The fruit of the Spirit

1
The fruit of the Spirit
Galatians

• Self-control

2
Review

• Fruit of the spirit
• Love, joy, peace
• Patience, kindness, goodness
• Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

3
Self-control defined

• Greek egkrateia (self-control, temperance)
• the virtue of one who masters his desires and
  passions, especially his sensual appetites
• Lit. the strength to hold ones self in

4
In the NT

• The word only appears 3 times in NT
• Gal 523
• 2 Pet 15-9
• Acts 2424-25
• God demands righteousness
• Man must respond with self-control
• God will judge mans response against His demand
• The thought frightened Felix. Does it frighten
  you?

5
Not easy to control self

• Pr 1632
• Harder than being mighty
• Harder then capturing a city
• James 3 2, 7-10
• Can be demonstrated by bridling the tongue
• Easier to tame wild beasts
• James 126
• Failure to control self renders useless all our
  protestations of religion

6
The battle can be won

• Gal 516-17
• Walk by, and be led by, the Spirit
• Gal 524
• Surrender to Christ Jesus
• He can give you the strength to crucify the flesh
  with its passions and desires
• Gal 525
• If the Spirit gives us life, then we must walk by
  the Spirit

7
How do we become Christs?

• Rom 63-7
• We are baptized into Christ
• Thereby we put to death our sins
• We are therefore freed from sin
• Rom 612-14
• We are no longer slaves of sin
• We are slaves of righteousness
• We will then develop the fruit of the Spirit

8
The works of the flesh

• What we have crucified
• Immorality, impurity, sensuality
• Idolatry, sorcery
• Enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
  disputes, dissensions, factions, envying
• Drunkenness, carousing
• And things like these

9
The fruit of the Spirit

• What we have developed into
• Love, joy, peace
• Patience, kindness, goodness
• Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
• Against such things there is no law

10
Conclusion

• Gal 525-26
• If we live by the Spirit, then we must walk by
  the Spirit
• But walking by the Spirit is not a matter for
  boasting or challenging or envying one another
• Rather it is something each of us must do

11
(No Transcript)