No Law Here!
Notes
Transcript
We are continuing through our series on the fruit of the Spirit. And we began with a stark contrast between works and fruit. The works of the flesh; and the fruit of the Spirit.
Clearly they are two very different things and they contrast one another in an abundance of ways. In our journey we’ve noted that Paul listed 15 items for the negative list of works of the flesh; and only 9 for the fruit of the Spirit.
Let’s look at the lists again:
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
in contrast with the fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
and note the last part of that sentence:
Galatians 5:23 (ESV)
... against such things there is no law.
A comedian once commented that people think the Bible is a book of don’ts. He countered that it’s not a book of don’ts, but a book of do’s. He said, “There’s a whole lot more do’s in the Bible than there are don’ts; and if you spend your time doing the do’s you won’t have time to do the don’ts, and if could you wouldn’t, so you can’t so you don’t. So it’s cool.”
Though it’s true that there are don’ts in the Bible. One simply has to think about the ten commandments:
You shall have no other Gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Honor your mother and father. (These two are the only commandments put in the positive form).
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness
You shall not covet
Don’t, don’t, don’t.
Then we get to Jesus and we hear things like:
Don’t judge. Don’t be anxious. Don’t lead a child astray.
What about the do’s?
Well, we’ve already spoken of two of them, the fourth and 5th commandments:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
and Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Do’s vs. Don’ts.
When asked what the greatest commandment was out of the known 620+ commands given in the Law, Jesus boiled it down to two, the first of which is recorded in Matthew 22:37-38
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
That’s a do - to love the Lord with all.
And the second He shared: Matthew 22:39-40
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Did you hear the end of that? Vs. 40:
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
All of the Law depends on these two commandments. And here in our text this morning we read that there is no law against the fruit of the Spirit.
Not only is there not a biblical law against such things as the fruit of the Spirit there is no civil law. Think about that.
Can there be a law against:
Love
Love
Joy
Joy
Peace
Peace
Patience
Patience
Kindness
Kindness
Goodness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Gentleness
Self-Control
Self-Control
No, there can be no law against such things because they are all bound up in that first one.
Love
Love
Love is what we encourage everyone to aspire to.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Without love…we’re nothing.
Without love…we don’t matter.
Without love…
It doesn’t matter how generous we are with the things we have or even ourself: 1 Cor 13:3
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
This is where I contend that many in our culture, and even in our Christian culture are getting it wrong. We think if we’re incredibly generous with the poor: giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, visiting the ill and incarcerated, that this somehow wins us points.
Jesus said, Matthew 6:1-4
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
In our own denomination there has been a push for the Matthew 25 church. Matthew 25 is where we read of the separating of the righteous and the unrighteous: Jesus says: Mt 25:35-36
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
These are acts we should be doing! To the unrighteous he says: Mt 25:42-43
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Now hear me, and hear what I am saying, and what I am not saying.
What I am saying is that
Yes, we should be feeding the hungry,
Yes, we should be giving drink to the thirsty,
Yes, we should be welcoming the stranger,
Yes, we should be clothing the naked,
Yes, we should be visiting the sick and incarcerated.
Yet, to make it about these outward actions instead of about the relationship misses the mark, it makes it about a works based righteousness. To toot our horn and let others know all these righteous acts that we do limits the reward we receive. But in a culture of virtue signaling we want others to know how good we are.
Is our desire for others to praise us for our good works due to a lack of a relationship with the Creator God who sees what we do in secret?
These things ought to be acts of love, they flow from our relationship with our Creator God, with our Lord and Savior
They cannot be forced
They cannot be coerced
They cannot be demanded
There cannot be a law for such things.
That is why when we look at the fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
There is no law against these things, indeed there can’t be. These naturally flow out of our relationship with our Lord Jesus. If they’re done absent of this relationship they amount to nothing.
So if there is no Law against such things there is absolute freedom in such things.
So what does this mean for you and me?
Stay focused.
Love the Lord your God with All.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
To sum it up, it’s not about you. It’s all about God. We actively experience that love of God when we love and serve others.
To God be all of the glory as we serve God by serving one another.
Let me pray for you...