I graduated from seminary ready to demonstrate that I was the smartest man in the room. Any room.
I was so full of myself and my vain ambitions. (Boy, wasn’t my church lucky!)
Five years later I was depressed. It turns out, I didn’t really know what I thought I knew. And whatever it was I knew . . . it didn’t work. I was burned-out, defeated and discouraged. I had no idea of where I got off track.
Then it was revealed to me. There is a subtle understanding that can move us from Good to Grace.
We all got off track way back in Genesis 3. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not just an evil tree. It was a tree where you could also learn about a “good” way to live.
Let’s illustrate. Do you know any non-Christians who are kind? Sure. Kinder than many Christians that I know. Let me ask this, is that the Holy Spirit producing the fruit of kindness in them? No, it can’t be, for the person is not a Christian. Maybe it’s their DNA, or perhaps they grew up in life with very little affirmation and approval so that they have become People-Pleasers in the hopes of gaining approval. Regardless, their kindness is not the fruit of the Spirit, for they do not have The Holy Spirit living in them.
Keep going with me. Do you know any non-Christians that are, say, patient? Certainly. Their patience would put most Christians to shame. Again, is that the Holy Spirit? No. It’s just in their DNA to be easy going kind of folks.
Let’s do one more. Do you know any non-Christians who are self-controlled? Sure. These people are on our Olympic teams; they win the Tour de France; they stay up late to ace that chemistry test, and many have kicked smoking or alcoholism. Is that the power of the Holy Spirit at work in them. No. It’s their personal driveness.
So it is, that we know many non-Christians who are peaceful, patient, kind, good, loyal, gentle and self-controlled. But it is not from the Holy Spirit in their lives. Then, where does it come from? It comes from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good.
There were two trees in the Garden, but they yielded three choices: good, evil and Life. If you live out of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you have two choices every day. But, if you get born-again, you can now live out of the Tree of Life (Christ’s Life in you), and every day you have three choices. You can do good, or you can do evil, or you can live in the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2).
For now, here is my point. Follow me carefully. If we know that non-Christians can live a life that looks like the fruit of The Spirit, but it’s not . . .
. . . then is it possible that a Christian can do the same thing?
Is it possible that a Christian can also live a life that looks like the fruit of The Spirit, but it’s not?
Is it possible to mistake “Good,” for “Life.”
I’m afraid that this is so. I’ve done it. As a frustrated Christian, even a pastor, I mistook “good” for “Life” and I tried to be “Christ-like” in my own devoted strength. Avoiding the evil (somewhat!), I was mistaking “the good” for walking in The Spirit. I created the same dilemma for you, too, when I ended my sermon with, say, “Here’s 5 things you need to do to . . . .” Or, “Here are 3 steps you can take to . . . .”
What I should have said was this: “Everything you just heard me preach about, you cannot do! You are not supposed to do it. The Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, will do it in you and through you, as you present yourself to Him” (Rom 6:12-13).
But if we leave out any reference to the Holy Spirit, or to the Biblical themes of “presenting” or “yielding” to the Holy Spirit’s filling and controlling, then we send you out to do good, and cause you to miss out on life, His Life.
You have a new identity. It is Christ. He is your life. Make that change right there, and it could make a world of difference.
Until next time . . . God knows your story, and He’s not mad.
-Carter