34 min
03 Fruit of the Spirit: Love Part 2 Wednesday in the Word
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- Kristendom
In addition to learning to love our neighbors, the Spirit also produces a unique bond between believers. Part of learning to love God is learning to love His people.
Key Points
* The way we respond to believers reflects how we respond to Jesus.
* Disciples of Jesus show their love for Jesus by loving his people, rather than mocking or persecuting them.
* Faith is invisible. It doesn’t leave a mark on the body or change your appearance. But it does change the way treat other believers.
* Love as a fruit of the Spirit results from the Spirit changing believers from self-centered creatures to people who love God and His people.
* Passages: Matthew 10:40-42; John 13:34-35; Matthew 25:31-40; Ephesians 1:15-16; Colossians 1:3-5; 1Peter 1:22-23.
* Greek Word: Strong’s G26
Next: 04 Fruit of the Spirit: Joy
Previous: 02 Fruit of the Spirit: Love Part 1
Series: Fruit of the Spirit
Love as a Fruit of the Spirit 2
We find this list in Galatians 5, where Paul explains why being free from the law is not an excuse to sin. Believers have a different motivation to avoid sin. Instead of the threat of the consequences of the Law, we have the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who changes us from the inside out.
Paul argues the Spirit produces a real moral transformation because the Spirit changes us from the inside out. Obedience promoted by law keeping is a fake obedience, because it's put on the outside. Law-keeping produces the list of the works of the flesh. The Spirit produces the things that we find on this list of the fruit of the Spirit.
In the last podcast, I argued that love as a fruit of the Spirit is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. Love as a fruit of the Spirit is not an emotional state that we find ourselves in. It is not something we are given instantaneously, but rather it is something that grows over time. As I will argue for all the items on the list, the fruits of the Spirits are not feelings. Rather, they are a perspective change that results from the Spirit teaching us truth.
Love as a fruit of the Spirit is an action. Love acts for the benefit of another person. It is rooted in the understanding of our essential equality before God.
The Spirit teaches believers to see the lie of a self-centered view of life. We start to see and understand our place before God standing next to our neighbors, equal in dignity and equal in guilt. Over time, as the Spirit teaches us, we become willing to act for the benefit of others in the way that we would want them to act for our benefit.
What I want to talk about today is another kind of equality that we must recognize. Last week we talked about the equality that all of us share as creatures made in God's image. What I want to talk about today is the special and unique bond we have with other believers. This is an idea that we see all over the New Testament.
Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus is talking to the Twelve.
In addition to learning to love our neighbors, the Spirit also produces a unique bond between believers. Part of learning to love God is learning to love His people.
Key Points
* The way we respond to believers reflects how we respond to Jesus.
* Disciples of Jesus show their love for Jesus by loving his people, rather than mocking or persecuting them.
* Faith is invisible. It doesn’t leave a mark on the body or change your appearance. But it does change the way treat other believers.
* Love as a fruit of the Spirit results from the Spirit changing believers from self-centered creatures to people who love God and His people.
* Passages: Matthew 10:40-42; John 13:34-35; Matthew 25:31-40; Ephesians 1:15-16; Colossians 1:3-5; 1Peter 1:22-23.
* Greek Word: Strong’s G26
Next: 04 Fruit of the Spirit: Joy
Previous: 02 Fruit of the Spirit: Love Part 1
Series: Fruit of the Spirit
Love as a Fruit of the Spirit 2
We find this list in Galatians 5, where Paul explains why being free from the law is not an excuse to sin. Believers have a different motivation to avoid sin. Instead of the threat of the consequences of the Law, we have the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who changes us from the inside out.
Paul argues the Spirit produces a real moral transformation because the Spirit changes us from the inside out. Obedience promoted by law keeping is a fake obedience, because it's put on the outside. Law-keeping produces the list of the works of the flesh. The Spirit produces the things that we find on this list of the fruit of the Spirit.
In the last podcast, I argued that love as a fruit of the Spirit is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. Love as a fruit of the Spirit is not an emotional state that we find ourselves in. It is not something we are given instantaneously, but rather it is something that grows over time. As I will argue for all the items on the list, the fruits of the Spirits are not feelings. Rather, they are a perspective change that results from the Spirit teaching us truth.
Love as a fruit of the Spirit is an action. Love acts for the benefit of another person. It is rooted in the understanding of our essential equality before God.
The Spirit teaches believers to see the lie of a self-centered view of life. We start to see and understand our place before God standing next to our neighbors, equal in dignity and equal in guilt. Over time, as the Spirit teaches us, we become willing to act for the benefit of others in the way that we would want them to act for our benefit.
What I want to talk about today is another kind of equality that we must recognize. Last week we talked about the equality that all of us share as creatures made in God's image. What I want to talk about today is the special and unique bond we have with other believers. This is an idea that we see all over the New Testament.
Matthew 10:40-42
Jesus is talking to the Twelve.
34 min