Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 60 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; Gal 5:22-23.

Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 60 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; GAL 5:22-23.

 

Announcements / opening prayer:  

 

 

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

GAL 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

"Against such things there is no law," means that this is not a life based on legal principles such as rules that warrant cursing or blessing, but it is a life that follows the character of another life, which has already been lived. It is following a person and not a law. The person is Christ, and as the One who lived the prototype plan of God, and has graciously granted us the same plan and assets, we too walk in His manner. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is, a person, and not a law.

 

GAL 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

At salvation, the believer received the actual benefits of identification with Christ in His death on the cross.

 

Christians crucified the evil nature with its affections and lusts, in the sense that when they put their faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior, they received the actual benefits of their identification with Christ in His death on the Cross, which benefits were only potential at the time He was crucified.

 

ROM 6:2-3

How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

 

The Christian's identification with Christ in His death, resulted in the breaking of the power of the sinful nature over the life.

 

This victory over sin which the Lord Jesus procured for us at the Cross, is made actual and operative in our lives as we yield to the Holy Spirit and trust Him for that victory.

 

It is the Holy Spirit's ministry that applies the salvation from the power of the sinful nature which God the Son procured at the Cross for us.

 

Thus the Holy Spirit has a twofold ministry in the saint, that of making actually operative in the life of the Christian, the victory over sin which the Lord Jesus procured for us at the Cross, and that of producing in the Christian's experience, His fruit.

 

Spirit's ministry in the saint:

1. Making operative the victory over sin accomplished by Christ.

2. Producing His fruit in his walk.

 

So, again, we see that the Christian way of life does not only consist of what we don't do, but also, and I would venture to say, more so in what we do or purpose to do. The believer's choice is involved in both aspects of the Spirit's ministry. His intellect, conscience, and will are all fully involved as they are fully influenced by the Spirit. They are not turned off. 

 

But this He is only able to do in a full and rich measure as the saint puts himself definitely under subjection to the Spirit. This initial act of faith in the Lord Jesus which resulted in the crucifixion (putting to death) of the affections and lusts of the totally depraved nature, is followed during the life of that Christian, by the free action of his liberated will in counting himself as having died to (having been separated from the power of) the evil nature with the result that he says NO to sin and stops yielding himself and his members to sin.

 

GAL 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

"passions" - paqe,ma [pathema] = an affliction, an evil emotion or passion. This is passive as the innate forces of the evil nature attempt to influence the believer.

 

Death means that it has been separated from the believer so that the believer is separated from its power. Yet, the believer can certainly chose for it and let it master him. Before belonging to Christ we didn't have a choice. It ruled us. But now that we are new creatures in Christ we have the choice of saying "no" to it.

 

Death doesn't mean non-existent, but here it means powerless to rule.

 

It will never rule the believer again, which will be abundantly clear to all in eternity, and so it is foolish for the believer to attempt to present himself to it, yet he can, and sin and evil will result in his life.

 

Passions will tempt us and if we choose, desire will result in which we will act on those passions.

 

GAL 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

"desires" - evpiqumi,a [epithumia] = desire, craving, longing, lust. This is active in its nature, speaking of these forces reaching out to find expression in the gratification of these desires.

 

GAL 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

 

This is a first class condition, meaning that the Galatian believers do live by the Spirit, but as of late they have not been walking by the Spirit since they have changed their thinking from grace orientation to Law orientation.

 

GAL 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

 

GAL 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

 

"walk" - stoice,w [stoicheo] = walk in line, walk orderly. To keep in step with the Holy Spirit in submission to His way.

 

Walking with someone freely is not being dragged by that someone. To walk with the Spirit you must desire His way and walk with Him. This is all done by faith and not works. By faith we chose His way and walk with Him and He empowers us in the works or the fruits of that journey.

 

[Wuest] Thus, the exhortation is to the Galatians who have divine life resident in their beings, to conduct themselves under the guidance, impulses, and energy of that life. Here we have the free will of the Christian and his responsibility to live the highest type of Christian life, and the grace of God which will make that possible. The responsibility of the saint is to desire to live a Christ-like life, to depend upon the Holy Spirit for the power to live that life, and to step out on faith and live that life. This fulfilled, will bring all the infinite resources of grace to the aid of the saint, and put in operation all the activities of the Spirit in his behalf.

 

GAL 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

 

Boastful or vainglory is contrasted with the state of mind that seeks God's glory. Such an attitude challenges others or envies others rather than choosing love, the perfect bond of unity.

 

This nine-fold character is not developed by human attention or energy. They are supernatural being divine characteristics of God. They were found impeccable in the person of Christ. And now they are available to every believer, no matter what they were before salvation in their old man. The believer must be diligent in pursuit of them by means of the Spirit. Choice, motivation, will, learning, and spiritual development as chosen by the believer never disappear from his life.