Truth 03 · Session 2 of 3 · About 2 min
Becoming what you are
Walking in the Spirit, and the fruit it grows
Quiz at the end of this chapter.
Set apart once; being made like Christ every day. Fruit grows, it is not manufactured.
Read these first
Show the verses
Galatians 5:16-25 · NRSVue
16Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
I Peter 1:15-16 · NRSVue
15Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, 16for it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
Titus 2:11-12 · NRSVue
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,
Galatians 5:16-25 · NRSVue
16Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
I Peter 1:15-16 · NRSVue
15Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, 16for it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
Titus 2:11-12 · NRSVue
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,
A few words on what they mean
Once, and every day
Sanctification is immediate, and it is also ongoing. You were set apart once. You are being made like Christ every day. Both are true, and the Holy Spirit inside you is how the second one happens.
Fruit grows
Read Galatians 5 before you read anything else about holiness. Paul lists the works of the flesh and then the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Fruit is not manufactured. It grows, because of what is planted. "Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh." Holiness starts on the inside. A person can keep every outward standard and still be full of bitterness, and God is after the whole of you.
The war inside is normal
Read verse 17 again, because a lot of new converts are frightened by it. "What the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh." If you still feel wrong desires, that is not evidence that nothing happened to you. It is evidence that something did. Before, there was no war; the flesh had the house to itself. Now the Spirit is in residence and the flesh does not like it. The fight is the proof of the new tenant. Paul was confident that "the one who began a good work in you" will finish it (Philippians 1:6). So are you allowed to be.
In all your conduct
Peter says: "as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct." All of it. Hebrews says to pursue "the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (12:14). That is not a threat. It is a description of the road.
Grace gets you down the road
And it is grace, not law, that gets you down it. "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly." The same grace that saved you is what makes you holy. Present your body as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to this age. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2). You are not earning anything. You are becoming, on the outside, what He has already made you on the inside.
And when you fall, you know what to do. Go back to Truth 02, session 2, and read 1 John 1:9 again. Confess it, receive it, get up. The road is long, and God is patient.
Reflection
Which fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 do you most need God to grow in you right now? Ask Him for it by name.
Verse to memorise
Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, for it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
I Peter 1:15-16 · NRSVue
Say it until you can say it without looking.