Roche Coleman Ministries: The Infusion Broadcast

Dr. Roche Coleman: And you keep living by the Spirit, verse 16. He says by faith, you get firmly planted and your steps become more secure. He said and your walk with God increases in intensity. He said after a while, you have a firm footing and your direction is sure.

But don't think that it won't be without the falls. Don't think it won't be without the time. Don't think it won't be without its challenges. He says but you've got to make certain you stay with the walk. Impact, if you want to produce the fruit of the Spirit, you've got to watch your walk.

Guest (Male): This is the Infusion Broadcast brought to you by the Roche Coleman Ministries. Dr. Coleman continues today with our series on biblical fruits. We hear over and over again the importance of incorporating fruits into our diet in order to be healthy.

As Dr. Coleman has pointed out in this series, a Christian's life is often compared to a tree, one that's stable with deep roots and bears good fruit. What exactly does this mean? Taking us to Galatians Chapter 5, let's listen now as he brings this teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit.

Dr. Roche Coleman: We are going to be in Galatians Chapter 5. I hope you brought your Bibles. Let's go to the Lord in prayer as we do part three of biblical fruit. We're looking this morning at the fruit of the Spirit out of biblical fruit.

Father, we love you and we thank you for this day. We thank you for your mercy, for your grace, for your compassion, and for your kindness. You are an awesome God, mighty in all your ways. You are eternal, infinite, and immutable. We thank you, Lord, for all of those characteristics and attributes that define you. But above all, we thank you for being our savior and our redeemer. Lord, there is none like you, and so we love you.

Right now, we ask that you guide our time and remove anything that would hinder us from hearing from you. Lord God, we want you honored in everything that we say and do. But above all, we want to be changed and transformed. We want the metamorphosis to take place in our lives. Whatever you do, we will give you praise. We love you and ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The name Victoria Ruvolo probably does not resonate with most of you. In a lot of your minds, you probably don't know who she is. But Victoria Ruvolo is a young lady who died at the age of 59. She became known worldwide in November of 2004 and she made headlines primarily because of her gracious expression of love, patience, and forgiveness.

In November 2004, 18-year-old Ryan Cushing and a group of his friends used a stolen credit card to purchase a 20-pound frozen turkey. It was their desire to engage in some evil and sinister behavior and to create harm for some unsuspecting persons. The young guys, who were acting thuggish, drove on Sunrise Highway in Long Island, New York. In the car, they had that 20-pound frozen turkey.

They decided it would be a great idea to take that turkey and to heave it toward another car, throw it at someone. When Ryan heaved the 20-pound frozen turkey out of the window, it was like a bullet. It pierced and shattered the windshield of Victoria's vehicle. It shattered the windshield, but not only did it shatter the windshield, it shattered her face. Victoria found herself in the hospital, and she was lying there after this 20-pound frozen turkey came in, shattered her windshield, and then shattered her face.

She was in that hospital going through surgery. She endured 10 hours of surgery. She had three titanium plates in her left cheek, one titanium plate in her right cheek, and a wire mesh in her left eye to hold it in its socket so that it didn't move and fall out because of the damage she sustained from the turkey. She was unconscious for weeks as a result of Ryan Cushing heaving a frozen turkey out of a vehicle.

After the surgery, she talks about how she would just cry. She would ask the question, "God, why is this happening to me? Why was this done to me?" She felt like she hadn't done anything and now she's enduring all of this anguish and pain. The police find Ryan, arrest him and his five buddies. His buddies decide that they would testify against Ryan because they said he was the one who threw the turkey out of the window.

Ryan was looking at 25 years in prison for his crime, guaranteed probably easily. Victoria was going to be the person who could testify against him. The evidence was there, no question about it. But one of the things that you'll see here is that Victoria understood something about what she produced. Victoria decided, instead of allowing Ryan, who was 18, to go to trial, instead of allowing Ryan to go to jail, she decided what she wanted to do was help his attorneys get him amnesty so that he would not have to go through all of the punishment associated with his crimes.

She decided that she was going to be the one who would fight for him and help him to get out of the situation that he was in so that he would not have to endure any jail time. Victoria said some people couldn't understand why she did this, but she felt God had given her a second chance and she wanted to pass it on. Victoria said, "I don't want him to have to endure all of those things, the punishment, although he's guilty, the jail, although he deserves it, the isolation, the harsh treatment that he would experience in jail, although the crimes say he's worthy of it."

Instead, she decided to give him a second chance and show him the love of God. She had an opportunity to produce the fruit of the flesh. On her tree, she could have produced the fruit of the flesh, but she decided that she was going to produce the fruit of the spirit. She said, "I'm going to give love in a context where someone has been unloving to me. I'm going to be kind when someone didn't show me kindness. I'm going to show them goodness when they didn't show me goodness. I'm going to be faithful when they were faithless. I'm going to exercise some self-control and not let anger characterize me in this situation."

