Happy Friday

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ... IS JOY

By IVAN L. BURGENER, Pastor

Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:22

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

"Joy" is the second of these nine manifestations of the "fruit of the spirit." These are to be virtues characteristic of the believer's life. These are "fruit" of the spirit, but of what "spirit"? Perhaps your translation seems to indicate God's "Holy Spirit" is meant because of the capitalized "S." But many translations, including the 1611 Edition of the King James Version, had no such capital here. And since the Greek language offers no help by any such rules of capitalization, we are left to the internal evidence of the text and the context to determine just what "spirit" is meant.

Help is not far to seek if we notice that the "fruit of the spirit" is in sharp contrast with the "works of the flesh" mentioned in verse 19 above. These sixteen listed works are just the start of a seemingly endless list of manifestations of the flesh, that is the "old Adamic nature." Paul cannot say of these, "against such there is no law"! The Law of Moses clearly condemned them all in its ministry of pointing out sin for what it really was. No wonder "the law was not made for a righteous man .. ,"

Our text clearly contrasts the old and new natures and calls them by the names "flesh" and "spirit" respectively. And while the law clearly condemned the "works of the flesh, that same law had nothing to say about the "fruit of the spirit" or the new nature in which the Galatian believers were to "walk." Thus will joy be one of the spiritual virtues filling our lives as we walk manifesting our new natures, being subject to God and His Word!

Daily Smile:

Martin had just received his brand new driver's license.
The family troops out to the driveway, and climbs in the car, where he is going to take them for a ride for the first time. Dad immediately heads for the back seat, directly behind the newly minted driver.

"I'll bet you're back there to get a change of scenery after all those months of sitting in the front passenger seat teaching me how to drive," says the beaming boy to his father.

"Nope," comes dad's reply, "I'm gonna sit here and kick the back of your seat as you drive, just like you've been doing to me all these years."

  

Spread The Word!!!


The June '12 Edition of The StarLight News can be read on line at 
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Happy Reading

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