LESSON 9
Take the time to set up a parallel window for this lesson, use current window to look up scripture references and greek word studies
(windows users will need to do a [Control] [N] because my html code "target="_blank" might not work to open in a new window
(you can also right click this link and select "open in a new window")
BE FRUITFUL In The Spirit, Part II
SECTION 1:
A Story of Being Fruitful
Acts 20:17-38
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What does it mean to be fruitful in the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-25
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1 Corinthians 13:4-8
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Long-suffering: In the New Testament, God’s attitude towards mankind is that He is very patient with us. The Greek word is makrothumia [macro-thoo-mia], which means patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, forbearance, long-suffering. When you are wronged – if you are walking in the fruit of long-suffering – you will not
be compelled to avenge the wrong done, but instead will be slow to anger and wrath. This fruit causes you to bear with troubles and ills in people and situations. To be long-suffering is to be forbearing, loving and forgiving. |
| Kindness: The Greek word for kindness is krestostes [kray-sto-tays] it means moral goodness, integrity, kindness. It has the connotation of being useful, and it goes hand-in-hand with the Greek for philanthropy, which is goodwill to fellow members of the human race. However, kindness is the disposition. It is what motivates us. The word denotes a goodness which does not irritate, does not make others uncomfortable and is a gentleness. |
Goodness: The Greek translation for goodness is agathosuney [a-gath-osu-nay] – uprightness in heart and life, goodness, kindness. This is God’s heart towards mankind as well. He wants to do good to you. His goodness towards you is manifest in His good actions and deeds born out of His great love for you. This goodness flows to you by His Holy Spirit. It is the ability, out of His heart of love, for us to do good to others as well.
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Why do I need to be fruitful in the Spirit?
Ephesians 4:29-32
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2 Corinthians 6:4-6
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Ephesians 2:4-10
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The Holy Spirit gives the strength to patiently endure until the end.
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Life Book Volume 2, Shibley/Evrist, Global Advance Resources, p.36 www.globaladvance.org
How can I be fruitful in the Spirit?
John 15:1-5
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Colossians 3:9-17
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SECTION 2:
Colossians 3:12-15
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Colossians 3:12-15
SECTION 3:
The Memorizing of Scripture
Colossians 1:10,11
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Ephesians 2:7
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Ephesians 5:5
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SECTION 4:
SECTION 5:
SECTION 6:
Go Further
Here are some additional readings for you as you are fruitful in the Spirit:
Patience: [< Latin patiens, < Latin pati (to endure, suffer)] the quality or capacity of being patient; to endure something with calmness; the ability to willingly accept or tolerate delay or hardship. (The same root word led to the word “passion,” which is still used in its original sense of “suffer” when describing the last week of Christ's life.) Its word-field includes long-suffering, forbearance, perseverance, to put up with. The Greek term in Galatians 5:22 is makrothumia [makro- (long, distant in time or space, large-view) + thumos (passion, rage, the emotions of suffering)], with a
usual meaning of having an enduringly-calm temper.
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www.spirithome.com/patience.html
“The root of all goodness is the goodness of God. Sounds simple, right? But there is a problem with what we think of as “good.” We think, "If God is good, He'll do good things for us!" And what do we think of as good? Getting material wealth? Having things go our own way? Instant healing of our ills? Removal of suffering, or getting someone you loathe out of your life? But goodness may be humility, may be suffering, may be loss, may be to serve, may even be boredom. And the things we think of as the gifts of a good God may well be the most important things for us not to have. God’s goodness is defined by God’s love. God’s goodness is goodness, and in its light it is our expectations that must change. Goodness has a way of setting things straight. When we see other people being or doing good, it often reminds us of how not-good we are. Which brings out a suitcase full of excuses. The exposé can be quite a shock, puncturing one’s self-image. Even when we do good, goodness may have nothing to do with it. While nothing entirely gets rid of this tendency in this life, God has given us a way to face up to it: confession. It not only opens us for God’s response to our un-goodness, it also brings about a more truthful self-image. The only way to become more good is to know what ways we’re bad so we can replace that with goodness.”
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www.spirithome.com/goodness.html
“Do acts of kindness for people. Give them little tastes of God’s love. People actually like being treated kindly, as if they are valued. They can lay down at least some of their defenses, relax more, and feel comfortable. Most non-Christians have an expectation of being treated a bit more kindly by Christians, and are disappointed and sometimes even angry when they’re not treated that way. While it’s wrong to live according to others’ expectations, it is a challenge we need to take to heart. Many
practicing Orthodox Jews today do good deeds (mitzvot) as the opportunities present themselves in their daily lives, mainly because it is what God wants them to do. To them, doing good for others is more than a duty, it’s also a prayer and a devotion.”
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“One of the ways of our God is that He is a very patient and longsuffering God. His ways are not our ways. And one of the things you will find out very early on about His ways is that He works on a much slower time frame than we do. And unless you learn to adjust to His slower way of working things out, you will find yourself easily losing your patience with Him and how He wants to work things out in your life. God operates on a much longer and slower time frame than we are used to operating in the fast-paced world in which we live in. You will really have to work with the Holy Spirit on this particular quality to get it properly worked up into your personality. The reason for this is that your own impatience will start to act up and try to override the patience and long-suffering that the
Holy Spirit will try and transmit to you. At times, it may become a battle of wills – your will against His will.”
