Grace Bible Church
The Tree of Life
A Weekly Review
Week ending 082612
The Fruit of the Spirit manifested by the Salvation Ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the moment of Salvation.
We have now begun to note the seventh and final salvation ministry of God the Holy Spirit which is the filling of the Holy Spirit given at the moment of salvation for the purpose of producing the fruit of the Spirit as documented for us in GAL 5:22-23.
GAL 5:22 and 23 is our main passage when it says “But the fruit or the production of the Holy Spirit is virtue-love or impersonal unconditional love, joy [inner happiness], peace [which is inner peace and overt prosperity], patience [which refers to patience as well as longsuffering], kindness or graciousness, goodness [or the production of divine good], gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
It’s interesting that we have the nine-fold ministry of the fruit of the Spirit which is divided into three categories and under the principle of the doctrine of numerology, the number three Represents the Trinity, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Also we have the principle of the essence of God, the omniscience, the omnipresence, and the omnipotence of God. As well as the period of time, Past, Present, and Future.
So 3 is the number that represent completeness.
3rd day of the journey, Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac
3 days of darkness in Egypt
3 days in the belly of the whale
3 days Paul is blind
3rd day of the marriage, Jesus turned water into wine
3rd day, He will raise us up (Hosea 6:2)
3rd day, He will rise from the dead.
The first three manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit is toward all mankind and is the ultimate expression of virtue. Note that the first three manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit is peace which is integrity within or toward self.
Then we have the second three manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit which are patience, kindness, goodness, the third one being goodness or graciousness which is integrity toward man. Then finally there is faithfulness, gentleness, self-control or temperance, which the third one being self-control or temperance which is integrity in expression toward God. When accepted all together, the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit presents a spiritual portrait of Christ.
The fifth part of the fruit of the Spirit is now mentioned which is the nominative singular feminine noun chrestotes which means kindness, graciousness, generosity, and sensitivity to others. This word is employed by the apostle Paul exclusively in the New Testament where it appears ten times, the number of perfection or total completeness.
The Greek word Chrestotes refers to being gracious and operating in grace orientation. Not only grace-orientation toward others but grace-orientation toward yourself. For if you cannot have grace orientation toward yourself, how can you ever have grace orientation toward others. However, this does not mean to forgive and compromise God’s holy standards but to forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead (PHI 3:13).
ROM 8:32, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Grace-orientation is the believer’s awareness from metabolized doctrine, Joh “a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven”.
Grace orientation means that you operate and understand the principle of the Vine and the branches.
Being gracious and operating in grace orientation means that the believer never forgets where they came from and always is grateful and thankful to God for where they’re going. Many of God’s people forget where they came from, where they have been, or where they are, or where they are going.
EPH 2:12, Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Many of God’s people forget the principles behind JOH 8:7, “He who is without sin among you, let him {be the} first to throw a stone at her.”
The manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit of the believer who operates in grace orientation realizes JAM 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.
They don’t point the finger at others, they’re too smart. They realize the principles behind MAT 7:1, “Do not judge lest you be judged.”
The grace-oriented believer expresses gratitude to the Father. COL 1:12, Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
The grace-oriented believer then is very gracious toward others. Grace-orientated believers also profoundly appreciate that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus, ROM 8:1; 1JO 3:20-21. Therefore grace-oriented believers do not condemn others, they do not judge, criticize or malign others! They are quick to edify, slow to anger and even quick to listen. This is because chrestotes or graciousness develops the characteristic of tolerance and a live-and-let-live attitude as taught in Rom 14.
Grace-oriented believers recognize that:
a. Sins were not imputed to the believer.
b. And that the righteousness of God and of Christ were imputed to the believer.
Therefore being gracious and operating in grace orientation, this type of believer does not assign sins to others.
Toward the unsaved, grace oriented believers have the ministry of reconciliation, 2CO 5:18-21.
2CO 5:18-19, Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
To those believers who have failed, grace-oriented believers have a ministry of restoration as taught in Gal 6.
GAL 6:1-5, Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one shall bear his own load.
There are many Biblical illustrations of grace orientation and individuals being gracious toward others but most of all individuals experiencing God being gracious toward them.
For example, the failures of David show us the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit what kind of people God can use and how God can take a man who has made as many mistakes as David and still make him one of the greatest believers of all time. All because of chrestotes which means kindness, graciousness, generosity, and sensitivity to others.
David failed many times as a believer. For example, in 1SA 21:1-10, David willfully sinned and told a lie and the result of his lie was that an entire city was wiped out, (the city of Nob). David could have allowed guilt to cause him to quit but instead he knew the manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit especially chrestotes, the graciousness and generosity of the life of God to others. A quitter is not a man after God’s own heart. You may tell a lie and some people got hurt but David told a lie AND A whole city was destroyed. The average believer today would have never been able to handle this. The average believer would run around for the rest of his life with a guilt complex. But not David, he knew grace.
