What does a changed life look like? In Galatians 5:16-26, the Apostle Paul describes what God's Spirit produces in a believer's life — the "fruit of the Spirit." Dr. Toby Holt explains how this fruit grows and why it matters.

Our good works do not save us, but they show that we have been saved. Paul contrasts the "works of the flesh" — anger, jealousy, selfishness — with the "fruit of the Spirit" — love, joy, peace. The key word is "practice": there is a difference between a life defined by sin and a believer who stumbles but is grieved by it. Bad, dead fruit points to bad, dead roots.

Questions this study answers:

1. What is the "fruit of the Spirit"? The character God's Spirit grows in a believer: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

2. If works don't save us, why do they matter? Because they are the evidence of real faith. A changed life does not earn salvation, but it shows God has truly changed the heart.

3. Can you tell a true believer by their fruit? Over time, yes. A life increasingly marked by the Spirit's fruit reflects a heart God has made new. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." — Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

In Galatians 5, Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit.

2

In other words, Paul told the Galatians that there are certain fruits or behaviors

3

that Spirit-filled Christians are supposed to have.

4

Just like an apple tree is supposed to bear apples,

5

you and I are to bear fruits that match up with our new nature.

6

This past week, this past month,

7

you probably had a lot of great intentions to accomplish a great many things.

8

You know, we're early enough in the year where we're not that far removed

9

from having New Year's resolutions and the like,

10

and as we started the years, we started this past month,

11

as we started this past week, we might have thought,

12

hey, this is going to be my year, or this is going to be my week or my month.

13

We might have had a lot of great motivation and intentions to get things done,

14

and yet here we are.

15

For most of us, if we're introspective,

16

when we look back at the past few months, past month, past week,

17

we didn't get as much done as we thought we might.

18

We didn't accomplish as many things as we hoped that we would.

19

There was things that we'd hoped we would progress in in times forward, and we're not there yet.

20

Now, why is that?

21

Why have we not been as effective, perhaps, as we've hoped to be?

22

Well, for some of us, maybe it was some villain that rose up on our radar.

23

Maybe someone came on the scene and thwarted our efforts.

24

Maybe for some of us it was a circumstance, something happened.

25

I think COVID counts, but maybe something happened that threw our world a curveball,

26

And maybe that's the reason that we fell short.

27

I think that's possible for many of us.

28

But I'll tell you this.

29

Across the many years that most of us have been alive,

30

the main reason we haven't got done all the things that we felt called to do

31

and led to do and driven by the Spirit to do,

32

the main reason we haven't done a lot of that stuff,

33

the main reason we're not as accomplished as we hope to be,

34

is not because of some villain and it's not because of some circumstance.

35

It's largely because of us.

36

It's largely because of the one that we see in the mirror every day.

37

We are capable of more self-sabotage than I think we're aware.

38

Now, why is that?

39

Presuming that we have more to gain from our own efforts than anyone else does,

40

how can we be prone to being our own greatest enemy?

41

How is that even possible?

42

Well, Scripture, in today's passage, it not only tells us that it's possible,

43

it tells us that it's likely, even for we as believers,

44

that the greatest challenge we're going to have is not going to be the challenge of some external enemy,

45

but the challenge with the flesh, the challenge that is within.

46

Today's passage in Galatians, Paul's writing to the Galatians to address all those concerns that we laid out earlier this morning.

47

But he's also calling them to tell them to gird themselves up for the battle,

48

because it's not going to become easy in the days yet to come.

49

And he says one of the ways to gird yourself up is this, to deal with the war that's already going on inside your flesh.

50

He's going to say the flesh, the flesh, your fallen humanity, lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.

51

And these things, these things are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.

52

You want to know why you haven't gotten done all the things that you hope to do across all the years you've had to do them?

53

It's primarily because of this.

54

Because what you've wanted, even what you felt called to do, even what you felt prompted

55

by the Spirit to do, there's a constant battle between that and a battle with your fallen

56

humanity, a battle with the flesh.

57

Oftentimes, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is what?

58

Weak.

59

This is true, and it is founded and based on what we see here in Galatians 5.

60

All right, I'm going to read now verses 16 through 18 from Galatians 5, then we'll just

61

kind of work our way through the balance.