She said, "I'm going to have joy although what I went through was not joyous. I'm going to be patient and I'm going to exercise a modicum of peace." All the fruit of the spirit is what she demonstrated to someone who did not deserve it. Impact, I'm convinced that God is calling us to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit and not the fruit of the flesh, oftentimes to people who we may feel don't deserve it.

Galatians Chapter 5 is a beautiful text. I love it because in Galatians Chapter 5, you're going to see where the Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Galatia and he's going to let them know some things about what God expects of us. If you've ever been the beneficiary of the fruit of the spirit instead of the fruit of the flesh, you can understand and appreciate this text. If you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you understand the importance of being a recipient of the fruit of the spirit, which is love.

God has demonstrated his love toward us, and we are so glad that God has demonstrated his love because he sent his son to die on Calvary's cross for the remission of our sins. In Galatians, I like it because Paul is going to talk to them about the law. He's going to let them know about the bondage that's associated with the law. Paul is going to demonstrate that people were once in bondage because the law was just something they couldn't adhere to.

You have to understand that the fruit of faith in Jesus Christ is the very first thing that we're going to produce. He tells us here in Galatians 5:13, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." I want you to see that text because in 13, he has been talking about how the law is bondage, that the believer is not able to obey the law and adhere to the law, and so instead of law, God has given us liberty through grace.

I'm glad God has given us grace and not the law because we cannot adhere to the law. And so Paul is saying to us that we have freedom. He says don't let your freedom be an opportunity for the flesh. He said but through love, serve one another. We've been liberated by the blood of Jesus Christ through the grace that has been extended to us because we are no longer in bondage to the law which we could not keep.

As a result of him liberating us and us having this freedom, he says now we should serve one another. The terminology used here for serve has its idea from a derivative whereby one is a servant. And so he says because you were once a slave to sin, then you were a slave to the law which you couldn't obey, God has set you free. And because God has set you free, now you are to serve, be a slave, to one another.

As a Christian, our life still exists in the context of slavery, but it's a slavery of love by which we serve one another. As believers, we have to serve one another. I like what he says in verse 13. He says we, through love, are to serve one another. You have to ask yourself the question: Am I serving, and am I serving through love? That's why the fruit of faith in Jesus Christ is so important, the serving one another through love.

You've got to appreciate it because you have to understand nobody can keep the law. Anybody who says "I want law, I want law, I'm trying to live by the Ten Commandments," oh no, you don't. That's Paul's whole argument in Galatians. He says the law is what? A schoolmaster, a pedagogy. It drove us and showed us our need for grace in Jesus Christ because we can't keep the law. It's impossible.

The Old Testament law is God's holy and righteous standard, but the New Testament grace is God's descent to humanity since humanity cannot obey the law. God had to descend down to our level because we couldn't keep the standards of the law. And what is his descent? God gave us grace. He said you can't keep law so I'm going to drop it lower and give you grace, because under law you deserve death.

The sins that are committed in the context of law were worth stoning. You would be killed. But God says, "I'm not going to give you death, I'm going to give you grace." If there were stoning in the 21st century, who would be left to throw the stones? In creation, God created man and humanity perfect. God had to descend and condescend to man's level. He created us in a state of perfection, but what did they do? They rebelled against God even in a perfect context.

So in the fall of humanity, God gave them the Mosaic law. What happened with the Mosaic law? They couldn't keep it. They kept breaching the law on every hand. The law was being violated. So what does God do? He says, "I'm going to give you my son, Jesus Christ." And that's what he does. God gives us grace and because of that grace, we can stand before him with confidence because it is the grace of God that we received through Christ Jesus.

You see how God kept going down a step to get to our level because he understands the frailty of our humanity. But because of his great love, because of his grace and mercy, because of his compassion and kindness, God says, "I'm going to come down and condescend to where you are, humanity, so that you can receive me." That's why what Paul is saying here in Galatians is so important.

He says for the whole law is fulfilled, verse 14, in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This is how we serve one another, loving our neighbor as ourselves. He says in verse 15, "But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you're not consumed by one another." If we are biting, violent, vicious toward one another, he says this is not honoring to our Lord; we consume ourselves.

Verse 16 is where I want you to see, because it's important. In order for us to produce any kind of fruit, it's going to be predicated upon lifestyle. In Galatians 5:16, he says, "But I say, walk by the Spirit." The Greek term he uses here is *peripateo*, and it is an imperative that he's using. He's commanding us to walk by the spirit. *Peripateo* is just the basic term that refers to walk, and it is used by Paul figuratively to talk about your lifestyle.

He says my lifestyle should be characterized as walking by the spirit, by means of the spirit. The spirit of God is prodding, guiding, prompting me and I'm listening and responding to it. And so I should walk by the means of the Holy Spirit in my life daily. It's the God that directs me and puts me on the path toward righteousness and holiness. He says that's my lifestyle.

