Works by Grace

On May 6, 2024   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 2: 8 – 11

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Well now, that is a little confusing. Is it about works, or isn’t it? Within a couple of phrases Paul talks about “not works” and then seems to say we should be involved in good works. Well, which is it?

The body of Christ has really had trouble with this. We get our wires a bit crossed over the concept of works. The church has dealt with this confusion going back to near antiquity. People try to get into heaven by their good works. That is the part Paul is addressing in the negative. No one is ever going to impress God through their holiness and good works. Even on our very best day we will never rise to that level. What impresses God is the blood of the lamb. The only admission ticket to heaven is that precious blood. If you have it, you get in. If you don’t, well . . . we’ll let God handle that one. But it won’t be on your good works that you gain admittance.

I am constantly surprised by the number of people who think they “have” to do good works. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved. But … once you are saved, love should begin to flow outward. Prior to getting saved many people are self interested, self absorbed. Everything is supposed to flow towards them. After you get saved love, blessings, kindness, etc. are supposed to start flowing out of you. We don’t do good works to get God to love us, to approve of us, or to stamp our boarding ticket for heaven. Good works are a by-product of the love of God springing forth in our spirits.

And when you are thinking of “good works” try to get out of the traditional view of works and towards a more spiritual sense. This scripture says we are to walk in these good works that were prepared beforehand. Let us then think of sowing to the Spirit instead of sowing to the flesh. Once a person can get himself off his mind, then many kinds of spiritual works present themselves, including praying for others, forgiveness, and walking in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22 – 23). Don’t get yourself so bogged down mentally or emotionally that you overlook the works of the Spirit. Feeding the poor is a great thing to do, and I encourage it, certainly, but it does not cover unforgiveness in a person’s heart. Nor do any good works cover gossiping, backbiting, lying, etc. First sow to the Spirit and then let the fruit of the Spirit manifest in your life. When you do that, you will be balanced, and good works of all sorts will just flow from you because you will take on the very nature of God. You will be a giver because God is a giver. You will be kind because He is kind. These are the real works we are supposed to be walking in. Once we have these priorities in correct sequence, then all sorts of good works will just be natural extensions of who we are. But don’t forsake what is first for what should be second for remember, it all began with grace.

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Wolves and Fruit

On November 7, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 7: 15-16

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

Galatians 5: 22- 23

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Jesus gave us a warning in chapter 7 of Matthew. He told us that in these days there would be people who would represent themselves to us a part of the flock of Jesus but in reality, they are ravenous wolves who would devour us if we let them. Fear not though. There is a way we can tell real followers of Christ from those who pretend to be sincere believers. You will know them by their fruit Jesus said. “What fruit,” you ask. The fruit of their character.

Do not attempt discernment by listening to what they say. Anyone can say anything. That is what Jesus was pointing out when he said they would be dressed as sheep. They will say the right things and will sound convincing but ask yourself about their fruit. They can even quote scripture and sound all holy but Satan quotes scripture too. That is what he did in the temptation of Christ (Matthew 4: 6) Being able to quote scripture does not make you holy or a Christian.

Also do not let their works persuade you. These false people will do many of the things that the children of light do in order to appear as sheep rather than as their true selves. But our salvation and our redemption are not in works. They are in faith in Jesus Christ, our redeemer. As a matter of fact, these people may even be leaders in the church. They may be on every church committee. They may participate in charitable works. But these things don’t make you a Christian any more than swimming makes you a fish.

Jesus explained that the way we can know about people is to check the fruit that is on their tree. Galatians 5: 22 tells you what fruit to look for. While none of us is perfect, if Christ is really inside of you then, you should increasingly bear the fruit that is of Him. You cannot give yourself to Christ without His light showing through you. As you walk through life don’t be mislead by people who purport to be Christ centered. If they truly are, they will not have to tell you. You will see that their lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

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Spiritual Fruit

On November 27, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22 – 23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

You are going to encounter a lot of different kinds of people in a lifetime. Some, frankly, mean you ill will. Here is the surprise though. They will usually come dressed as one of the flock, hence the saying a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. That is the only way they can get close enough to you to do you any harm. If they looked like someone that has bad intent on their minds, you would stay far from them. So, they come camouflaged. But fear not. You can tell who they are rather simply and easily. Check their fruit. Do they exhibit the above characteristics? It is not what people say that matters. Remember that Satan quoted the Bible to Jesus in order to trick him. It is not their good works or status in a church. The Spirit of God alive in a person reveals himself through them by the above traits. If they are not kind and gentle; if they show a lack of self-control, then you will know that they may not be who they profess to be.