62

We're going to try to understand what Paul was saying to the church in Galatia,

63

what he is saying to us as well.

64

Verses 16 through 18.

65

I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

66

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

67

And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

68

But, if you're led by the Spirit, you are not under the law, or the curse of the law.

69

Might be another way to read that.

70

All right. Before we go any further in Galatians 5, let's step back for a moment. This is week

71

nine of a 10-week study. Let's consider for a moment what we've seen across the space of the

72

past number of weeks. Why did Paul write to the Galatians? You never want to look at any one text

73

apart from the surrounding context. You'll never understand it quite right if you do.

74

Now, over the past number of weeks, we've seen that the Apostle Paul was writing to the Galatians

75

in order to remind them of the true gospel.

76

As we said before, the Judaizers had come in,

77

they had taught and preached a different gospel than Paul had,

78

specifically where Paul had taught salvation through faith alone and grace alone and Christ alone.

79

They had said, well, that's all nice and that's all well and that's all good,

80

but it's really faith plus something else,

81

specifically circumcision and elements of the ceremonial law and the like.

82

They had added Jewish ceremonial laws and precepts on top of faith as the means to salvation.

83

And so Paul is writing them and saying, uh-uh-uh, that's not the way that this works.

84

He says, your salvation does not hinge on what you do.

85

Your salvation hinges on what you believe, on what you believe.

86

So Paul had taught the Galatians this.

87

Others had come in and taught something different.

88

Paul is writing in order to stress to them the truth.

89

Now, in our Reformed Presbyterian Church this morning, we probably already figured out times past that we're not saved by the things that we do.

90

It's one of the basics in our denomination and within Reformed theology.

91

We already know that our works don't save us.

92

But the question remains then, if works don't save us, if that's not the means by which God is ultimately pleased and bumps me into the kingdom,

93

if my works don't save me, then what good do they do?

94

What is the point of my works?

95

The short answer is this.

96

Our works don't save us, but they do demonstrate that we have been saved.

97

This morning, if you were singing, if you were praising God, worshiping God,

98

this is a function of loving God.

99

It's a work that you do because God has sown the seed of faith in your heart,

100

and that is a response that comes out of that saved condition.

101

That's one small example.

102

Our works don't save us, but they demonstrate the fruit of that salvation.

103

works are like fruits on a tree, which is the analogy Paul is going to use here in a moment.

104

They help identify the nature and health of the tree itself. Now, that said, even after a man

105

has been saved, even after God has reached into a man's heart, changed the heart of stone to a heart

106

of flesh, even after this has happened, even after man has been reconciled and justified and adopted

107

and all the things we've seen over the past eight weeks, even after this has occurred and he has a

108

new spirit within him, the problem that he has and you and I have is this, that spirit still resides

109

in a fallen body of flesh. That spirit still resides in the same fallen members that we had

110

before. A fleshly body that's still given to sinful temptations and desires and appetites.

111

Even as Christians, we can be tempted, inclined towards things that are not necessarily good for

112

us or healthy for us. Have you experienced that? I know the answer in asking the question.

113

Whatever the case, this is what Paul's addressing in verse 17. He's saying, I know the way this

114

works. Paul was a man of flesh and blood too. He understood what it was like to be tempted and to

115

have appetites that warred against what he knew to be right and what he knew to be true. So he says,

116

I know how that works. You know how it works. He says, I'm just going to bring this out in the

117

open and tell us what we already know, that the reason we mess up and do so much of the things

118

that we don't want to do, or that we know we shouldn't do, is because there's a legitimate

119

war going on in our members, and oftentimes we side with the flesh. Oftentimes we choose that

120

which our flesh desires and wants, more so than what we hold intellectually to be true,

121

more than what we might believe. Now, one of the ways that you could paraphrase all that

122

is to say that within us as believers, even as Christians, on this side of glory,

123

You constantly have two things going on.

124

Number one, you have this.

125

You have a sense of inner peace.

126

And number two, you have a sense of inner war.

127

Now, as for inner peace, remember Paul, when he was writing to the Philippians,

128

he said, may the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

129

guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

130

In other words, he was saying, look, all the anxieties and doubts and depression

131

and things you were given to before, you no longer have to have now.

132

You can't have a sense of peace and fulfillment and contentedness in your relationship with the God of all creation.

