Fruits of the Spirit; Works of the law

Jesus referred to the people as evil. He referred to the Pharisees as evil children of the Devil, doing the will of their father the devil.

They called Jesus a servant of the Devil, performing miracles by the power of the Devil.

If you were there; one of the people Jesus spoke to, and heard Him refer to you as evil, how would you respond within yourself? Wouldn’t you naturally conclude He was mistaken; that you are not evil, like so many other people about you? It begs the question as to whether you would consider something God said through the psalms:

(Psalms 53:3) Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The Pharisees believed themselves to be good, relying on the law. They kept the law. They taught the law. For Jesus to declare them evil children of the Devil, doing the will of their father the Devil, would have been seen as just the ravings of an itinerant preacher who was seeking a personal following, and when miracles started popping up performed by Him, they concluded He was more than just another unlearned self-proclaimed prophet; that He was a real threat with the backing of the Devil behind Him… all the more reason to stop Him.

At this juncture, you have a requirement to evaluate the situation. If you believe Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, then you must accept what He said, and He called the Pharisees and Sanhedrin evil children of the Devil doing the will of their father the Devil, and that they taught the law and administered it. Jesus even called them out on their practice of traversing land and sea to make a proselyte, resulting in those people becoming twice the children of hell than they were… quite an indictment.

To the Pharisees and man on the street, Jesus flaunted the law… the “law of God”. To Jesus, He was flaunting their feigned obeisance to the law. They used the law as cover; a cloak to disguise their evil hearts and deeds.

(Mark 7:6) He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

They went through the religious motions, for the sake of appearance, putting on a good show of being dedicated to keeping the law, while the God who gave them that law stood before them.

What then can we learn from all this? That evil people will put on a show of piety using the law as part of their costume. Evil people have deceptive hearts, and they innately see the potential to use the law as the means of best concealing it. A truly good person, led by the Holy Spirit, has no need for such a facade. Their actual good works, wrought in and through the Holy Spirit, speak for themselves. It is actions that follow conscience of the good hearted. Contrast this to those whose evil hearts are cloaked by the law, where they do the works of the law, and conclude those are the evidence of their goodness and acceptance by God.

Those who follow Christ; those who are now His, keep His commandments that revolve around love, faith, and the Spirit; not the works of the law.

(Galatians 2:16) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Those led by the flesh and not the Spirit have no option but to attempt and use the works of the law to appear justified, for they cannot produce the actual fruits of the Spirit.

Sabbatarians emphasize the Sabbath for this sole purpose. They see it as fruit of the Spirit as well as a work of the law, with the added benefit of having an outlet for their evil through accusations of sin and evil against others who recognize the Sabbath as an impediment to actual fruits of the Spirit - literally violating the very law they claim to cherish and obey by bearing the most egregious false witness against their neighbor - where Paul specifically stated there is no law against the fruits or works of the Spirit, and that includes the Sabbath law.

Good works were declared lawful on the Sabbath by the Lord of the Sabbath. And by the dissolution of the old covenant, and the establishment of the new for those led by the Holy Spirit, the Sabbath day was done away with, even as God foretold through the prophets.

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )

Acts 17:11

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