AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Friday – November 18, 2022, Cheshvan 24, 5783
FRIDAY NUGGETS
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Greetings dear and precious saints of God, sons and daughters of the Father, joint-heirs, co-laborers with and in the Son, taught and helped (empowered) by God the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:9 (AMP)
9 For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God’s garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God’s building.
Welcome back to the Friday teachings generally titled “Friday Nuggets”. Today I will be embarking on a study of the fruit of the spirit, our spirit. Of course, whatever fruit is produced or more accurately whatever fruit our spirit has the potential to produce originated with and is the same as that of God.
Genesis 2:7 (KJV)
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Here we see God fashioning our physical body, breathing life (our spirit man) and our soul into that body. Our spirit man is where the fruit of the spirit are located, it is the part of us that communicates with God. The soul is where our mind, emotions, will, intellect are located. So, you see that we are three part being from the beginning, the immaterial or spiritual parts (spirit and soul) coming from God, and the physical or material part coming from the earth. Notice that both the soul and the spirit came from God. The soul (mind, will, emotions, intellect) is not the same as the physical brain in the physical body. Since the soul is from God what is its capacity? That is a different study for a different time, just stirring up your thoughts. In this study we are focusing on the nine fruit of our spirit which are from God and have the same potential as God’s Spirit. Let’s again examine our main text.
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Notice that “Spirit” is capitalized indicating that we are talking about the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit does live within us and communicates with our spirit man at and following salvation. The question is this, is He operating independently of us or is He teaching, helping, and empowering the Godly choices we make? So, is it a translational error to capitalize the word “Spirit” in this 22nd verse. It is my opinion that it is indeed a translational error. Unfortunately, not only we today but the translators then see through a particular lens, a certain bias. If you are a God is in control of every detail of our lives then capitalizing the word “Spirit” fits perfectly for you. On the other hand, if you believe that God made us as freewill beings to make decisions for ourselves as evidenced right from Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 3:6, the Day of Sin and Death, you will see this as a translational error.
Just as a natural child is born with all of the capacity of the parent, a maturing must take place to achieve that capacity. I am not talking just time but practice of various skills to bring them to perfection. Let’s say your dad could bench press 300 lbs., you were not born able to even bench press 1 lbs. However, with time and physical maturity you can achieve that goal. Same for example, if mom was a mathematical whiz that can only be achieved in the child with maturity, time, and training. Hopefully, these natural examples have given insight to those struggling with these concepts. So, it is with the fruit of our spirit, great capacity is present at the new birth but requires our decision and effort to perfect (mature) each one. Of course, this is with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. As I close for this week consider the following verse.
Romans 1:20 (AMP)
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],
God through the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians at Rome tell them and us that we can get tremendous insights into how the spiritual realm operates by discerning the operations of the natural realm (world).
Lord willing, I will return next Friday with more nuggets concerning the fruit of our spirit.
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Receive the blessing in Jesus’ name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (MSG)
24 GOD bless you and keep you,
25 GOD smile on you and gift you,
26 GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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