But he used another term for walk in verse 25. Slide down to verse 25. He says the same thing about walk, but look how he uses it. He's using it in a different context. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk." *Stoicheo* is the term he uses here. *Stoicheo* is a little different than what is used in *peripateo* in 16. What is he saying? *Stoicheo* has this concept or this idea of stepping in order.

It's referencing military men who are marching in a rank and they're standing in step and they march in a harmonious step, foot after foot, the left, the right, almost in a marching capacity. And so what Paul is saying in verse 25, that's distinct from 16, 16 he's using it figuratively about the way I walk or live my life. But in 25, he's saying I need to be a little bit more intentional in my steps and how I place my footing as I live the Christian life.

How I proceed, how I step, there's a greater level of intentionality. And he says if we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. Remember how children are, toddlers trying to walk. First of all, they're crawling around. You're looking at them and you just love them crawling all around. And then after a period of time, they get a little strength and they start reaching and grabbing for something and they pull up a little bit.

But their little legs are still kind of feeble and not quite developed at the capacity where they can completely stand. But eventually, over a period of weeks, they begin to stand and they pull up and they can stand. And then they'll try to take one step. They're nervous, they're holding onto something, they take their little step and they kind of get back, they're afraid to let go. You reach out and say "Come to me, I got you."

They might take a step or two. A few more weeks go by and they start taking those steps, the drunk man walk, wobbling, yeah, that's how kids do it. But they're not quite firm in their footing. They're trying to proceed, but their steps are not quite ordered. They're not in rank and file, and so it's not as firm. A few more weeks go by, you start noticing they get a better footing, they're walking to you.

They'll fall, then you run and try to catch them, don't hit the coffee table, don't hit the couch. But sometimes they fall, they get the bruise, they're crying, and oh, you're alright, you pick them up, kiss them, they settle down. But that's part of learning how to walk and get the firm footing. They're proceeding and they're trying to get the steps one in front of the other. But after a few months, you notice that they learn to get their balance.

They stand up without holding onto anything and they can put the left, the right in front of it and they move and they learn how to walk. The Apostle Paul is saying it's the same way with your Christian lifestyle and your Christian walk. You're going to have to start, first of all, you're going to crawl, you're going to fall, you're going to make some mistakes, you're going to crash, you're going to have some bruises from the fall.

He says but if you keep walking and you keep living by the spirit, by faith, you get firmly planted and your steps become more secure. And your walk with God increases and the intensity increases. After a while, you have a firm footing and your direction is sure. He says but don't think that it won't be without the falls, the time, the challenges. He says but you've got to make certain you stay with the walk.

If you want to produce the fruit of the spirit, you've got to watch your walk, but you've also got to walk. Just like the infant who's walking, also in my faith, I'm going to make some steps and missteps, and there's going to be some falls. But I'm so glad that I have the ecclesia sometimes when you fall, somebody comes and picks you up and encourages you after you fall and says, "Hey, keep walking, we're with you."

I like this in Galatians. Look further in this text. Because he's talking about, first of all, the fruit of the faith. And then he's going to come down here and let us know that there is something that's in opposition to the fruit of the spirit and fruit of the faith. Paul doesn't just stay with only the fruit of the spirit. He lets us know that there are several things that we can produce.

He gets down here to verse 17. He says, "For the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit." And now he's talking about the fruit of the flesh. "And the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another." Make no mistake, we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, Psalm 51 tells us. When you and I are born with the natural birth, we come here in sin.

But then when we become Christians, we have another birth, which is a spiritual birth whereby we have the Holy Spirit of God that comes and indwells us. That's the Spirit he's referring to. When the Holy Spirit comes in at conversion, it seals us, which is an identifying mark showing that we are the property of God. But then it comes in and fills us, I.E. meaning control.

And so once we have that, we have the Spirit of God indwelling us. But know for sure that that flesh is still there. Don't think because you've been saved that the flesh is gone. It's riding shotgun. Some of us have put the flesh in the back seat, some of us have put the flesh in the trunk, and some of us we allow the flesh to try to take over the steering wheel. We're trying to drive with the Spirit and the flesh will reach over every now and then and grab it and try to drive.

Guest (Male): Please join us on our next broadcast as Dr. Coleman brings part two of this message, The Fruit of the Spirit. Now, if you've missed any part of this series, you can visit us at rochecolemanministries.org where you'll find all our ministry resources. Dr. Coleman also serves as senior pastor of the Impact Church of The Woodlands in The Woodlands, Texas.

If you don't have a home church and live in the Houston area, please join us. The church is located at 5401 Shadowbend Place, The Woodlands, Texas, 77381. Sunday worship times are 8:00 AM and 10:45 AM. We hope you'll join us soon. Our impact thought for today is: Christians must distance themselves from the fruit of the flesh in order to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

As we just heard, may many be nourished with the fruit of the Spirit that we as believers can offer to those around us.