133

You can't have a sense of inner peace, is what he told the Philippians.

134

Inner peace, it's good, it's biblical.

135

You should have it, you should want it.

136

With that said, the concept of inner war is every bit as biblical, every bit as necessary for you and I.

137

Now, what is inner war?

138

Well, interwar is that battle that all Christians have to overcome the sin and temptation that remains in our fallen flesh even after we've been saved.

139

You know, just because God has saved you from what you might say is sin's condemnation,

140

just because God has saved you from his own wrath being poured upon you as a function of your sinfulness,

141

just because you've been saved from sin's condemnation does not mean on this side of glory that you're saved from its pollution.

142

See the distinction?

143

Right now, if you're a professing believer in Jesus Christ, if your heart's been changed,

144

if the Spirit dwells in you, the good news is this.

145

You are absolutely 100%, 1,000% saved from God's wrath and His condemnation.

146

And that will never change.

147

Never, ever, ever.

148

That's the good news.

149

The bad news is that on this side of glory, sin's pollution and corruption still remains.

150

Still exists.

151

And that's what we sense when we're tempted to do things that we ought not do.

152

We know in our hearts what is right and what is wrong.

153

We know in Scripture what is right and what is wrong.

154

The reason we so often do that which is wrong in spite of what we know is right

155

is because we are polluted in the flesh.

156

We are inclined to lust after that which we ought not have.

157

Now Paul was trying to get people to be honest with this in Galatians.

158

Some of the reason you're doing the things, oh foolish Galatians, that you ought not do is because of this.

159

Paul would write the Galatians, he would write in Romans, things along these lines.

160

Peter, Peter says the same thing.

161

Peter talks about inner war when he said this.

162

He said in 1 Peter 2,

163

Peter, Paul, Jesus, they were all honest about the problems we will continue to have even after we have been saved.

164

Now, let me ask you a question.

165

As a believer, is there a sense of this inner war going on in your own life?

166

Are you actively striving and sweating and contending against the sin in your flesh?

167

We call this process mortification.

168

Mortification is taking sin, realizing it's within us, and putting it to death.

169

John Owen put it this way.

170

He said, you either be killing sin or it will be killing you.

171

That's a simple paraphrase of something that Paul is expressing throughout Galatians 5.

172

The question is, how do you and I relate to this text?

173

Do our own efforts to deal with the sin that's going on in your life and mine

174

cause us to sweat and to strain as if we've been in a battle of some kind?

175

Now, for some of us, the answer is yes, because we have looked sin in the eye.

176

We understand for what it is. We understand for what it has cost us.

177

And we don't desire to give in to it any longer.

178

and so through prayer and intentional efforts and reading the scripture and the like we're

179

putting it away locking it away fighting contending against this some of us know what

180

it's like to address problem areas in our lives if you don't know what the problem area in your

181

life is ask your spouse they'll tell you some of us know what it's like to be contending against

182

the problem areas in our lives but sometimes sometimes especially less mature christians

183

can fail to have a stomach for that battle.

184

That's how one of the worst phrases in all of Christendom ever got coined.

185

The worst phrase in all of Christendom is this, carnal Christian.

186

Why? Because it doesn't exist.

187

A mentality came about that said,

188

I can be a Christian and have all the things of the world

189

and indulge the flesh and the life.

190

I can believe and trust and profess and do all the things that Paul said.

191

After all, he said, I'm saved by faith, right?

192

right? I can believe and be saved and have everything else too. All of that we're going

193

to see in the verses that are going to follow in just a moment are going to be over against that

194

and say, no, that's not the way that it looks. Let's take a look at verses 19 through 21.

195

Now, the works of the flesh are evident, and he's going to give a lengthy list, but it's not a

196

comprehensive list. He says this, the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery,

197

Temptation, uncleanliness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.

198

All of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in times past, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

199

Now, that was a comprehensive list.

200

I don't know the hearts of every person in this room,

201

but I do know this, every person in this room

202

is guilty of some measure of the list that we just saw.

203

Maybe not every item, not every item equally.

204

And yet, if we look at this list, we can say,

205

uh-oh, uh-oh, I've done such a thing.

206

I've had outbursts of wrath, sort of selfish ambition

207

or dissension or what have you.

208

I've done such a thing.

