Posted on 01/27/2021 9:26:18 AM PST by metmom
“I . . . entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
God is most concerned about who we are, because who we are determines what we do.
Now that we’ve looked in depth at Ephesians 4:1-3, let’s take a step back. These verses reveal a basic truth: the Christian life is not primarily about what we do but who we are. When Paul teaches about the worthy walk, about how we live each day, he never discusses actions, only attitudes.
It is possible to have what I call “action fruit”—such as praise (Heb. 13:15), giving (Phil. 4:17), evangelism (Rom. 1:13), and other good works (Col. 1:10)—without “attitude fruit,” which is the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Plenty of people can do good deeds without inner righteousness. But that’s legalism; that’s the hypocrisy that the Bible speaks so much about. The right path to true spirituality is to have proper attitudes first. The Holy Spirit works through our attitudes to produce right actions.
Unfortunately, many Christians miss this point. To them, being a Christian is primarily a list of do’s—going to church, putting money in the offering, carrying a Bible—and don’ts—not cursing, not drinking, not murdering. They see external behavior as the fact of Christianity instead of the manifestation of it. They don’t cultivate the inner graces.
Of course, God wants us to live righteous lives. But to those with merely external actions, Jesus said, “Woe to you . . . hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. . . . First clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also” (Matt. 23:25-26).
Don’t let yourself become a slave to external religion. Make sure you do your good works out of love for God and others, as part of the overflow of the spiritual fruit in your life.
Suggestions for Prayer
If you see hypocrisy in yourself, ask God to purge it. Pray for and diligently seek attitude fruit.
For Further Study
Jesus warned about internal sinfulness in Matthew 5:21-22, 27-30 and external righteousness in 6:1-18 and 7:1-5. How is Proverbs 4:23 an antidote to those?
Studying God’s Word ping
I was just thinking about Righteous Indignation in this day and age where the left are getting away with, temporarily that is, the evil that they are.
Christi a ity is a list of dos and don’t, sort of, but, obeying them must come fro the heart, from a love of God that drives us to obey out of respect for Him, and desire to please Him, not from a fear of punishement.
My problem is I always fall back into the law, and suffer as a result in my relationship with Christ. Not enough time spent meditating on His word after I’ve reddit I guess. Get caught up in everything else, and forget all about what He said during reading 📚.
Too easy to let the troubles of the world take over during the day, and not rely on God, wanting to take matters into our own hands. Righeous indignation is one thing, but I know I take it too far when I criticise and say nasty things about elected officials that God has allowed in offices over me. I’m not letting God handle the issues.
Anyways, Good lesson today
I think we’ve all been there.
Actually, we walk in Jesus’ righteousness. HE is righteous FOR us. We cannot ever BE righteous, for even our good works are filthy rags before God. The harder a person tries to be righteous in and of himself, the further he will fail. Jesus freed us from the curse and we are righteous before God in and through Jesus Christ, period. Walk in faith and study the Word and GOD will lead you towards righteousness.
AMEN!
Amen!
And Jim’s reminder of how we FReepers SHOULDS act (and REact) was yet another wakeup call to us.
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