PIC: Inner-man and outer-man struggle. Equip.org
The fruit is love (Galatians 5:22-23)
We work hard at making our life count for something, right? Some of us have a whole life ahead of us, while others are quite well further along in our timeline.
What are you paying close attention to — in order to make sure your life is fruitful? What are you “producing” with your life? Scripture encourages us pay attention. 1
So then, …whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God.
– 1 Corinthians 10:31
The lasting fruit of those who have been truly born again – is love. This love is part of the “works” that follow salvation. What will you have to show for your life when you arrive in Heaven?
This love type is not of yourself. You can’t make it. This is a fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in us as we grow in our faith. This “love fruit” is a direct “result of His presence within us” (Galatians 5:22-23).
This agape love inside us is full of “…joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (1 John 4:16, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 13)
But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
– Galatians 5:22-23 – from Apostle Paul
Jesus said, “34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [f]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another.
35 By this
everyone will know
that you are My disciples,
if you have love
and unselfish concern
for one another.”
– John 13:34-35 2
What is your “life fruit“? (Galatians 5:22-23)
Paul teaches that those who are truly “in Christ” will indeed produce this fruit — called love. Got a lot of that fruit?
The fruit of the Spirit
35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
– John 13:35
Others will see it. Agape love will visibly show-up in your life with…
…how you treat people, your “doing things” for others, your having “a willingness to seek the best for another“, your being unselfish, you developing new habits of love, you loving your enemies (Luke 6:35), your being friendly, being cordial and gracious, your being pleasing to God and those around you, your being kind and thoughtful – not rude (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), you tolerating others and being biblical, your being known by your love (John 13:34-35).
We can love others because His Spirit is continually at work inside us, little by little producing lots of…
“…love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
The fruit of tares …another fruit
On the other hand, another fruit people produce is “thorns and thistles”! But that fruit comes from tares – the unrepentant sinners. Is your life producing “thorns and thistles”? (verse 8 of Hebrews 6:4-8)
That is what posers in church produce with their life. So close, but still so lost. Scary thought. You do not want to be one of them!
FOR MORE:
What on earth are you doing with your eternal soul? Producing anything lasting?
___________
1 Corinthians 3:9-15 “…According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it….”
Hebrews 6:4-8…posers with a wasted life – so close, but still lost
“For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.”
– Hebrews 6:4-8 WEB
Being saved means forever never again condemned
This is it …THIS is my life.
Jesus Only Always For All Times
Being tested to know for sure your faithfulness to God
My wild and crazy stallion heart
Getting to Heaven with No Left Foot
Was your confession accepted by God?
“All the privileges and rewards of a new life with Him”
Our final check-in to Heaven for “a full and perfect reward” Excerpt: What will your final “check-in” be like? Going to Hell, and checking-in there? Or: Are you on your way to Heaven and the final-check-in there (1 Corinthians 3:8)?
How do you want to arrive in Heaven? Excerpt: Yes, even the born again will be judged for how they lived-out their life on earth. We will all arrive there, but some …like as if their clothes are a smokin’, having lived badly. Saved, yes, but arriving with clothes a smokin’ from God’s displeasure (“…as [one who has barely escaped] through fire”).
But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.
– 1 Corinthians 3:15
…love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant)
– Luke 6:35
The non-stop work of God inside you and me
Road Sign: God is at work up ahead
What God asks of us in the Bible
God’s grace teaches us to reject sin
How you can know you are a Christian
What you think and practice as compared with what Jesus thinks
Being faithful, little by little
How to treat people Excerpt:
“agape love” is not picky, not selective. That’s the love I want in me. Then… my love towards others is always on.
Being friendly, cordial and gracious
How’s your talkin’? Excerpt: Is your talkin’ seasoned with “gracious and pleasant” words? Colossians 4:5-6
Your spiritual journey to eternal life
Growing into our natural new life in Christ
Your “New Leaf”… once you have repented Excerpt:
The way to live as part of His flock: My sheep know my voice.
