The fruit of righteousness
In the book of Philippians, Paul talks to us about ‘the fruit of righteousness’
and that we must be filled with it so that we can be pure and blameless when
Jesus returns.
Philippians
1:9-11 (NIV)
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may
abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able
to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of
Christ, 11 filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the
glory and praise of God.
So now, let’s work out what this ‘fruit of
righteousness’ should look like in the daily life of a born-again Christian.
Firstly, what is righteousness?
Righteousness is not something we can produce
on our own. Our righteousness can only be achieved through Jesus Christ being Lord
of our life! Righteousness is our right standing with God because of what Jesus
did for us on the Cross – He cleansed us of all unrighteousness by taking our
sins upon himself and dying for us.
Apart from Christ we have no right standing
(righteousness) with God. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing and are nothing.
Jesus is the vine and God is the gardener – we must remain in Jesus in order to
bear good fruit in the power of the Holy Spirit! This is our righteousness in
Christ Jesus.
The Christian life is not a life that can be
self-produced by our own efforts or bought with money. The Christian life is a
life that can only be supplied to us by faith in Christ Jesus, believing the
Word and being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is a life of
abundance, it is a life of service in the love of God through Christ Jesus:
John 10:10
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.
Rom 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but
gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us
all things?
Eph 3:16-19
16 I
pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with
power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell
in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, 18 may
have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide
and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love
that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God.
Php 4:19
And my God will
meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ
Jesus.
2 Thes 2:13
But we ought always to thank God for
you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as
firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the
Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Eph 2:10
For we are God’s
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
James 2:17
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
accompanied by action, is dead.
When we are living life in the spirit and operating in the gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will automatically be produced in and through us and will become evident for all to be see – a life of righteousness!
Proverbs
12:28
In
the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.
TO JESUS BELONGS ALL GLORY, HONOUR AND PRAISE!
Next week: What should life in the Spirit look like for today's believer? Part 1: Practical life in the Spirit
An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:
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