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www.bible-knowledge.com/fruits-of-the-holy-spirit
The following are not quotes from the disciples handbook, but they could be, because they help. (Rick Livermore - Yachtsman220)
The fruit of longsuffering as the disciples handbook says above, is the greek word
makrothumia
The following copy and paste is from the books Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament
The section this appears in is the one discussing 1 Timothy 1:15-16
The word “howbeit” is alla (ἀλλα), used here, not in its adversative, but its ascensive sense, that of “moreover.” It continues the thought of verse 13 and develops the expression of self-depreciation. The connection, Expositors says, is, “I was such a sinner that antecedently one might doubt whether I could be saved or was worth saving. But Christ had a special object in view in extending to me His mercy.” In the phrase, “that in me first Jesus Christ,” the word “first” does not indicate that Paul is the chief sinner, but that he is “the representative instance of God’s longsuffering to a high-handed transgressor” (Vincent). The word is explained by the word “pattern.” Vincent notes that the a.v., misses the possessive force of the definite article which occurs with the word “longsuffering” in the Greek text. It is more correctly, “all His longsuffering.” Expositors translates, “the utmost longsuffering which He has.” The Greek word translated “longsuffering,” is makrothumia (μακροθυμια), made up of makros(μακρος), “long,” and thumos (θυμος), “soul” or “spirit.” It has the sense of a strong passion, stronger even than orgē (ὀργη), “anger.”Thumos (Θυμος) is a tumultuous welling up of the whole spirit, a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man. The restraint implied in makrothumia (μακροθυμια) is more correctly expressed by long-suffering. It is a patient holding out under trial, a long-protracted restraint of the soul from yielding to passion, especially that of anger.
The following copy and paste is from the books Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament
The section this appears in is the one discussing Galatians 5:22-26
b. The Holy Spirit will produce His own fruit in the life of the saint as the latter trusts Him to do that, and cooperates with Him in His work of sanctification (Galatians 5:22–26).
Verses twenty two and twenty three. These verses continue the exhortation of Paul to the Galatians, not to make their liberty from the law a base of operations from which to serve the flesh, but rather to live their Christian lives motivated by divine love. As the repulsiveness of the works of the flesh would deter the Galatians from yielding to the evil nature, so the attractiveness of the fruit of the Spirit would influence them to yield themselves to the Spirit. The word but is from de (δε), is slightly adversative, and introduces the subject of the fruit of the Spirit as a contrast and in antithesis to the works of the flesh.
The choice of fruit here instead of works is due probably to the conception of the Christian experience as the product of a new and divine life implanted in the saint. In 5:25, Paul speaks of the fact that the Christian lives in the Spirit, that is, derives his spiritual life from the indwelling Spirit, which spiritual life is the motivating force producing the fruit of the Spirit. The word fruit is singular, which fact serves to show that all of the elements of character spoken of in these verses are a unity, making for a well-rounded and complete Christian life.
The particular word for love here is agapē (ἀγαπη). It is the love the God is (I John 4:16), produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22), its chief ingredient, self-sacrifice for the benefit of the one loved (John 3:16), its constituent elements listed in I Corinthians 13. Joy is from chara (χαρα), which is used most frequently in the New Testament of joy that has a spiritual basis, for instance, “joy of the Holy Ghost” (I Thess. 1:6). Peace here is not the peace with God which we have in justification, but the peace of God in our hearts, and can be defined as tranquility of mind based on the consciousness of a right relation to God. It is from eirenē (εἰρενη) which in its verb form means “to bind together.” Thus, Christ Jesus through the blood of His Cross binds together that which was separated by human sin, the sinner who puts his faith in the Lord Jesus, and God.
Longsuffering is from makrothumia (μακροθυμια) which speaks of the steadfastness of the soul under provocation. It includes the idea of forbearance and patient endurance of wrong under ill-treatment, without anger or thought of revenge. Gentleness is from chrestotes (χρεστοτες) which refers to benignity and kindness, a quality that should pervade and penetrate the whole nature, mellowing in it all that is harsh and austere.Goodness is from agathosunē (ἀγαθοσυνη). The word refers to that quality in a man who is ruled by and aims at what is good, namely, the quality of moral worth. It is so used in Ephesians 5:9, II Thessalonians 1:11, and Romans 15:14. Faith is from pistis (πιστις) which does not refer here to faith exercised by the saint, but to faithfulness and fidelity as produced in the life of the yielded Christian by the Holy Spirit.
Meekness is from prautes (πραυτες), which was used in Greek writers to refer to the qualities of mildness, gentleness, and meekness in dealing with others. Temperance is from egkrateia (ἐγκρατεια) which means “possessing power, strong, having mastery or possession of, continent, self-controlled.” It is used in I Corinthians 7:9 of the control of sexual desire. In I Corinthians 9:25, it is used of the control of the athlete over his body and its desires, during the period in which he is in training for the stadium athletic games.27 The word thus refers to the mastery of one’s own desires and impulses. The word does not in itself refer to the control of any particular or specific desire or impulse. The context in which it is found will indicate what particular desire or impulse is meant, if a particular one is referred to.
The words “against such there is no law,” are an understatement of Paul’s thought in the premises, and are for the purpose of rhetorical effect. This mild assertion to the effect that there is no law against such things, has the effect of an emphatic statement that these things fully meet the demands of the law.
Translation. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
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