe. The Spirit convicts the elect concerning their sin, he calls them inwardly, and he regenerates them to make them willing and able to believe. We call this effectual calling. Our catechism is right to say that “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.”
And so I say, it is God the Father who creates or builds his temple-church, and this he does through the Word and by the Spirit.
It Is The Spirit Who Indwells Or Fills God’s Temple-Church
Two, it is the Spirit who indwells or fills God’s temple-church. This may be considered in two ways: individually and corporately.
Individually, all who are drawn to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel and by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit are filled with the Spirit. This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. He speaks to the individual believer when he says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ESV). All who believe in Christ receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Or to use the language of Jesus, all who believe in Christ to the salvation of their souls receive the promised Helper.
Yes, in the days of the Apostles, this gift of the Spirit was sometimes marked by having the ability to speak in tongues, that is to say, to speak in a known language that was not known to the speaker previously. The gift of tongues, like the gift of healing, functioned as a sign that the New Covenant and the New Creation of which the prophets spoke had arrived. The Messiah had come. He had finished his work. And he had poured out the Spirit on all flesh, that is to say, not on the Jews only, but on all who believed from every tongue, tribe, and nation. These miraculous gifts that we hear about in Acts and 1 Corinthians were signs that the age of the Spirit (of which the prophets spoke) had arrived.
Moses, performed miracles, remember? Do not forget the ten plagues by which the Israelites were redeemed. And do not forget the miraculous things experienced by the people of God as they journeyed into the wilderness. Moses was a miracle worker. He struck the rock and water gushed forth. God provided manna from heaven for Isarel through him. The bitter waters of Mara were made sweet, etc. These were signs that God was with Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant. Miraculous signs were not the norm under the Old Covenant, but the exception. They were concentrated to the time of the beginning or inauguration of the Old Covenant. And so it is with the New Covenant. Christ performed miracles. So did his Apostles. And there were miraculous things happening in the days of the Apostles. As the gospel began to spread to all nations, Jews and Gentiles would speak in tongues as a sign that they received the promised Holy Spirit. The fact that they spoke in tongues – that is, the tongues of other nationalities – corresponds to the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant, was for all nations.
Brothers and sisters, it is not only those who spoke in tongues in the days of the early church who received the Spirit. Instead, some spoke in tongues as a sign that the Holy Spirit had been poured out by the Messiah just as Isaiah, Joel, and Ezekiel said would happen. The gift of tongues was given to some as a sign that the New Covenant, the new creation, and the age of the Spirit had arrived. Just as Joshua, and many others who led Israel after the days of Moses, did not have the ability to work miracles in the way that Moses did when the Old Covenant was being founded, neither do those who live under the New Covenant after the age of the Apostles have the ability to heal, to prophesy, nor to speak in tongue. These were signs that marked the dawning of a new age – the age of the Spirit of which the prophets of old spoke has arrived.
The point that I want you to see is this: All who are made alive by the Spirit and drawn to faith in Christ are also Spirit-filled. Their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, for they have been bought with a price.
This truth that the Spirit indwells or fills God’s temple-church may also be considered in a corporate way. You, brothers and sisters, are individually Spirit-filled stones in God’s temple. And we together are the Spirit-filled temple of God. Just as the glory of God filled the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle, and later temple, after they were constructed, so too the Spirit fills the temple-church. When the church assembles in Jesus’ name, the Spirit is with us to bless us through the means of grace in worship. Clearly, Paul speaks in this corporate sense in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, saying, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, ESV)
This truth that the Spirit indwells all of God’s elect, that is to say, all whom he draws to faith in Christ, should make us realize that in Christ we do not only have our sins forgiven – no we are also sanctified and empowered to live a godly life in the service of our Lord.
It Is The Spirit Who Makes God’s Temple-Church Fruitful.
And the third and final point of the sermon is this: it is the Spirit who makes God’s temple-church fruitful.
In the Galatians 5 passage that was read earlier, Paul contrasts the fruit of the Spirit with the works of the sinful flesh. What does our sinful and fallen flesh produce? What is the manner of life or characteristics that emerge from our fallen and sinful nature? Well, things like these: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy…” These are the things that characterize the lives of those who are unbelieving, unregenerated, and in their sins. In contrast, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control.”
Notice a few things about the fruit of the Spirit:
One, they are called fruit. In other words, these are the qualities or characteristics that a person produces.
Two, they are the fruit of the Spirit. This means that these are the qualities or characteristics that the Spirit will produce in those he has regenerated and indwells. Stated differently, these qualities are not presented as law. The text does not command Christians to strive to love, to be joyful, to be at peace and a peacemaker, to have patience, to be kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. No doubt, we ought to pursue these qualities. And other passages of scripture do command us to pursue these qualities. But here, Paul refers to these qualities as fruit. In other words, if these qualities are to be ours in an authentic and consistent way, then they are qualities that the Spirit must produce within us. These qualities – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – can be faked. And indeed, many do pretend to have them. But if these qualities are to be ours really, truly, and sincerely from the heart, then they must be produced by the Spirit through his work of regeneration and sanctification. The Spirit must give us new life. The Spirit must renew our minds. The Spirit must move us and help us to live not according to our old way of life, but according to our new life in Christ Jesus.
Three, the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned is love. Indeed, if we have true love in our hearts for God, and true love in our hearts for our fellow man, then the other fruit will follow – joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Four, though it is true that these are the fruit that the Spirit must produce in us, this does not mean that we are to sit idly by. If we wish to see these fruit produced in us, then we must sink our roots down deep into Christ. We must abide in him. We must partake of the means of grace that God has provided for us. These means of grace are like streams of water to the soul. They are these: the word of God read and preached, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. If we wish to see these fruit of the Spirit produced in us, then we must send our roots out to drink of these streams of God’s grace that he has made available for us. And you will notice that these ordinary means of grace are not primarily private, but corporate. When Paul says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”, and “ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” He is commanding that we live a life of dependence on the Holy Spirit and that we draw strength from him privately, yes, and especially as we partake of the means of grace that he has provided for his church.
Five, though it is true that these fruit of the Spirit are qualities that the Spirit must produce in us, this does not do away with the need for self-control, or discipline. In fact, self-control is the last of the fruit of the Spirit mentioned. Isn’t that interesting? To have self-control is to have complete control over your desires and actions. In our sinful and unregenerate state, we are slaves to our sinful desires. In our sinful and unregenerate state, we produce what Paul calls the “works of the flesh” because our desires are evil. But through regeneration and sanctification, “the Spirit [enables us] more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness” (Baptist Catechism, 38). This teaching concerning the fruit of the Spirit does not do away with the need to exercise self-control. No, by the working of the Spirit in us, and through our dependence on him, we are set free and empowered to live a life of self-control to the glory of God our Savior.