Look, we are all trying to become the people that God has created us to be and most of us are far from perfect, but Jesus said in these last days there would come false prophets. He said that we would know them by their fruit (Matthew 7: 15 -16). Now by this we not only learn how to discern God’s Spirit in prophets, but also in everyday people. Let us not be unwise but rather protected by the Spirit of the Lord through heavenly wisdom given to us by the Lord himself. Look at people’s fruit, not their words or activities, before you follow them or take their advice.

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Choice Fruit

On March 29, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22 – 23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is the companion verse for 1 Corinthians 13. I am not going to go through them one by one like we did for 1 Corinthians 13 because many of them are the same. These two verses list the personality traits of the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God. These are the characteristics of God’s Spirit, so where the Spirit of God is, you will see this fruit demonstrated.

Compare these traits with what we learned of God’s essence in 1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” There is that kindness again. These two passages of scripture describe God. They are a description of His behavior pattern.

There is another facet of this verse though. The Holy Spirit has come to live in us. That means that we can also express these characteristics through our thoughts, words and behaviors. We are integrated with the Divine Trinity. They are part of us and we are part of them. Their characteristics are our characteristics but only as much as we will allow ourselves to be influenced by them. If we act from our old nature then we have separated ourselves from Christ. To be in him, though, is to be part of all that he is. As we allow ourselves that closeness with him, allowing him to influence every part of our lives, we become more like him and express more of his nature. You have heard it said that you become like who you hang out with so as we hangout more and more with Jesus, we become more and more like him.

We are being transformed into the very image of Christ. That transformation yields good fruit. We let Christ in us show more and more. We can learn to bury the old self and leave it buried, taking up our new life in Christ. And, wherever there is Christ, you will find these choice fruits. Conversely, no fruit – no Christ. Don’t be misled by what people say. Instead, check the fruit on their tree. What is inside of us always makes its way to the outside.

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Fruity

On March 31, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22 – 23            Index Card 13

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

What a nice and gentle reminder this is about the fruit our lives are to express. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come live within us. When the Holy Spirit moved in, he brought his furniture and his grocery basket. He is the fruit vendor of our lives if and when we yield to him. You see, we cannot produce this kind of fruit by our own strength and will power. We need help. Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15: 4). 

Jesus said that we were to be fruit inspectors (Matthew 7: 16). This is what he was talking about. We look for these characteristics flowing from others. That is how we know they are safe for us. We do not look at the calamity which has perhaps befallen their lives and make judgments about them from that. This is not a basis for judging others but rather for discernment. We are to follow after divine fruit. Jesus said we would be able to know people by their fruit. A good tree does not produce bad fruit and a bad tree does not produce good fruit. We are to demonstrate love, joy, peace . . . and we should learn to recognize this fruit in others.

Why is this one of my index card verses? I need this as a constant reminder of the fruit that should be exhibited in my life. If it is not displayed, then I know I need to reconnect with the life of Jesus within me.

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Eating Fruit

On August 4, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Galatians 5: 22 – 23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is one verse we really must get down in our spirits. Even if you don’t memorize the scripture itself, remember Galatians 5: 22 so you remember how to get back to it and refresh yourself.

And here is the big reason you need to remind yourself. When you were filled with the Spirit of God, the fruit of the Spirit entered in with him. So, if the Holy Spirit is living in you, then his fruit, his nature, his characteristics, are living inside of you too. Therefore, I want you to read the scripture this way: “I am love. I am joy. I am peace. I am patient. I am kind. I am good. I am faithful. I am gentle. I have self-control. These traits are already in you by the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to develop them you have only to express them, to allow them to manifest through his presence inside of you. Meditate on them already being in you and confess them. Read the confession above aloud so that your own ears hear you saying what you are. You will find that you begin demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit more and more.

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