1988 issue 7 - who is the genuine christian? part iii - counsel of chalcedon

7/27/2019 1988 Issue 7 - Who is the Genuine Christian? Part III - Counsel of Chalcedon

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those chains

of

bondage to sin, and we

are given a new nature

in

Christ (II

Cor. 5:17).

In verse 3, we learn that Christ's re

demptive work accomplishes something

that the Law could

not

do.

We

have al

ready seen that the Law is impotent to

produce righteousness in

our

lives.

Again, the problem is not the Law but

the sin nature that resides in us. We

simply are unable in our flesh to meet

the righteous demands of God's law.

What the Law was unable to do through

human flesh, God accomplished

through His Son, Jesus Christ who

appeared in the likeness

of

sinful flesh

to be a sin offering. Verse 3 states that

Christ condemned sin in sinful man .

How did

He

do this?

For

one, Jesus was

made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). He bore

the penalty for

our

being covenant

breakers.

In

bearing this penalty, Jesus

satisfied divine justice. Since one of

God's glorious attributes is justice, He

cannot whimsically dismiss violations

against His holiness.

The

penalty for

transgression must be upheld. God the

Father rendered a legal judgment upon

the sin of the flesh, when

he

executed

His judgment

of

condemnation upon

the sinless flesh of His Son. Sin lost

its right of securing our condemnation.

Whereas Romans 6:23 says that the

wages

of sin

is

death,

we

who are in

Christ are no longer liable to this penal

ty. In losing its right to condemn us,

sin also l

ost

its power to control us by

making

us

to continually sin. Thus,

every aspect

of

sin's effect upon us is

condemned by Christ's redemptive work

on our behalf.

The momentous effect of our justifi

cation allows the righteous require

ments of the Law to be met in us, says

verse 4. Whereas the natural man is

totally unable to live a holy life, the

man in Christ has the ability to do so

.

There is a new nature at

work

in the

Christian, and there is a mighty force

that is supplying the power to accom

plish this.

One

of

the ways in which the righ

teous requirements

of

the Law is being

met in us is through our living in accor

dance with the Spirit and

not

in

accor

dance with the sinful nature. The Greek

grammar is so significant here. The

phrase in verse 4, "who do not live"

conveys an ongoing activity which re

flects a lifestyle. This is so important

in

our

understanding the distinction

between the genuine Christian and the

counterfeit one.

In the verses to follow, Paul

will

make a vivid contrast between two

types

of

individuals.

In

verses 5-7, this

contrast is seen with reference to man's

mind. One man has his mind con

tinually set

on

the desires of his sinful

flesh. lbe qther

man

has his mind con

tinually

set

on the desires

of

the Holy

Spirit (vs. 5).

The

sinful mind results

only in death, whereas the Spiritual

mind results in life

and peace (vs.

6).

The sinful mind is said to be hostile

towards God. This hostility is seen n a

refusal

to

submit

to

God's law (vs.

7).

In fact, this mind is totally incapable

of

submitting

to

God's law. The spiritual

mind, however, obviously submits

to

God's law and has the capacity to do so.

Is this not what verse

3

stated?

The

righ

teous requirements of God's Law are ful-

filled in those who are truly justified.

Verse 9 is a very revealing passage,

for it unequivocally contrasts the gen

uine Christian from the one who is a

professor of the faith. Verse

says, "You, however, are controlled not

by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, i f

the Spirit

of

God lives in you. And if

anyone does not have the Spirit of

Christ, he does not belong to Christ."

How more plain can this passage be? f

we do not have the Holy Spirit present

in our lives we are

Ot

Christians. And

if the Holy Spirit lives in us,

we

will

not be under the governing influence of

our sinful nature.

The contrast between the Christian

and the non-Christian is further ex

pressed in verses 13 and 14: For

if yo

u

live according to the sinful nature,

you

will die; but

if

by

the Spirit you

put

to

death the misdeeds

of

the body,

yo

u

will live, because those who are led by

the Spirit of God are sons of God." A

lifestyle

of

indulgence in one's sinful

desires only leads to eternal death in

Hell. However, the true sons of God are

those who are led

by

the Holy Spirit.

To be led by the Spirit means that we

are continually crucifying our sinful de

sires. This is what sanctification is all

about.

It

is the daily putting to death of

our sinful tendencies through the power

of the Holy Spirit. Here, we can see a

direct correlation between justification

and sanctification.

