TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Part 6
June 30, 2019
Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The H oly Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
The sixth Fruit of The Spirit is goodness which in Greek, is the word agathosune. It’s pronounced ag-ath-o-soo-nay. The emphasis is on the syllable “soo.” As a noun, agathosune means to be generous and honorable. As a verb, it means to produce Divine Good.
It’s nearly impossible to think about goodness in the abstract. Abstract thinking is the ability to think about objects, principles, and ideas that are not physically present or tangible. In the Bible, goodness always involves particular ways of behaving. Because God is Good, He is Good to His people; believers are considered good when they behave decently toward each other, because of God’s Goodness toward them. Moses’ invitation to Hobab is a great example of this: Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised [spoken] good concerning Israel.” (NUM 10:29). The general biblical words for good and goodness include this idea of right behavior; but the idea is often expressed by means of a more specific term like upright and uprightness or righteous and righteousness.
Did you know that there are actually three different and specific types of good? There is Divine Good (agathosune) – which is what we’re studying this week. The second one is moral good. The third is human good. Follow along closely now because knowing what these three specific types of good are, is very important.
Moral good is produced in our lives when we follow the laws of Divine Establishment. The laws of Divine Establishment are designed for and directed toward both believers and unbelievers. This is important because if you think about society today, it’s very clear that there are many teens and even adults who are ignoring the laws of Divine Establishment. And because they are, the world is a mess!
Now, there are four areas to God’s Divine Establishment. Each one has to do with a different and specific authority. The first area is volition (free will) which is authority over your own soul. It’s the choices you make each day. Plainly put, it’s choosing between good and bad or God and Satan. The second is marriage which is the authority of the husband over the wife.
The third one is most important to you, as a teen: family – which is the authority of parents over children. Yes, that was God’s idea! You have to remember that throughout your life, you’re going to find that it’s difficult to respect some authority. This is because you may not agree with the person who has the authority over you. You may be experiencing this with your parents when they tell you to do your chores or your homework or when they tell you to come home at a certain time. But you have to remind yourself, that obeying them – respecting their authority – is a command from God. EPH 6:1-3 (The Message Bible) states: Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life.” Notice that if you do what God commands you to do, the outcome is fantastic: “you will live well and have a long life!!!”
Look at PROV 6:20-23 (The Message Bible): Good friend, follow your father’s good advice; don’t wander off from your mother’s teachings. Wrap yourself in them from head to foot; wear them like a scarf around your neck. Wherever you walk, they’ll guide you; whenever you rest, they’ll guard you; when you wake up, they’ll tell you what’s next. For sound advice is a beacon, good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path.
Those verses say a great deal, don’t they???
The fourth area of God’s Divine Establishment is nationalism which is the authority of the government over its citizens. Again, this area, in today’s society is clearly troublesome when you consider how many laws are being broken, not only by the citizens of our country, but also by famous people who many people idolize. The lesson here, of course, is that as Christians, we should only idolize Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Now let’s go back to the second Fruit of The Holy Spirit in this study – joy. Joy is inner happiness and satisfaction which is totally separate from the circumstances or environment in which you find yourself in. Joy comes from excitement for and love of Bible doctrine. This happens as you apply doctrine more and more, in your everyday life. But you will never have this type of joy, if you reject the authority in your life. Respect towards those who have authority over you, will free your soul so that God’s Joy can come in: When what is right and fair is done, it is a joy for those who are right with God. But it fills the sinful with fear. (PROV 21:15 New Life Version Bible) And remember that God’s Joy will then become a fruit that we produce. The Holy Spirit gives us the Power to produce fruit. We are able to produce incredibly great fruit because, as believers, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit are always with us. And as we are learning Our Perfect example of how to bear (produce) fruit is Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now let’s look at the second type of good which is Divine good. It refers to Christian service or deeds performed by the believer who is filled with The Holy Spirit, directed by Bible doctrine, and motivated by love for God. Read that sentence again because it’s a very important one! Christian service is the only kind is which accepted by God and rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Everything else, which is accomplished apart from the Filling of The Spirit and Bible doctrine, is human good – which is the third type of good. Anything done under human power is evil and worthless to God. This is taught in ISA 64:6 (New International Version): All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Sin and human good equal evil. Grace and Bible doctrine equal Divine good!
Divine good can only be produced by a spiritually mature believer. Believers are able to perform Divine good because God has given us the way to do it through the Filling of The Holy Spirit and the study of Bible doctrine. There are four keys to producing Divine good. The first is called status quo. The word status quo means the conditions as they are, at a given time. In order to produce Divine Good, your status quo must be that you are filled with The Holy Spirit at the time of action. In order to produce Divine Good, you must follow the Directive Will of God. God’s Directive Will is what He wants to be accomplished in a believer’s life.
The second key to producing Divine good is momentum. This means that Bible doctrine has to be the most important thing in your life. It has to be what makes you move, act, and do! The third key is called attainment. What must a believer attain or get? Spiritual maturity! The fourth key to producing Divine good is impact. The word impact means a strong and powerful effect. God wants the mature believer, as an invisible hero, to have a strong and powerful effect (impact) in the Church-Age. The Church-Age is the time in which we are living now. Think about the mature believers you know and the strong and powerful effect they have in their everyday lives! Look at your parents and the people in Grace Bible Church. Think of how they’re impacting our lives! They are producing goodness!
{to be continued}