“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:22-23

Longsuffering and temperance (self restraint), as well as any of the other fruits of the Spirit are not manifested through self efforts….they are a FRUIT of the Spirit.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer’s life.  As we look unto Jesus for victory in our daily living, the Holy Spirit is sanctioned to isolate our sin nature.  We are all born with a sin nature due to Adam’s fall.  At Salvation, we are rendered dead to sin through our baptism into the death of Jesus on Calvary’s Cross.

“³ Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?

⁴ Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”  Romans 6:3-4

With our sin nature now isolated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus and His atoning work (not faith in the Holy Spirit), we are now able to willingly submit unto God.  Before Salvation the sinner cannot willingly submit unto God.  They may know the statutes of God, just as King Cyrus.  The lost will sometimes do many good works but they are not born again and will spend eternity in hell.  However, for the Child of God, we are now able to partake in God’s Divine Nature.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”  2 Peter 1:4

As we are willingly submitted to God by faith in the atoning work of Jesus (Grace), we are crucified with Christ; baptized into His death, dead to our sin nature as it is isolated by the power of the Holy Spirit and we begin to bear fruit…fruit of the Spirit.  By willingly partaking in God’s Divine Nature, we become a new creature in Christ Jesus; not a rehabilitated creature.  Old things fall away and all things become new.

Sadly, many professing Believers do not believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to produce such fruit in the Child of God.  Therefore, the religious will present various methods and philosophies (laws) to drive or force the Believer into obedience to the fruit…not the faith; faith in the work of Jesus Christ for dominion over sin.

Please understand, this is not the condoning of sin by those of us who believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to isolate our sin nature and produce fruit in the hearts and lives of the brethren.  It is in fact unbelief in those who feel the compulsion to isolate the sin nature themselves through vain philosophies which will always fail…and fail the must.  Our methods do not have the power to overcome sin and when we put our faith in those methods, the Holy Spirit is not commissioned to isolate our sin nature.

“⁴ Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

⁶ But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:4-6

No matter the law, if it is given to bring forth fruit unto God, it will always and without fail bring forth fruit unto death.  Being dead to the Law through the baptism into Jesus death (the born again experience), we no longer serve the law, the Mosaic Law or any law given to produce fruit onto God.

There IS power over sin for the Child of God.  It is not found in philosophies (motivation, humanistic psychology, etc.) which attempt to explain how to do the what to do’s, namely the fruit of the Spirit.  Power over sin is found in the how to do the NOT to do’s.  It is the “not to do’s” that is the problem in the world today, the fruit unto death which is sin.

“¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

With Salvation comes dominion over sin (Romans 6:14). This dominion can be lost for those who turn to other methods given by well meaning Christians to overcome sin and they produce fruit unto death…spiritual death.  The Believer’s Salvation is in danger of being lost as their faith is utterly destroyed by the manifested works of the flesh. The devil’s bullseye is our faith in the Atonement.  If he can deceive us into other methods for victorious Christian living, our victory is never found which brings grave danger to the Believer’s faith in the power of the Atonement. Sadly, untold thousands, if not millions, fall away from the faith daily because their faith was hijacked by satan and redirected to vain philosophies.  Make no mistakes, the church is the devil’s playground and the religious his instruments.

This is WHY we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified to both the lost and to the Believer. It is by HIS work that the Believer is freely given dominion over sin (Romans 6:14).  It is our faith in HIS work that gives the Holy Spirit latitude free us from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) which isolates our sin nature and enables us to partake in God’s Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4)…this is how we do the not to do’s (sin), by Grace through faith.

Jesus Christ and Him crucified, be determined to know nothing else.  Our Redeemer has the power to possess that which He has redeemed and produce the fruit of His Spirit.  This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and live of the Believer, not the job of the brethren.  Trust Him and Believe.

“²⁰ Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

-Donna Clark Warren