God’s grace, God’s love was more real to him than his guilt so instead he simply confessed his sin and kept moving.
Then he made himself fake madness or look and act crazy. He became a phony. He made the enemy believe he was crazy and as a result hundreds died.
Then David failed in responsibility in 2SA 11:1. He should have led his troops in battle but he stayed home in Jerusalem and as a result, there was disaster on the battlefield. But there was also disaster on the home-front of Jerusalem itself. Did he sit around and cry about it the rest of his life. No, he simply got up and moved on. Then while he was in Jerusalem 2SA 11:2-27, he ends up in certain shocking sins. He committed adultery. He got a man drunk. He committed murder, and he lied again.
At this point, most believers would have stopped and quit – but not a believer who is after God’s own heart. Of course, the greatest illustrations of the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit especially chrestotes, come from our Lord Jesus Christ and how He operated in graciousness even toward those who were legitimately guilty. For example, the model passage which exemplifies and magnifies our Lord’s graciousness and grace orientation is the case of the woman taken in adultery.
Let’s read the entire passage first!
JOH 8:3, And the scribes and the Pharisees brought or arrested a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst,
Actually, the scribes and the Pharisees arrested this woman and seized her violently and forced her to stand before the crowd!
JOH 8:4-6, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” And they were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground.
They actually kept on repeating this and they persisted in testing Him because they wanted a basis for accusing Him.
JOH 8:7-11, But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones or the leaders, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” And she said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more [in this area].”
This case condemns all precedence for arrogance, legalism and activism and it points to the importance of being gracious and operating in grace orientation. The scribes and the Pharisees were officers of the Jewish Supreme court called the Sanhedrin. They were both lawyers and the religious leaders of the land. They epitomize religious self-righteousness and those under the influence of arrogance. Note that the witnesses in this case were the judges of the Supreme Court of Israel. The lawyers actually spied on the woman, followed her around, violated her privacy and then arrested her. As members of the court, they should not even have been involved in her arrest.
JOH 8:3, And the scribes and the Pharisees brought or arrested a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst,
Notice that when the scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to the Lord in order to put her case before Him, they made her stand in the middle of the court. This woman is indicative of all the believers in the world who are victims of being judged and condemned by the self-righteous arrogant do-gooders! She exemplifies those who are despised, ostracized and rejected by others. On the other hand, we have the scribes and Pharisees who symbolize those who judge and make accusations against others.
REV 12:10 speaking of Satan it says, “for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.”
The scribes and Pharisees specialized in placing individuals under guilt and condemnation. They would try to make others feel ashamed and inferior about their own weaknesses.
JOH 8:4, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.
The Hebrew word Rabbi means “teacher.”
They say this in sarcasm, ridicule, and rejection of Christ. And in contrast, this woman had already become a believer.
It’s also interesting that they are quoting to the humanity of Christ what the deity of Christ had dictated to Moses on Mt. Sinai, when He gave them the Law. They are telling the one who commanded Moses what the Law says. They are antagonistic and disrespectful toward our Lord. They are activists, evil, and really want to trap, discredit, and destroy the ministry of our Lord. However, they ended up destroying their own nation. Now, let’s stop for a moment and note what type of punishment that the Law demand?
DEU 22:22-27 gives us four categories.
DEU 22:22-27, If a man is found lying or having sex with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and has sex with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her to have sex and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, so is this case. When he found her in the field, the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.
Notice what their Law expressed and the hypocrisy behind these religious leaders! If a man commits adultery with a married woman, both shall die, verse 22. If a man fornicates with a woman or commits adultery with a married woman, both the man and the woman shall die, verses 23-24. And then if a man rapes a woman, then only the man shall die, vs 25.
Notice that the man is always emphasized and there is male involvement. However, back in our passage in Joh 8, the officers of the court did not bring the guilty man before our Lord. The man is just as guilty, if not more so as the initiator. Therefore, because only the woman was brought before TLJC, we can assume that this appears to be a case of conspiracy against the woman. The judges of the Sanhedrin have themselves violated the Law by indicting the woman and not the man and are guilty of the sins of arrogance, which are far worse than anything the woman has done.
JOH 8:5, Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what do you say?
They are saying that this woman was caught in the very act of adultery and the Mosaic Law commanded that such a woman should be stoned to death. Here is a group of religious leaders bringing a woman who has been caught in sin, to have her charged and condemned by the Lord. However, please remember that the scribes and the Pharisees are “using” this woman to try and corner the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs 6 tells us the motivation of these men: “And they were saying this, testing him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground.”
We don’t know what He wrote perhaps He was writing sins on the ground and then looking at the very ones who were committing those very same sins that they were accusing the woman of.
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