209

So what does that mean for me?

210

Well, let me ask you a question.

211

Let me take one of the items that I hope none of us are guilty of.

212

Let me ask this.

213

Do you think an unrepentant murderer can get into heaven?

214

Well, not if you believe verses 19 through 21.

215

But what about a repentant murderer?

216

Can a repentant murderer get into heaven?

217

I should hope so.

218

Otherwise, David's in for a tough time.

219

Saul, Paul is in for a tough time.

220

The question is not whether you've ever done anything wrong

221

or broken one or all the items on the list.

222

We're all guilty to some measure of what is called out in these verses.

223

The question is not whether we've ever been selfish or lewd or drunk or what have you.

224

The question is whether those bad dead fruits came about because of bad dead roots.

225

So in other words, do our sins flow out of a deadened condition or in spite of a regenerated one?

226

This is a significant distinction.

227

Now the operative word in order to understand how we fit in this,

228

in verses 19 through 21, is the word practice.

229

specifically verse 21 says that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of god

230

why is that word so important and as a side note the esv translates the greek here as the phrase

231

those who do these sorts of things will do that's insufficient it's one of the reasons i don't like

232

the esv compared to the new king james but the phrase applies those who practice such things

233

that's close to the original text because it implies one's motivations not just one's actions

234

The positive one is motivations.

235

You see, our actions will often be bad.

236

If we all had all the actions of this past week

237

put on a giant screen for everybody to watch,

238

we'd go, eee, because our actions haven't always been good.

239

We may have done some bad things amidst the good ones.

240

But here's one of the differences.

241

As Christians, usually we recognize that badness,

242

and we feel some measure of guilt over it.

243

We feel some measure of conviction.

244

David was a murderer.

245

Remember what he had to do with Bathsheba, his previous husband.

246

Put him on the front lines, ensured that he died.

247

It was a murder.

248

And yet, David felt incredible remorse and guilt.

249

Why? Because his heart was changed.

250

And even though he sinned, the Spirit compelled him towards repentance.

251

However, other men practice such sins in such a way that they never really care or notice any guilt or conviction over having practiced them.

252

There is those who engage in heresy and lewdness and selfish and drunkenness and envy and other things here,

253

who practice such things and repeat such things in their integral parts of their character.

254

They even identify with the sin in which they're engaged in.

255

One whose heart is changed won't, generally speaking.

256

A man who lies is not automatically discounted from God's kingdom.

257

A liar, one whose identity and character and nature is interwoven with that sin, that's a different story.

258

The verb lies speaks to one's action, but the noun liar speaks to his identity.

259

In any case, for our purpose this morning, Paul is reminding the Galatians that bad, dead fruit indicates bad, dead roots.

260

Let's look at verse 22 and 23 now.

261

But, but, the fruit of the Spirit, so he's drinking a contrast here.

262

He's saying this is the bad kind of fruit and this is the good kind of fruit.

263

The fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of those who have been saved, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.

264

Against such as these, there is no law.

265

Against such as these, you are not under the curse of the law

266

because the Spirit indwells you.

267

Let's say, let's say that you have a man.

268

You have a man and he goes out.

269

Let's say there's a cherry tree sitting by a major intersection,

270

the road or what have you.

271

And he looks at the cherry tree and he takes a bunch of figs

272

and he throws the figs down on the ground at the base of the cherry tree.

273

Now, is it possible that some folks will drive by that tree,

274

look at the figs and assume it's a fig tree?

275

Yeah, absolutely.

276

Absolutely. Some might be fooled by a quick cursory look.

277

They look at some fruit there sitting on the ground.

278

They say, well, that must be a fig tree.

279

Not necessarily.

280

Not necessarily.

281

If one looks closely, not just at fruit gathered on the ground,

282

if one looks closely at the tree, you'll never be fooled.

283

If you look at the nature of the branches, the flowers, and the fruit as it's growing,

284

as it's expanding, as it's developing,

285

you'll recognize the tree for what it is.

