The Rotten Fruit of the Flesh

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

One of my favorite quotes is "The love of God is best expressed when someone is sinning against you." It is easy to "love" someone when they agree with you or are treating you the way in which you enjoy being treated. However, how one acts when they are in disagreement with another or someone is sinning against them is when our true character is revealed. Recently, a believer said that Christians "must still make sure we remain pure and Holy by asking forgiveness when we sin, even after being Saved." My feeling is that we are already holy and forgiven in the eyes of God because of our faith in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross. "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22)." When I expressed this sentiment I was told that my position was "not Biblical," that I "cherrypick" the Bible and that I was in the "5% of Christians who are being tricked by Satan." Rather than showing me from scripture how my position was incorrect I was condemned. This is not the first time that someone has chosen to condemn me for my beliefs on forgiveness rather than reason with me from the scriptures. But, I want to know where is the love of God in this response?

One of the best ways to try and avoid conflict is to ask questions. After all, the Bible says in 1 John 4:1, "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Instead of giving into my flesh and attacking this person for condemning me, simply because I disagreed with them, I asked them a question. I said, "According to 2 Corinthians 5:19, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." If God is not counting our sins against us, what sin is He then going to count against us that we have to ask Him to forgive?" This seemed like a fair question. However, I never got an answer to this question. The only response I got was more condemnation. The forum in which this "conversation" was taking place was open to other people. Therefore, there were other conversations going on regarding the topic of forgiveness with people on both sides of the issue expressing their views. Unfortunately, for those who believed that Christians must continually seek forgiveness from God, their attitude continued to be one not of love, but of accusations and condemnation.

Those who believe as I do were said to not be "true believers," "controlled by Satan" and whose "eyes have been shut by Satan." One particular individual was called a "blasphemous troll" and an "evil witch" because they disagreed with those believing we have to keep asking God to forgive our sins. Out of fairness this individual who was called these terrible names was not acting in love themselves. They repeatedly posted the same few verses in an attempt to shut down conversation. Regardless, where is the love in all of this? It has been my experience over the years that a Christian will treat others the way in which they believe God is treating them. If you are unforgiving and condemning towards Christians who disagree with you, to the point you are calling them names and threatening them with hellfire, it must be because you believe God is threatening you with the same outcome. Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:35)." What will people think of Christians when we cannot have a conversation about forgiveness without resorting to name calling and condemnation? Is that the loving "fruit of the Spirit" we are bearing or is that the fruit of the flesh?

What is love? "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)." The attitudes that I have encountered and talked about here do not reflect this definition of love. The definition of love given here in 1 Corinthians 13 is an exact representation of God's love for us. One key aspect of His love is that He "keeps no record of wrongs." What is that? It is forgiveness! Saints, if God "keeps no record of wrongs," there are no "wrongs," sins, that we need to ask Him to forgive. The sin issue between man and God is over. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ "obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)." You cannot experience the love of God, approach Him with confidence and mature in your knowledge of Him, if your sins are separating you from Him. Furthermore, you will not be able to share the love of God with others, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, if you are not receiving it from Him. All you will be able to do is respond in the flesh and bear the rotten fruit of sin. Be blessed.