One

doesn't exist

without the other.

If

we

are

not

ex

periencing victory over sin by the Holy

Spirit's power, then

it

only demon

strates that we have never been justi

fied.

Verse 15 states that the genuine

Christian is

not

subject to fear again

but that

he

has received the Spirit

of

sonship which cries out "Abba,

Father." When God works his special

grace in our hearts, we do

not

look at

God with trembling fear of the judg

ment that awaits our disobedience. In

stead,

we see

God

as

our

intimate hea

venly father who loves us. The differ

ence is due to the presence of the Holy

Spirit in

our

hearts.

Verse 16 informs us that the Holy

Spirit testifies with

our

innermost be

ing that we are God's children. One

might think that this verse

is

primarily

a subjective discernment. However,

it

is

really the opposite. This verse must be

understood in the context of the pre

ceding verses. When the Spirit is pre

sent, a person will eagerly submit to

God's law;

he

will

not

live

in

constant

disobedience to God. We can have assur

ance of our salvation when we are obey

ing God's law

from

the

heart

This is

how the Spirit bears testimony with us.

Justification and sanctification are

two precious doctrines of the Christian

faith. They are so intertwined that they

cannot exist apart from one another. Is

it possible to have Jesus as Savior and

not as Lord? NO Is

it

possible to be

justified and yet live like the unbelie

ver? NO The carnal Christian doctrine

makes a radical separation between

these two great doctrines.

The

doctrine

explicitly teaches that a man can be

justified at o

ne

given point and later

on

be sanctified. Nothing could be further

from the truth as we have seen from a

close examination of Scripture.

VI. The

Necessity

of

Spirit

ual Fruit

The Counsel of Chalcedon, July,

1988

a g e 27


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One

of

the most

common

iniages in

the Bible is that of fruitfulness or u n ~

fruitfulness. Fruitfulness

was

common

ly used as a sign and presence of spirit

ual vitality and prospericy. Unfruit-

fulness was a sign of spiritual deadness.

It

is

very important for

us

t

see

how

this agricultural iniagery is use4 to dis

tinguishbetween genuine and counter

feit Christianity. Beaiing spiritual fruit

is no option for the professing

Chris-

tian. It is

an

absolute necessity. Tying

this in with the previous section, fruit

fulness

is

the sanctification process

which gives evidence that spiritual

life

is truly present - namely u s t : i f i c ~ t i o n

One

of

the magnificent blessings in

Scripture is thatthe Christian is said to

be n union witn Christ. The Cbtistian

is

said

to

have died and to have risen

With

Christ. Romans

7:4

says that one

of

the effects of Christ's w6rk is that

we can bear fruit to Gbd . In Matthew

3:8, we see John the Baptist rebuking

the Pharisees and

SadduceeS

for their

wickedness. Verse 8 says, ' Produce

fruit in keeping with repentance. If

there is trUe repentance there will

al-

ways be spiritual fruit present, giving

evidence of the reality of true re

pentance. To be barren of any spiritual

fruit results in dire consequences for the

person, as verse 10 states, The ax is

already at the root of the trees, and

every tree that does not produce good

fruit will be cut down and

thrOWn

into

the ftre. To be cut down and thrown

into the fire is a common expression

which usually conveys the idea of udg

ment and condemnation. The Pharisees

and Sadducees surely could not expect

to inherit eternal life for their wicked

deeds . They could

only

expect to be

eternally condemned.

John

15

:1-8 teaches

us

that union

with Christ inevitably leads to spiritual

fruit. Jesus used the imagery

of

the

virie

artd its branches.

He

indicated that He

was

the true vine - the source for spirit

ual life. The heavenly father is said to

be the vinedresser or gardener. One

of

the normal

taSks

'of a garderier is that of

pruning. Jesus says that every branch

that doesn't bear fruit is completely cut

off (vs. 2) and thrown into the frre to be

burned (vs. 6). On the other hand, every

branch that is bearing fruit is pruned so

that it will become even more fruitful

(vs

. 2). Jesus says that

the

secret of

success in bearing fruit lies in our close

union with

the

true vine. branch is

totally dependent upon he vine for its

existence. The branch receives n o u r i s h ~

ment ohly through the vine.

n

verse 4,

Jesus said tliat

the

branch cannot be

independently

f t u i t f ~ l

apart

1

from

its

uniori with' the vine. f the

brarich

abides

or

remains in the vine, then

the

life that the vine possesses

will natUral-

ly flow to the branch. Ukewise,

ir

the

disciple, who is the branch,

abides

h

Christ, who

is tfie

vine; then

the

spirit

ual life that Cluist possesses will

na:-

tuially flow to the disciple, resulting in

spiritual fruitfulness (vs.

