Verses 16, 17. Here the Holy Spirit now dwelling in the Christian is seen as the power by which practical holiness is produced, instead of demanding it, as the law did, with regard to human righteousness, from our sin-loving nature. God produces it in the heart as wrought by the Spirit. He, the Holy Spirit, was sent down to dwell in all believers. They are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, born of God, washed in the blood of Christ, accepted in God’s beloved Son. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit dwelling in them forever, and having this new creation life in Christ, they are to walk as He walked, and to manifest the life of Jesus in their mortal flesh. This is the life produced in us by the work of the Holy Spirit by the Word of God.
Therefore we are directed, not to the law to lead us, but to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” It is obedience to Christ, not to the law. Christ is our rule of life, in following Him we are doing the will of God, not gratifying the lust of the flesh, for “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other:” so that we should not do the things which our natural desires would lead to, but to do what the new life desires, and this is not guided by law.
Verses 18-21. “But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under law.” This is holy liberty: as in Romans 8:2,2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath set me free from the law of sin and death.” The fruits of the Spirit are now to be seen in the believer. The works of the flesh (v. 19 to 21) ever brought condemnation, and they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
How different is the manner of the Christian’s life, from what it was when unconverted. Sealed by the Holy Ghost, the believer is free; he has power now to walk and to do the good he now loves to do. Christ is in Him, the body is dead because of sin; the old man is crucified with Christ. The Spirit is life, and that Holy Spirit, as a divine person in power, works in him to bring forth good fruits. If we are faithful in seeking grace from the Lord, we are enabled to hold the flesh for dead, and to walk in the steps of Christ, bringing forth the fruits that suit Him.
Verses 22, 23. How beautiful the fruits of the Spirit are! (How opposed to all the works of the flesh!) “Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, faith (or fidelity), meekness, temperance (or self-control). Against such there is no law.” That which is wrought out by the Holy Spirit is according to God, and cannot be condemned by Him.
Love, joy, peace, come first: these are inward and Godward, and make the condition of soul needed to produce what man can see. “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 we believe in Him, we know the love of God, we are sealed by the Spirit, and understand something of the love of God shown in sending His Son to die. We are cleansed by His blood, and the Holy Spirit sheds abroad Hs love in our hearts. By the Spirit we have the consciousness of our new position before God, and love, joy, peace, fill our souls. The fruits which follow, flow from these, and may be seen by others, and taken as proof of the reality of the work in our souls. We know them for ourselves by faith in the Word of God. We set to our seal that what God says is true.
Verse 24. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.” Christ died for us, and we hold ourselves as crucified with Him, as though we ourselves had been put to death on the cross; we do not crucify ourselves. It was for us that He suffered, and for sin that dwells in us, that we are to reckon ourselves dead to. It has no claim on the believer rightly now. This should be our daily practice. God in His government over us, sends circumstances which test us, to help us to apply the truth to ourselves.
Verses 25, 26. “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory provoking one another, envying one another.” Here the injunction to walk by the Spirit is to be humble minded. All glorying in self is set aside. Paul gloried in self while he thought he was keeping the law—the law makes us think of self. When rightly employed, the law is more useful in convincing of sin, but cannot produce righteousness. “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:2020Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20); 1 Tim. 1:88But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (1 Timothy 1:8) to 10). “If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain.” Man has not kept the commandments of God (Born. 3:19); on that ground he is lost.
Christ in grace brings salvation, because we were guilty. Then it is not God’s way to seek to produce holiness in the flesh by law keeping—the carnal mind is enmity against God. God gives a new life in Christ, and also gives the Holy Spirit to produce the fruits acceptable to Him—against these there is no law. God cannot condemn the new creature, the new life, with its fruits of the Spirit, which seeks to please Him. Strengthened and instructed by His Word and Spirit, may we seek to follow Christ, the perfect example of the life of God in a man,
(Continued from page 262)