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NASB | Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, |
Subject: Fruit vs. Works: the same or different? |
Bible Note: Hi, Country Girl. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They gave me some new things to think about. I'm not sure if it was intentional on your part but you refered to us as the vine and Jesus as the Branch. I believe it is always the other way around in Scripture (He is the vine, we are the branches). I would also address the point where you and I differ in every post. I understand that you are compelled to say that we may be surprised with a one-way ticket to hell on Judgment Day if we aren't careful in accumulating enough "good works" to gain us entry into heaven. I know you say this in sincerity of heart, believing it to be both true and also to be beneficial to the readers of this forum. In the same way I am compelled to disagree. Though I do appreciate your thoughts on fruit and works, I believe that both are born out of our relationship with God, not the other way around. You wrote: "Some of these fruits are also inter-related but we should strive to add them all to our spiritual person and upon adding them, strive to improve them and grow in our spiritual relationship with our Lord." According to your order we must first gain fruit, then work (with diligence) to improve them, and lastly, grow in the Lord. Even if I agreed that we could do these things on our own (and I don't), I would beg to differ with the order. As I stated in my previous post, in my understanding of Scripture our fruit and/or works come out of our relationship with God, not the other way around. Just as you feel it is imperative to continually tell people they should constantly work at gaining access into heaven (just in case all that work is needed), lest they miss it, I feel it is just as imperative to refute your statement and suggest that people should rely on the finished work of Christ for their eternal heavenly home. You see, for me it is not a matter of "covering all the bases." It is a matter of helping people to see God for who He truly is. The Sovereign Creator of everything and Ruler over all His creation. To make salvation dependant upon our works is to make God impotent rather than Omnipotent. Thus man's view of God becomes smaller and smaller. Okay. That's all. May you be blessed, Karen |