5)

. In verse 6,

Jesus informs

us

ofthe consequences of

failing to abide in Him. Tire branch that

is not in uilion with the vine cannot

bear fruit.

t

is thrown away and with

ers. It is gathered and thrown into the

fue to

be

burned. Thus, the professing

disciple that is not in

true

union with

Christ will be barren of any fruit. This

person will experience God's judgment

of condemnation. Verse 8 is a tremen

dous summary to this section, This

is

to my Father's glory, that you bear

much fruit, showing yourselves

to be

my

disciples. What is the evidence that

a person is a true disciple

of

Jesus?

It

is

t h ~ t

he b e r ~ fnlli.

...

This

idea that spiritual

fruitfulness

is

the sign

of

a genuine Christian is clear

ly taught elsewhere in Scripture. In

Matthew 21:19, we see Jesus cursing

a

'fig tree that was not bearing fruit. His

cursing spelled the doom of the tree, for

it would never again bear fruit. Jesus

taught his disciples a great lesson by

thiS ac tion. f the tree is truly healthy it

will

natUrally

produce

ftgs

.

If

it doesn't

produce figs, then it is worthless. Jesus

related

this

incident

to

the'condition and

judgment of national Israel in Matthew

21:43, Therefore I tell you that the

lqngdom

o

God will

be

taken

away

from you and given to a people who

will produce its fruit. The true possess

ors of God's kingdom are those

who

evi

de nce its fruit.

In Luke 16:6-8; Jesus gave the para

ble of the barren ftg tree. The owner of

th fig

tree for

three years has

sought to

harvest ftgs from his

tree; yet, he

has

onlyfound it barren each year. Finally,

the

owner tells the gardener to cut it

down

because it

is

obviously dead. The

gardener

pleadS

to

the

oWiler to give

the

tree o n ~ more year, and he

will

fertilize

it and give close attention to it.

f

it

is

still barren,

then

the gardener will adntit

that it

is

truly dead. The lesson

is

clear.

Persistent unfruitfulness is indicative of

spiritual deadiJ.ess.

Our

exarii.ination

of Romans 8 indi

cated that the genuine Christian is one

who has

the Holy Spirit present

in

his

life. We noted that the spiritual mind is

submitted tci God's law . because the

Holy Spirit will never work in opposi

tion to God's revealed will.

In

Psalm

1:2,3, we learn that the blessed

man

is

the

one who delights .

in the law

of

the

Lord and who continually meditates on

it.

The

result

of

such

actions

is that

this man will have a continued source

of

spiritual strength and

will

produce

appropriate fruit. He

will

continually

prosper

in u

ihat

he does

.

On several occasions, Paul prayed

that those who responded to the Gospel

be filled

with

the fruit of righteousness

that comes through Jesus Christ

(Phil.

l:it

.

Isn't this what

was

said in John

15? f

we abide in Jesus,

then

we will

produce fruit.

It

is by

abiding

in

Jesus

that we can produce

the

fruit of

righ-

teousness. n Colossians

1:9,10

Paul

prayed that the Colossians would live a

life worthy of

the

Lord and pleasing to

Him. This is demonstrated

by

constant

ly beanng fruit through good

works.

The previous passages have portrayed

fruitfulness

in

a positive

way.

The

as-

sumption is that the fruit produced is

godly fruit. The Bible does speak of

'bearing fruit in another sense. Luke

6:43-49 teacheS us that the kin of fruit

that we gives evidence of

our

true

spiritual status. Jesus used

the

imagery

of fruit bearing trees to

teach us

this

trUth. Each tree is recognized by the

kind of fruit it produces. If it is a good

tree it will .produce good fruit, and 'a

bad tree will always produce bad fruit.

Don't expect

to

get

ftgs

and

grapes froirl

thonibushes and briars (vss. 43,44).

Likewise, a good man will

r o d u ~

fl

Page' 28 The Counsel

of

Chalcedon, July,

1988


4/4

fruit

of

good works from a heart that

is

good (a Christian).

An

evil man (non

Christian) will only produce ungodly ac

tions from a heart that has not been re

newed by God's grace (vs.

45).

