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Commentary on "The Fruit of the Spirit: The Essence of Christian Character"

RICHARD PEIFER

 

Day 7: Friday, March 26, 2010

 

Overview

“Just as Jesus made a conscious effort to take time away to be with His Father, our spiritual growth is proportionate to how much work we put into it” (Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Page 155).

 

Observations

Here is one more quotation from the Teachers Quarterly offered as proof of this lesson’s inability to focus on Jesus.

Jesus invites us to rest (see Matthew 11:25-30). The writer to Hebrews invites us to rest (see Hebrews 4). Paul offered life in the Spirit as the ONLY antidote to the problem of the flesh, that is, indwelling sin (see Romans 8). There are hundreds of addition references that could be added to these.

Spiritual growth has absolutely nothing to do with how much work we put into it. It has absolutely everything to do with allowing the Holy Spirit to complete the work He started in us.

Do we participate in this work? Of course! As partakers of the divine nature we have the incredible privilege of constant communication with the Spirit as He causes us to will and to act according to His good purpose (see Philippians 2:12-13).

Is any part of our spiritual maturity our responsibility? No! God has promised to finish what He started (Philippians 1:6).

For 13 weeks SDA writers have been trying to convince you that you must work harder, try harder, pick yourself up when you fail, develop a stronger character and worry that your maturity may not be enough. They have turned one of the most blessed themes of the New Testament into a curse.

Are you tired of feeling guilty all the time? Are you fed up with never being able to measure up? Are you wondering if there’s more? If so, you’re not alone. In his 2009 year-end report, George Barna wrote that 81% of all self-described Christians believe that Christian maturity is the result of following rules and regulations. His report also describes the failure of the church as a whole in the United States to provide any real answers to this problem.

Is it any wonder that most lost people look at Christians and say, “I don’t want any part of that.” And yet these same people are searching for meaning and purpose. They know something is missing, but they are wise enough to know that substituting one form of behavior modification for another isn’t going to make a bit of difference.

 

Summary

Just the other day during our call-in Biblical counseling program (Real Answers) a gentleman asked, “Can you tell me something about Jesus? I think I need Him.” I guarantee you that we did not respond, “[Your] spiritual growth is proportionate to how much work [you] put into it!” When we described the futility of trying to live life apart from Jesus, he wholeheartedly agreed. When we led him to Jesus, the change in his voice spoke volumes.

This is the miracle of grace. This is the source and summation of all Spiritual growth. Nothing else matters.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11).

 

 

Copyright 2010 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised March 10, 2010. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.

 

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