“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22,23).

The “fruit of the Spirit” is that combination of graces evidenced in the lives of believers who “walk in the Spirit.” Let us never make the mistake of supposing that “the Spirit,” in Gal. 5:22,23, refers to “the spirit of man which is in him” (I Cor. 2:11). It refers rather to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who indwells believers. The spiritual virtues listed above do not spring from any goodness in us, but from the Spirit of God dwelling within.

Next, we should observe that these graces are not the product of human effort. The passage above declares that they are fruit, and fruit is the natural product of life and growth. Indeed, “the fruit of the Spirit” is here contrasted with “the works of the flesh” (Vers. 19-21), and these are all bad!

Finally, it is a remarkable fact that the graces which the Holy Spirit produces in yielded believers are certainly not those which the world admires. The world admires self-confidence, self-respect, self-made men, intellectual prowess, personal magnetism, authority, etc., while the Spirit produces “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” But consider the difference. A man may have self-confidence, intellectual acumen, political or other power — and he may still be very difficult to live with, but not so with the virtues which the Spirit produces. Of those who possess these graces the Apostle says: “Against such there is no law.”

“…Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name” (Psa. 138:2).

As I passed by my study the other night, I noticed that I had left a Bible lying on the floor next to a chair. In studying I had put it down momentarily to consult a reference book and had neglected to pick it up again.

Now, as I caught a fleeting glimpse of that blessed Book lying there, it bothered me; in fact it bothered me enough to make me go back and pick it up and put it where it belonged.

Then I began wondering why so trivial a matter had troubled me. Was it because I remembered how dad would never allow anything to lie on top of the Bible? Had mere sentiment confused my thinking?

Surely the Word of God is forever settled in heaven and that book lying on the floor was only paper, ink and a leather cover. Or was it? Was it not also the Word of God as given to us? And as such, was it not representative of God Himself? If our country’s flag must be treated with honor and respect; if it is sacrilege to treat it as mere cloth, how much more is this so where the Holy Bible is concerned!

No, it was not merely dad’s example that came to mind as I saw the Bible lying there: certainly it was not only that. Rather it was a Scripture passage of which he often reminded us; the inspired words of David quoted above:

“Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name.”

To be sure God would have us use His Word as a textbook from which to learn His will. It is no sign of reverence for this great Book to leave it lying untouched on the shelf. He would have us use it and study it, perhaps underlining important passages and marking significant connections. But with all this we must never forget to treat it with the reverence and honor due the written Word of God.

Before you have placed your trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior, there is nothing whatever you can do to please God or to gain acceptance with Him. John 3:35 declares that “the Father loves the Son” and cares what you think about Him and do with Him. This is why Verse 36 goes on to say:

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

But once you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord there is much you can do to please God. You can witness to His saving grace, you can please Him by living a godly life, you can work for Him, you can sacrifice of your means to further His cause, and yes, you can fight for Him. “Fight for Him” you say? Yes indeed, for this world system, our Adamic natures and Satan and his hosts, are all antagonistic toward the Christ who died for our sins. Satan’s forces, especially, work behind the scenes to “blind the minds of them that believe not” (II Cor. 4:4). These fallen angels, we read, are “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (iEph. 6:12).

This is why God urges His children to be “strong in the Lord,” putting on “the whole armor of God,” so as to meet and defeat these evil forces (Vers. 10,11). This is why He puts a sword (“the Word of God”) into our hands and bids us “stand… stand… stand!” (Vers. 11-14).

Ah, but a great veteran, who waged many battles in making Christ known to the lost, gives us an inkling of the thrill that goes with being “a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” In his last words, just before his execution, the Apostle Paul declared triumphantly: “I have fought a good fight!” (II Tim. 4:7). It was indeed “a good fight” in which he had been engaged, a fight to bring light and salvation and blessing to benighted souls. And the reward:

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown” (Ver. 8).

We were all doubtless surprised when the East German authorities began opening the Berlin Wall to West Berlin visitors at Christmas time. We can never be sure just what might be up the Communists’ sleeves, but for the time being it sounds encouraging. What they ought to do, of course, is to tear the wall down. It is a crime against humanity and a sin against God to confine half a city in a cage, to treat human beings as if they were animals.

The Bible speaks of a wall that separated all mankind into two parts. In Ephesians 2 the Law, the Ten Commandments, is called “the middle wall of partition.”

The Law was given to God’s covenant people. The Gentiles had been given up long before at the Tower of Babel and God had called out Abraham and his seed and had given them the Law. They broke the Law, however, so that Rom. 3:19 says:

“Whatsoever the law saith it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be brought in guilty before God.”

Because of the broken Law all men have been placed on the same level, but this was also God’s purpose of grace: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief: that He might have mercy upon all” (Rom. 11:32). And thus God offers salvation to all through Christ, who died for our sins at Calvary. This is why Eph. 2:13-16 says:

“But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who once were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us… that He might reconcile both unto God in one Body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.”

Thank God there is no “Berlin Wall” between God and those who trust His Son, nor between believers who have been made “one Body in Christ.”

“The father of lies” always hates the truth, but he does not always oppose it by the same methods. If he fails to succeed as a roaring lion he may appear as an angel of light, suggesting that surely a God of love will not condemn Christ-rejectors forever. Sinners, he will contend, are not responsible for their sins anyway, for does not Eph. 1:11 teach that “[God] worketh all things after the counsel of His own will”? And thus God Himself is supposed to have conceived the idea of sin as “a gracious means to a glorious end,” and to have caused man to fall into sin so that He might finally save him from it!

Why an almighty, all-wise, all-loving God permitted sin to enter the universe must, for the time being, remain an impenetrable mystery to us, but one thing is certain: He is not the author of sin, and never accepts the responsibility for it — except that in grace and love He bore its penalty for man.

God calls sinners “children of disobedience” and “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:2,3), explaining in the clearest language that He hates sin and that His anger is kindled against it (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6; John 3:36). But if God meant man to sin and caused him to sin, how was man disobedient and what cause could God have to be angry? Those who would shift the responsibility for sin from themselves to God should remember that He proclaimed His standards of righteousness in the Law “that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may be brought in guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).

The contention that all will finally be saved may at first sound like wonderful grace, but actually there is not one particle of grace in it, for it is based on the theory that since God got us into sin it is only just that He save us from its penalty. But grace is God’s mercy and kindness to the undeserving. In Eph. 2, after calling sinners “children of disobedience” and therefore “children of wrath,” the Apostle Paul goes on to say:

“BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith he loved us… hath quickened us… raised us up… and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 2:4-7).