286

You'll recognize the nature of the tree if you look to the actual flowers and the branches and

287

the fruit as it grows. You ever wonder why sometimes bad people can appear to do good

288

things? It's the equivalent of figs thrown to the floor of a cherry tree. But what you and I are to

289

look for is increasing fruit, increasing flowers upon the branches. Look to the nature of the tree

290

itself. Look to the fruit as it is growing, as it's thriving. This is one of the ways that we

291

understand a dead tree from a live tree now at one point we're all the equivalent of dead trees

292

at one point we're all the equivalent of dead trees left to our own devices we've said this

293

in other sermons left our own devices we came in this world as haters of god haters of man we were

294

impatient we're unfaithful unloving wretches paul said this in his letter to titus he said we were

295

once foolish and disobedient and led astray as slaves of various passions and pleasures passing

296

our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. That's the bad fruit.

297

And Paul said to Titus, look, at one point, we were dead trees. We all bore this sort of fruit.

298

At one point, that was us. At one point, that's who we were. There might have been some figs

299

scattered around that might have fooled a few people to think that we were something other than

300

that, but this is who we were. This is who we were. But in God's time, he changed the nature

301

the tree. In God's time, he took that which is dead and gave it new life. In times past, God took

302

the heart of stone and made it the heart of flesh. He changed us from what we once were. Much like a

303

fig tree that now bears cherries, God has changed our nature. We bear new fruits, different fruits

304

than we used to. These fruits include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

305

faithfulness, and self-control. Now, as we said, an unsaved person can appear to produce

306

some of these same fruits. You'll find some of them sitting at the base of the tree, so to speak.

307

But that doesn't mean that the tree is really any different than it previously was. You don't look,

308

as we said before, at the fruit on the ground to figure out a tree's nature. You look at the

309

branches to see that which is growing and thriving. Okay, let's look at verses 24 through 26.

310

And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires. This

311

speaks to that picture of inner warfare, deliberate, intentional, proactive efforts to put

312

sin to death. Those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we

313

live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Again, an intentional term that says you and I

314

need to do something on the basis of that which we believe. Let us not become conceited, provoking

315

one another or envying one another. You know, a number of years back, my family, we lived in

316

Virginia from about 2000 to 2004. Virginia, as is the case with most of the eastern seaboard,

317

has a lot of history. There's a restaurant. It's an area called Chantilly, Virginia. There's a

318

restaurant there, and it had a number of paintings on the wall, and in fact, on one of the walls,

319

it had a mural that went the whole length of the restaurant. Just this incredible mural. It

320

featured the revolutionary, the civil wars. It featured battle scenes across the balance of this

321

restaurant. Now, these paintings were really impressive. It gave a sense for the history

322

of the area. They were very impressive. It gave one a sense of the scope of the battlefields of

323

times past, far more so than a single small picture ever could. To see it on this huge mural,

324

you know, eight feet tall, you know, 40 feet wide, it gave someone a scope that you might not

325

otherwise have seen. Now, because we lived in the area, we had a number of opportunities to check

326

out this restaurant and have meals there. So I had more than one occasion to look at the mural

327

and to study, to study these paintings. You know what I noticed? There's all sorts of soldiers from

328

different battles on these murals. You know what I noticed about the soldiers? None of them, as you

329

looked out at what they were doing in this mural, none of them were sleeping. None of them were

330

laying down. None of them were folding their hands. None of them were playing cards. They were doing

331

what you would expect soldiers to do on the battlefield.

332

They were at war.

333

They were contending against an enemy.

334

They were doing exactly what you would expect.

335

The protagonists in this scene were not acting

336

as if they had peace in Zion.

337

They understood the dangers of the enemies,

338

and so they were all depicted as fighting,

339

as striving, as contending.

340

Let me ask you a question.

341

If someone were to draw a mural of your days,

342

A mural of your Christian life, a mural of your walk.

343

If someone was to draw a painting of your spiritual life,

344

what would you be doing in that painting?

345

If someone was to draw a mural of your spiritual life,

346

what would you be doing in that mural?

347

Would you be resting?

348

Would you be playing cards?

349

Would you be sleeping, taking a cat nap on the battlefield?

350

Or would you be contending against the very real enemies

351

of sin, temptation, and the like. There are real enemies out to get you and out to get your kids.

352

There really are. This is not just hyperbole. You don't have to be a charismatic to believe this.