The na

ture

of

the good and bad trees

is

further

elaborated upon

in

verses 46-49. In

these verses, Jesus clearly sets forth

what

it

means

to

live under His Lord

ship.

To

have Jesus as one's Lord

means that one obeys what Jesus says.

Merely saying that Jesus

is

our Lord

does

not

insure that

He

is. The man

who practices what he says

is

likened to

a man who built his house on a good

foundation. When a flood came (a

means

of

testing) his house withstood

it. However, the man who does not prac

tice what he says is likened to one who

built his house on the sand.When the

flood

came

his house was completely

ruined. There is only one kind

of

person

who can withstand the fmal day

of

judgment It

is the person who truly

has Jesus

as

Lord. The good fruit men

tioned

in

verses

43-45

is expressed by

obedience

to

Jesus' commandments.

The person who merely confesses to

have Jesus as Lord

but

whose fruit is

disobedience

to

Jesus' commands re

veals that

he

was a bad tree all along.

Come the great day

of

judgment, this

person will be cast into Hell.

The genuine Christian is

not

a hearer

of theW

ord

only but a doer

of

the Word

(James 1:22-25).

He

is one who has

Jesus as hi s Lord and gives evidence

of

this through his good works in Christ.

His

fruit is the fruit

of

the Holy Spirit

and not the fruit

of

the flesh.

Galatians 5:13-26 delineates for us

the difference between the fruit of the

Spirit and the fruit

of

the flesh. After

teaching that the Christian is no longer

in bondage to the ceremonial laws

of

the

Old

Testament, thereby possessing

true freedom in Christ, Paul exhorts the

Galatians

not

to misunderstand their

freedom in Christ. t does not give us a

license

to

indulge in the deeds of the

flesh (vs. 13). The entirety

of

God's law

can be sununarized in one command,

says

Paul - love

your neighbor as your

self (vs. 14). Loving one's neighbor as

oneself involves being

led

by the Holy

Spirit, and the result will

be

that one

will not indulge in the desires

of

the

flesh (vs. 16). Being led

of

the Spirit is

in stark contrast with being led by the

sinful nature (vs. 17). Being led

of

the

Spirit

is

seen by manifesting the fruit

of the Spirit; whereas, being led

of

the

flesh

is

seen by manifesting the fruit

of

the flesh. Beginning

in

verse 19, Paul

informs us what it means

to

manifest

the fruit of the flesh. In this list notice

how

many

of these traits are associated

with our dealings with others. Verses

19-21 say, The acts

of

the sinful

na

ture are obvious: sexual immorality,

impurity and debauchery; idolatry and

witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits

of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions,

factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies,

and the like. I warn you, as I

did

before,

that those

who

live

like

this will not

inherit the kingdom

of

God. Nothing

could be more plain.

To

allow any

of

the deeds

of

the flesh

to

be the con

trolling influence in

our

life is

to

doom

us to everlasting destruction in Hell.

On

the other hand, verses

22

and

23

say, But the fruit

of

the Spirit is love,

joy, peace, patience, kindness, good-

ness, faithfulness, gentleness and self

control. Against such things there is no

law. Verse

24

is highly significant

for

it

states, Those

who

belong

to

Christ

Jesus have crucified the sinful nature

with its passions and desires.

To

have

crucified the desires

of

the flesh means

that

its desires

no

longer have the con

trolling influence over our lives. It

should

be

apparent the similarity be

tween Romans 8 and Galatians

5

The

Galatians passage simply gives somede

tailed content as

to

what

it

means

to be

led of the Holy Spirit and

to

belong

to

Christ

The genuine Christian

is

one

who

continually manifests the fruit of the

Spirit. If these traits are not functioning

in

our lives and

are

the predominating

influence over us, then

we

had better do

some deep soul searching.

In

n

Corin

thians

13:5,

Paul exhorted the Corin

thians

to

do such soul searching; nExa

mine

yourselves

to see

whether you

are

in

the faith; test yourselves.

Do

you

not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -

unless,

of

course, you fail the test?

[To be concluded next month]

The Westminster

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Faith

This

edition of

the

original Westminster Standards (includingthe Larger Shorter Catech

is

ms,

Form of

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Til Counsel ofChalcedon

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for a

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mottttttg l t t i t t g

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The Counsel of Chalcedon, July,

1988 29

1988 issue 7 - who is the genuine christian? part iii - counsel of chalcedon

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