The Christian is called to liberty, the holy liberty of the new nature, but yet it is true liberty. It is no longer a law which constrains, or rather vainly seeks to constrain, a nature whose will is contrary to it, to satisfy the obligations which accompany the relationships in which by the will of God we find ourselves. It is no longer a law imposed, forbidding evil to a nature that loves evil, and commanding the love of God and of one’s neighbor to a nature whose spring is selfishness.
Had it been possible to take away Christ’s moral liberty — which was not possible — it would have been by preventing Him from obeying the will of the Father. This was the food He ate (John 4:3434Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34)). As a perfect Man, He lived by every word which came forth out of the mouth of God. He chose to die, to drink the bitter cup which the Father had given Him, and glorify Him in drinking it, rather than not obey Him. Christianity is the liberty of a new nature that loves to obey and to do the will of God. It is true that the flesh, if not kept in subjection, can use this liberty to satisfy its own desires, just as it used the law, which had been given to convict of sin, to try to work out righteousness. But the true liberty of the new man — Christ our life — is the liberty of a holy will, acquired through the deliverance of the heart from the power of sin; it is liberty to serve others in love. All the law is fulfilled in one word: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Christian can do still more; he can give himself for others, or, at the least, following the direction of the Spirit, he fulfills the law in love. But if they devoured one another in selfishness, contending about circumcision and the law, “take heed,” says the Apostle, “that ye be not consumed one of another” (Gal. 5:1515But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (Galatians 5:15)).
A New Life
The Apostle here establishes the principles of holiness of the Christian walk and brings in the Holy Spirit in place of the law. In the preceding part of the epistle, he had set forth Christian justification by faith, in contrast with works of law. He here shows that God produces holiness, instead of exacting it. The law had already done this with regard to human righteousness, trying to exact if from the nature which loves sin. Now God produces it in the human heart, as wrought by the Spirit. When Christ had ascended up on high and was set down on the right hand of God, having accomplished a perfect redemption for those who should believe on Him, He sent down the Holy Spirit to dwell in all such. They were already children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and, because they were such, God gave them the Spirit of His Son. Born of God, cleansed by the blood of Christ, accepted in the Beloved, God seals them as His own by the gift of the Spirit until the day of redemption, that is, the day of glory. Having the new life, Christ as their life, they are bound to walk as Christ walked and to manifest the life of Christ down here in their mortal flesh.
This life, produced in us by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word, is led by the Spirit which is given to believers; its rule is also in the Word. Its fruits are the fruits of the Spirit. The Christian walk is the manifestation of this new life, of Christ our life, in the midst of the world. If we follow this path and walk in His steps, we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. It is thus sin is avoided, not by taking the law to compel man to do what he does not like, for the law has no power to compel the flesh to obey. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The new life loves to obey, loves holiness, and Christ is its strength and wisdom by the Holy Spirit. The flesh is indeed there; it lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against the flesh, to prevent man from walking as he would. But if we walk in the Spirit, we are not under the law. We are not as the man in Romans 7, where, impelled by the new nature, the will desires to do good. But since he is a captive to sin, he finds no way of doing what he desires; the law gives neither strength nor life. Under law, even if life is there, there is no strength: Man is the captive of sin.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit
But sealed by the Holy Spirit, the believer is free; he can perform the good he loves. If Christ is thus in him, the body is dead, and the old man is crucified with Christ. The Spirit is life, and that Spirit, as a divine and mighty person, works in him to bring forth good fruits. The flesh and the Spirit are in their nature opposed the one to the other. But if we are faithful in seeking grace, the power of the Spirit, Christ by His Spirit in us, enables us to hold the flesh for dead and to walk in the footsteps of Christ, bringing forth the fruits that suit Him.
There is not really any difficulty in distinguishing the fruits of the Spirit and the fruits of the flesh: The Apostle names them, at least those which are characteristic of their respective actions. Of the sad fruits of the flesh, he positively declares that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. Against such there is no law: God cannot condemn the fruit of His own Spirit.
The Inward Fruits
Notice that the first three of these fruits are love, joy and peace. The Spirit will surely produce those practical fruits which manifest the life of Christ in the sight of men, but the inward fruits, the fruits Godward, are mentioned first, for they constitute the condition of soul needful for producing the others. Many converted persons seek for the practical fruits in order to assure themselves that they are born of the Spirit and accepted of God. But peace, love and joy are the first fruits of the presence of the Spirit; the others follow. In order to know what is in the heart of God, we need to see the fruit of His heart, the gift of Jesus.
If I believe in Him and am sealed of God by the Spirit, I have the sense of His love. That love that was shown in the death of Jesus is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, which is given to those who are washed from their sins through faith in His blood. By that Spirit we have the consciousness of our position before God, and love, joy and peace are in the soul. The fruits which follow are, moreover, the proof to others that my certainty and assurance are not false, that I am not deceived. But for myself, it is what God has done which is the proof of what is in the heart of God, and through faith I set to my seal that God is true. Then, sealed by the gift of the Spirit, I rejoice in His goodness, and the fruits of the new life manifest to others that this life is there.
Bible Treasury, Vol. 14