“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” – John 10:27
“The way to live” once you become a newbie Christian is described well in Philippians 2:1-18. This is the “New Leaf” passage. You have become a true child of the King, and it’s time to “turn over a new leaf” by the power of God in you. 3
In Christ I am a strong person
“All the privileges and rewards of a new life with Him”
Imagine what “being saved” has meant to you
God is my Refuge and My Strength
The Richness of your soul Excerpt:
The richness of your soul is something you control. Each day you input there, into your soul. You may wish for more cash in your bank account, however, your boss, or “the economy”, controls your wages, right?
With your soul, you yourself can enrich your soul as you walk your day close to God — through all your experiences. To get richness in our soul, we have to want it, and continually yield our will to God.
As we follow what God wants for us, He enriches our soul.
Faithful and True Excerpt:
Oh to be faithful and true to the end. It’s not too late, yet, for you — for all of us who still are alive on planet earth. Ready to meet Jesus face to face? If you are not now “faithful and true” to Christ, turn to Him today. God is asking you to repent. Come to Jesus. 2 Timothy 3: verses 14-17
The Bad Fruit List …Ephesians 4: verses 17-32
Bad fruit…extrapolated from Ephesians 4:verses 12-32
Practicing Sin, Not Following Christ
The sins around us and the sins we do
What escapes your notice? Excerpt:
What escapes your notice?
Obviously, if “it” escapes your notice, you didn’t notice! Ha!
But now you’ve been notified something may be missing. What is it?
Don’t be that shallow, unthinking, self-confident King Solomon’s Fool.
Fickle Piccadillies Excerpt:
Fickle Piccadillies – where I bend and accept picayune “nominal sins”.
There are no picayune “small sins” MirrWebster. They float in-n-out and get stuck in our soul.
One sin can keep you from Heaven — so how “small” was it in retrospect after a trillion eons living in God’s place for Satan, still condemned?
Ever been hurt by someone’s piccadilly “small sin”? Wasn’t so small to me!
We don’t get into a Holy Kingdom by being sinful
When you are wrong and just don’t get it
Right on the edge of trusting him forever See: 1 Timothy 1:15-20 The Message (MSG) Or see the Amplified version
The Inclusive Yet Exclusive Salvation of Jesus
God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
Love in Greek and in the New Testament
Four Greek words: agape, phileo, eros, and storge (and compound words like astorgos, philostorgos)
From GotQuestions.org.
– agape (self-sacrificial love) phileo (brotherly love) eros (sexual love) storge (natural, familial love)
– philostorgos (“be devoted”; “to cherish one’s kindred.”) “Combines philos and storge.” Used only once in the New Testament. Found in Romans 12:10.
– astorgos (“no love”, “unloving”) Romans 1:31 describes sinful humanity as having “no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.” See in Romans 1:31, 2 Timothy 3:3, 2 Timothy 3:1-9
“Difficult Times Will Come” – 2 Timothy 3:1-9
“But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. 2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good….” – 2 Timothy 3:1-9
Agape love
From Preceptaustin.org. Love-Agape (Greek Word Study) | Updated Wed, 07/26/2023 |
From Crosswalk.org. What is Agape Love? (And What Does it Mean for Me?) | Rachel Dawson | Updated May 13, 2024 |
From GotQuestions.org. What is agape love? – “not a sappy, sentimental feeling”
Footnotes
- See: To whom do you “Pay Attention? All-in-one Link: Acts 16:14, Hebrews 2:1, John 10:3, 2 Peter 1:19, John 10:16, Acts 2:14, Acts 8:6, Luke 17:3, 1 Timothy 4:16, James 4:13, 1 Timothy 4:1, Romans 10:16, 1 Timothy 1:4, Titus 1:14, 1 John 4:5.
- BibleGateway Footnotes John 13:34 The key to understanding this and other statements about love is to know that this love (the Greek word agape) is not so much a matter of emotion as it is of doing things for the benefit of another person, that is, having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another.
- Per Google search: Why do people say “turn over a new leaf”?
Way back in the 16th century, pages in books were referred to as leaves. So tuning over a new leaf meant that one was turning to a blank page. This idiom was used to signify a major change in behavior, or a new stage in life.
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