Walking in the Spirit
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Christ-likeness Is Our Goal
The scripture tells us that we are to have the mind or Christ. (1Corinthians 2:16). This idea of having the mind of Christ goes beyond knowing His mind, it requires us to possess and function through the same mindset. As we exchange our mind for the mind of Christ we begin to think and behave as Christ would. In effect, we exchange our desire to sin for a desire to be more like Christ. Don’t take this to mean we are no longer sinners. We will always wrestle with our sin nature. However, we can resist the devil and our tendency to sin the more we become Christ-like. The fruit of the Spirt will take us on the journey to Christ-likeness. Click on the links below to learn more about these Fruits Of The Spirit.
Jesus Tells Us He Is The True Vine
Consider the message in chapter 15 of the book of John. The apostle is revealing many truths that deepen our understanding of the fruit of the spirit. Thes include:
- Jesus is giving us a parable that helps us understand how we receive the fruit of the spirit by using the vineyard as an illustration.
- The vine represents Jesus.
- The branches represent the believer.
- The vinedresser represents the father.
- The branch that does not bear fruit is directed toward the sun.
- The branch that falls away from the vine is discarded.
- The branch that produces fruit is pruned in order to produce more fruit.
Picture the vine as it is described. See the vine rising from the ground a certain height where the vine parts in two directions. Now see as the season approaches, the vine produces branches off both the right and left side of the vine. Notice how the branches start out directing their leaves toward the sun. As the branch grows and leaves appear the weight begins to direct the leaves away from the sun and toward the ground. Now, the vinedresser enters the vinyard and does his job of lifting the branches back toward the sun, giving them the necessary support. As these branches begin to produce fruit, the vinedresser prunes them so they will increase production.