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10-25-15
Fruitful Living
Being Good When You Want to be Bad
INTRO
Watching and listening to children is a great way to observe the reality
of human nature because they are so transparent. They haven’t learned
to hide their humanity behind the phony facades we adults are so
capable of creating.
A friend told me a story about his granddaughter that illustrates what I
am talking about. She was about a year and half old, so she was starting
to walk and talk—in other words, she was just starting to get
dangerous. She had also just discovered the toilet paper roll and that it
was fun to unroll it all. She also just discovered this was a “no-no.” So
her mother came into the bathroom and caught her daughter holding
her doll and standing in the midst of a pile of toilet paper. Before her
mother could say anything, the little girl turned to her doll and said,
“Bad dolly.”
Isn’t that so typical of us humans? As soon as we do something wrong
we begin looking for someone to blame. Sometimes we join Flip Wilson
and say, “the devil made me do it!” The Bible clearly teaches that there
is a real being called the devil or satan. While satan may work hard to
deceive and tempt and destroy, he cannot force anyone to do anything.
James 4:7 says… Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you.
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It has become more fashionable recently to blame our wrong-doings on
our “environment.” I understand that poverty, or a broken or abusive
home affects how people relate to their world. While our background
may give us unique struggles, the choice to do wrong is an individual
one. We see this when the same ghetto produces a criminal and a
cop—when the same family produces a drug addict and a doctor—
when even twins raised at the same time in same family can turn out
completely different.
The difficult thing for us to admit as individuals and as a society is that
no matter how much we want to be good, there is another desire
within us to be bad. The devil didn’t give us this desire and society
didn’t instill it in us—we were born with it. It is one of the results of the
Fall—and I’m not talking about the season, I’m talking about the Fall of
mankind from innocence into sin that happened in the Garden of Eden.
The Bible tells us that one of the results of the Fall is what is called our
“sin nature.” We are born in sin-scarred bodies in a sin-scarred world;
and we continue to live in these sin-scarred bodies in a sin-scarred
world even after we place our faith in Jesus and become Christians.
In Galatians 5 the Apostle Paul contrasts the acts of this sinful nature
with what he calls the Fruit of the Spirit. The acts of the sinful nature
are things like; jealousy, sexual immorality, hatred, and selfishness. The
Fruit of the Spirit, on the other hand, are the things God is producing in
the lives of anyone who is willing to follow Him. For the last few weeks
we have been looking at the Fruitful Living God wants for us—lives
characterized by things like love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness.
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This morning we are going to look at the next aspect of the Fruit of the
Spirit—we are going to look at “goodness.” The word translated
“goodness” in Galatians 5 is part of the image of God that flows
through the Holy Spirit and is reflected in the good works of a Christian.
Take note of a few things from this definition of goodness. First…
 True goodness is found in God alone.
As Jesus said in Mark 10:18… “No one is good—except God alone.”
Some of you have heard me correct myself when you ask me how I’m
doing and I say, “I’m good.” What I really mean is that I am doing well,
because only God is good. This idea is hard for us to grasp because we
have been indoctrinated with secular humanism that teaches that
ultimate goodness is found in fully educated and empowered humans.
The truth is, because of the fall…
 We have no goodness on our own.
We are born as fully-fallen humans whose nature is to sin and who are
looking for someone to blame—bad dolly. Psalm 14:3 says… All have
turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good,
not even one.
It is amazing to me that many people in our world have the mistaken
idea that Christians think they are morally superior. True Christians
understand they aren’t morally superior—they realize how sinful they
are and how deeply they need to be forgiven.
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There has been a meme going around Facebook lately that I totally
agree with. It says…
I am not a Christian because I am strong and have it all together
I am a Christian because I am weak and admit I need a Savior
God is producing goodness in the lives of believers. The problem is that
even a Christian has a desire within them to be bad. But…
 Goodness is what God created and saved us for.
Ephesians 2:10 says… For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God created human beings in His image—in goodness that is seen in
good works. But sin has marred that image and has resulted in a sin
nature that wants to do bad. Part of the transformation God is working
in us—part of the Fruit of the Spirit—is the gradual restoration of the
goodness God created us for and God saved us for in Christ Jesus. But
the restoration isn’t instantaneous. We will struggle with it as long as
we live in sin-scarred bodies in a sin-scarred world. Make no mistake…
TEXT
The Battle is Real
Near the end of Romans 7, Paul makes…
 An Authentic Admission
5
Let’s read Paul’s honest summary of his struggle in Romans 7:21-23.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I
see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind
and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
I think it is time for us as Christians to quit putting up our perfect
facades and start being honest about our struggles like Paul was. We
need to acknowledge that we aren’t Christians because we are strong
and have it all together. We are Christians because we are weak and
admit we need a Savior. And, like Paul, we should follow our authentic
admission with…
 A Faith-filled Answer
Look at Romans 7:24 through the first part of v. 25. 24 What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject
to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ
our Lord! Paul admitted he needed a Savior—a Savior he found in Jesus
Christ the Lord. Then immediately Paul acknowledged he was in…
 An Ongoing Battle
The rest of v. 25 says… So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s
law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. The battle was
ongoing for Paul and it is ongoing for us. So now let’s talk about…
Fighting the Battle
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Some might feel like the ongoing battle means that all hope is lost—
that we can never win so why not just surrender? Well, the battle may
be ongoing; but we need to…
• Realize the war is over.
Look at Romans 8:1-4… 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of
the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by
the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who
do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For believers, our eternal destiny is not at risk in the battle against sin.
Paul’s statement of truth is that there is “no condemnation” or no
punishment for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible
says believers are “justified” or declared “not guilty” because the debt
of their sin has already been paid by Jesus’ death on the cross.
Believers have been freed from trying to do the impossible—that is, to
earn their salvation by obeying the law. The Mosaic Law could not save
anyone because our sin nature keeps us from being able to live up to it.
But the war is over because Jesus died for our sins. Now believers have
the potential to live in obedience to God’s moral law when we listen to
the Holy Spirit rather than listening to our sinful nature.
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The war is over, but the battle between God’s Spirit and our sin
nature—the battle for the fruitful lives God wants to give us and the
wasted lives and regret that the sin nature gives us—the battle is real.
And…
• The battle begins in our minds.
Look at Romans 8:5-8. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their
minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance
with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The
mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit
is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it
does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the
realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Goodness begins in our minds. Right actions begin with right thinking. If
you will pardon my grammar; being good begins with thinking good.
We can choose to think like believers and be responsive to the Holy
Spirit; or we can continue to respond to our sinful nature. The choice is
ours. The battle is real. And sometimes the outcome comes down to
which side you feed.
“Gigo” is an old computer programming word that stands for garbage in
garbage out. If you program a computer with bad data, you will get bad
results. When we program the computer of our minds with garbage, we
get bad results—even as believers. Instead, when we program the
computer of our minds with the good data of God’s Word, we get good
results.
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CONCLUSION
So here is one piece of good data I want us all to grab hold of this
morning. Are you ready for some thinking that will lead to the life and
peace of the Spirit—the fruitful living God wants for you? Here it is…
You don’t become a Christian by doing good. Being a Christian helps
you do good.
Goodness is not found in you—it is part of the Fruit of the Spirit. Come
to faith in Christ and let God’s Holy Spirit transform you into a person
whose life is full of God’s goodness—a person whose life is full of the
good works God created you and saved you to do—a person who
enjoys Fruitful Living.