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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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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 6 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. 7 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. 8 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.