353

There really are enemies out there. There are spiritual enemies in high places. There are those

354

who have you and your loved ones in the bullseye and are actively contending against you. You're

355

at war even if you don't realize you're at war. The question is, how are you responding to that

356

reality? How are you responding? Are you actively in the word? Do you actively wield, wield the sword

357

of the word? Do you have the breastplate of faith and righteousness? What are you doing to contend

358

against the sin in your own flesh? Those things that perhaps only you know, maybe you and a few

359

loved ones know, what are you doing? If someone's drawing a mural, are you laying down? Are you

360

contending? Verse 24, Paul says this, those who are Christ's are actively crucifying the flesh with

361

its passions and desires. Those who have Christ have crucified the flesh, put it to death, be

362

killing sin or be killing you. Those who are of Christ do this. Those who aren't, don't, because

363

they don't see the distinction. They don't see the problem. Do you? Do you see what's at stake?

364

Do you see your life in the context of a great spiritual battle that's been going on a lot longer

365

than since you've been around? And do you see your part in the infantry on the front lines? And are

366

you actively wielding the sword and taking up the shield are you committed to this for most of us

367

for most of us there have been seasons in our life where we have not been committed to this

368

most of us can relate to seasons maybe in the past maybe in the present where we've done a

369

lord chamberlain what we've done is we've appeased sin we've appeased the enemies we haven't taken

370

them on full on. We've allowed them to gain control of a little

371

territory. We said, well, that's all right. That was probably inevitable anyway.

372

We've appeased our sin in some areas and maybe we kind of

373

sort of want to do better someday. But we lack the desire to do better

374

today. In other words, for some of us

375

the problem is not that we don't know the right thing to do and that we don't sort of want to do the

376

right thing. The problem is that the Spirit is willing

377

but the flesh is weak

378

the problem is that we're shanghaied

379

we're sabotaged by our flesh

380

and we indulge that flesh

381

far too often is that statement true of you this morning

382

do you find that you're spiritually willing that you nod your head

383

to what Paul and Jesus and Peter and the others say that you're

384

spiritually willing to do these things that you really kind of sort of want to make

385

progress in key areas of your life only to find that week in

386

week out that you are sabotaged by your own flesh, by the

387

person you see in the mirror. Well, if that's you, know this.

388

The problem isn't going to fix itself by osmosis. You understand the

389

distinction between justification and sanctification? Justification is

390

God looking down upon you, and even while you are sinners, even while you are strayed a thousand

391

miles away from Him and His Word, Him determining the place of saving love upon you.

392

Changing your heart, reconciling you to Himself, adopting you in His family.

393

God does all that by himself.

394

His volition, his choice.

395

That's what God does.

396

But there's something that you do have responsibility for.

397

There's something that we do in concert with God,

398

and that is our sanctification.

399

Sanctification is the process by which we go from this dirty, filthy pot

400

into something clean and useful in the economy and the kingdom of God.

401

Now, God's committed to that.

402

Are you?

403

We have a role to play in our sanctification.

404

We have a role to play.

405

That's the implication of verses 24 through 26.

406

Those where Christ crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

407

What would that look like?

408

If you crucified one thing, one thing this week, this month, what would that look like?

409

Unless you're intentional, it won't happen.

410

Unless you can name it, identify it, wield the sword and go at it, it won't happen.

411

This isn't about osmosis.

412

Did you know that there was a lot of men and women in the Bible?

413

People you will see in the kingdom of heaven in the time to come who did not finish well here on earth.

414

Don't presume you will.

415

It has to have some intentionality on your part.

416

Lest you become like a Solomon who absolutely tanked in his later years.

417

A Samson who tanked.

418

A Gideon who made bad decisions and the like.

419

Don't presume you are automatically going to finish strong just on the basis that you're a Christian.

420

You will cross the finish line on the basis that God has saved you,

421

and yet he calls you even now to run the race and to see it as a race

422

and to see yourself as a runner and see there to be a finish line.

423

Paul elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 9, he says this,

424

Don't you know that those who are in a race, they all run, but one receives the prize?

425

Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

426

Make choices today to put sin to death.

427

Make choices today to bear better fruit

428

than you did last week or last year in the times past.

429

Make choices today, intentional, proactive choices

430

to work out the salvation that God has worked in you,

431

to bear a brighter light and a brighter testimony,

432

not only to glorify God, but to point others to Him

433

in the time yet to come.

434

Let's pray.