The Holy Spirit – how does it fit in this year to what we’ve learned already?
The Holy Spirit is prominent in both the Old and New Testaments, involved in creation (Genesis 1:2); anointing & equipping for service (Exodus 35:30-36); empowering leaders (Judges 6:34); inspiring prophets (2 Peter 1:21); and of course, raising Jesus from the dead.
In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit’s role expands significantly; He is promised by Jesus as a Helper and Comforter who will teach and remind believers of all things (John 14:26), convict the world concerning sin and righteousness (John 16:8), and guide the faithful into all truth (John 16:13).
Read
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23
If I was brave enough, I might have sung this to you on Sunday to help you remember the fruit (good luck getting this out of your head, you’re welcome):
Note: it’s fruit, not fruits, we can’t just have one without the others… These are all just different facets of the same thing, the Spirit at work in our lives.
Why isn’t it then, that when we become a Christian, Jesus fills us with His Spirit and we are transformed? Wouldn’t that be so great? Why doesn’t God just zap us and take all our ugly character flaws away? Why is character change so difficult? Why does it sometimes feel like 2 steps forward and 1 step back?
Side note: It always strikes me when reading the gospels that even the disciples, when they walked side by side with Jesus, He didn’t take away all their character flaws overnight. Why is that? Surely just being in his presence would make all my ugliness fall away?
Anyway, back to Galatians… why did Paul pick the image of fruit?
Have any of you ever done any gardening? Maybe you’ve grown some vegetables or fruit? How did this go? What did you have to look out for? You have to learn how to spot viruses/pests (don’t mention thrips to me), deal with predators, and get rid of weeds. You don’t just plant the seeds, leave them, and come back after a few months and find loads of lovely fruit and veg.
Say I learn how to do all of that, and I tend to those needs, who or what has actually grown the fruit and veg?
It’s not me, right? For the fruit and veg to grow, external factors are at play: that big ball of light in the sky (photosynthesis), weather, etc., things I have 0 control over.
I do have control over certain factors of how much the fruit and veg will grow, I can impact it, but I can’t control everything. That’s like us. We can work with or against the Spirit in our lives.
When I gave my life to Jesus (or perhaps afterward depending on your understanding of when we receive the Spirit), I became awake to the Spirit. He now lives in me. I have been marked with a seal (Ephesians 1:13), immersed in the Spirit. We appear to have control though on how much we walk by the Spirit in us. We’ve all seen this at work, both in our own lives and in others we know and love over the years who seem to ‘fall away’, ‘slip’, ’back slide’, ‘insert another Christian jargon word here’.
Ask Yourself
What kind of life am I going to live now I have the same Spirit in me that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11)?
Your flesh and the Spirit are going to be in conflict (Romans 7:15-20). We have choices to make. Are we going to orientate ourselves toward that life-giving sun (God) like the plants, and become the gardener of our lives to facilitate growth, or are we going to passively exist and let the weeds choke us and the pests and predators steal our fruit?
Reflect
How do I garden my life? What am I being transformed for?
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16
To garden my life, I need to walk by the Spirit somehow? What does it mean to walk by the Spirit?
We’ve discussed this throughout this year already with what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. God hasn’t abandoned us without guidance on how to do this. Spiritual disciplines for instance are one way for us to garden our lives.
It means not walking by the flesh anymore…
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. – Galatians 5:24-25
We have the Holy Spirit in us. That’s the truth. We need to keep in step with the Spirit. It’s not passive.
Why are we being transformed?
The reason we are to be transformed is to grow in love. I am convinced of this from reading scripture and this is something we’ve spoken a lot on this year. By the love we show one another will be how we are known to the world (John 13:35). God is love (1 John 4:7-21).
What does it mean to grow in love?
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.- 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
Meditate On
Replace the word ‘love’ in verses 4-7 (second paragraph), or where love becomes ‘it’, with your name.
To Sum Up
How did you get on? If you’re like me, you probably felt like a bit of a fraud replacing your name there. I can’t even confidently say the first statement: Emma is patient. Emma is not patient. Maybe if you add in the word ‘sometimes’? So, I’ve got a long way to go on this journey with Jesus. It’s a good job he knows me and loves me anyway, I can’t earn his love by becoming more patient. This is about my freedom and ability to love others well. The truth is I’m not being loving when I’m being impatient.
That doesn’t mean I’m not orientating my life toward God. I could obviously do this better but it also just means it can take an incredibly long time to grow fruit.
As soon as we start to try to do this in our own strength, trying to will the fruit to grow rather than taking care of the soil as God has asked, it’s no use. We have to continually surrender to God, to the Spirit in us, to guide us and partner with Him to allow for growth.
If we are walking by the Spirit, being the gardener of our lives, I believe we can expect God to transform us from the inside out. I’m going to be 30 in a year or so, and I hope in another 30 years time, I will have at least become more patient than I am right now. If not, I’m not walking with the Spirit in my life, I’m not being the gardener God has called me to be. I would be walking by my flesh.
Find all the verses from Sunday if you scroll down.
But where’s the “denomination say what?” quiz I hear you all say?? Here’s the quiz, if you missed it or you want to have another go and show off your knowledge to others… the answers are on the second page at the bottom so no cheating!
Verses used in Sunday’s teaching:
Genesis 1:2 – Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Exodus 35:30-36 – Bezalel and Oholiab: 30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.
Judges 6:34 – Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.
2 Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
John 14:26 – But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 16:8 – When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
John 16:13 – But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
2 Peter 1:4 – Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Galatians 5:22-23 – 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.
Ephesians 1:13-14 – [13] In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; [14] this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:11 – 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 7:15-20 – 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Galatians 5:16 – So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:24-25 – Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
John 13:35 – 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1 John 4:7-21 – God Is Love: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 – 13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
