Fruit of the Spirit Summary: The fruit of the Spirit are not “feel-good vibes” or moral must-haves. They result from a seismic worldview. They grow from faith taking root in our souls.
Fruit of the Spirit Summary Key Points
- An analogy to understand the connection between worldview and salvation.
- The 8 fundamental truths behind the fruit of the Spirit.
- How to reconcile the fruit as a work of the Spirit with Paul’s exhortation to pursue them.
Fruit of the Spirit Summary
To summarize, I’d like to review the truth we have been seen behind the fruit of the Spirit. These are the truths that we have seen. Our foundational principles of our new gospel worldview that lead to these fruits of the Spirit.
- Truth #1: The God of the Bible is the God we must deal with.
- Truth #2: God is the center of the universe. We are equal before Him.
- Truth #3: We are sinners.
- Truth #4: God is actively working for those who trust Him.
- Truth #5: Knowing God is working for us gives us a great hope.
- Truth #6: We are uniquely connected to other believers.
- Truth #7: Our hope gives us freedom.
- Truth #8: Our hope inspires us to love what is right and good.
Saving Faith
The four core convictions of saving faith start changing our worldview. Let me review those quickly.
- I am a sinner who is guilty before God.
- God is not obligated to save me.
- I cannot save myself.
- I trust that God will forgive me because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fruit of the Spirit Summary
Let’s run through the fruit of the Spirit one last time and list the key concepts.
- The fruit of the Spirit are not feelings.
- We are not instantly transformed and given the items on this list.
- The fruit of the Spirit do not cause spiritual growth. They result from spiritual growth.
- The fruit of the Spirit emerge through the change in our worldview as the Spirit teaches us truth.
Because these are fruits of the Spirit, we can rejoice and be grateful that the Spirit will produce these fruits in us. We don’t need to manufacture them. We don’t need to create opportunities to demonstrate them. We will learn them as God takes us through the journey He plans for our lives.
What should you do in response to this list?
You don’t need to try harder. You simply need to believe. The exhortation to pursue the fruits of the Spirit is fundamentally an exhortation to repent and believe the gospel.
If that’s what you want, then I have very good news for you. Jesus tells us that everyone who asks for faith receives it. Everyone who humbly knocks on the door will be forgiven. Those who seek the kingdom of God before everything else will find it.
Ask and you will receive.
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Series: Fruit of the Spirit
Photo by Bill Williams on Unsplash
Season 24, episode 12