ICS Daily Devotions
We Cannot Produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit with Our Own Strength
Galatians 5:25 (NKJV) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
John 15:4-5 (NKJV) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
These two scriptures reveal to us that we need to abide in God and to live in the Spirit in order for us to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We have the ability to walk in the Spirit and to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We will become more Christ-like as we work on sanctification that happens when we have a close relationship with God.
Before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we were separated from God spiritually. We used to allow the sin nature to dominate our lives and dictate how we live. We only cared for ourselves and did not bother if we hurt someone else. Our senses led us and our emotions dictated our actions without consideration for others. We did not have the power and strength to overcome the world.
John 3:3 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:17(NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Ephesians 4:24 (NKJV) And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
These scriptures reveal to us that something happened in our spirit man when we are born again. The born-again part of us is the spirit man where we become a new creation. The new creation that is referred to as the “new man” or “spirit-man” in Ephesians, has the nature of God and His true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, we will be able to do what we were not able to do in the “old man” or before we were saved because of the sin nature.
To illustrate this, the Holy Spirit in us should be the King to influence our decisions and reactions, while the soul is the general and the body is the soldier. The king rules and reigns in any kingdom and the job of the general is to submit and to lead the soldiers. The more we subject ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, the more Christ-like we will become. We, Christians are supposed to live our lives from the inside-out because it is our “spirit-man” that is born again which has the nature of God made in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, we are to yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Trying to produce the fruit of the Spirit with our own strength is like letting the soul and body be the king of our lives! No wonder there is no fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives! Let the Holy Spirit be King and we will have fruit of the Holy Spirit in abundance.
Sermon Series: Fruit of the Holy Spirit – LOVE
