9)
And this I pray, that your
love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10)
That ye may approve things
that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of
Christ.
11)
Being filled with the
fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise
of God.
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W |
e do not want to confuse the “fruits of righteousness” with the “fruit of the Spirit.” While the latter comes with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, the former is how one is to conduct himself and that “fruit” consists of all things “right” in the sight of the God.
It
is a necessity that we come to understand the importance of righteousness. This
understanding must supersede our perception, for as men, we tend to process
things according to how we are treated. But when it comes to righteousness, we
are required to exhibit it regardless of what is done to us.
In
the end, all will hinge on what we have personally done. We are expected to
serve Him regardless of what we are facing. For, when others see us productive
for the Lord, and see that absolutely nothing deters us, they also will see how
great God is.
While
we are so busy bemoaning our circumstances and tests and trials, we fail to see
that God does what He does to bring Himself glory. It is right for others to
see us triumph in adversity; it is right for us to show others that there is
help and a way to remain happy even in the most dire
circumstances.
This
life is a life of service. We chose this life and in doing so, become
responsible for helping others to come to the same knowledge. The Lord does
this by designing every trial and test to give us just a little more knowledge
to share. For believe it-or-not, the World really is looking for help. Even
though they talk us down and about us they recognize they need and want help.
You
know the “heat” that the saints feel they must take from the unsaved is largely
brought on by ourselves. You see, there are too many who claim salvation, yet can stand nothing.
Everyone is looking for a “rock;” for someone stronger than himself. If that is
not to be found in a saint, where is one to find it?
Part
of being “rock hard” is also being “genuine.” So, how does one determine
“genuineness?” The only way is by putting that which is being questioned “to
the test.” In the days of the Old West, the “acid test” was administered by
peddlers who were determining the authenticity of gold. You see, pure gold is
not destroyed by acid. Because it is made of “the right stuff,” it is not
destroyed by that which would destroy everything else.
Obviously,
the truth not to be missed is that one with salvation can stand the test! The
Lord wants us to know the truth of salvation and part of that truth is that our
trials and tests come to prove our faithfulness and commitment to Him. We can
try to justify bad reactions by imagining that the Lord is just “picking on
us,” but it doesn’t change the truth.
Another
kernel of truth which we must recognize is that if we say that we are
determined to fellow Jesus and do for Him, then we will stand whatever He says
that we must. This is the only way that He will know that He can depend on us
under all circumstance.
Evidently,
we must sometimes not clearly understand that this is neither our salvation nor
our work. This being the case, we are always students, learning someone else’s
material. Therefore, we never stop learning and have no right to complain about
how we are taught. After all since only the “teacher” knows the material, only
He knows how to teach it. When once we accept he purpose for our testing (that
is to instruct us) then we will also be able to accept that nothing comes to us
just to cause us a problem. We may try to handle it otherwise, but bottom line
is that this is not reality.
One
who manifests “the fruits of righteousness” will be one who manifests joy under
all circumstances. You can be one of those people if you determine to not allow
the enemy to recapture you, but on the contrary, stay liberated, stay free and
stay committed.
The
people of God must come to accept the righteousness is not a function of
understanding. He knows that there is much which we will not understand.
Therefore, He makes simple obedience a requirement of salvation.
The
righteous person before God will, of necessity, be a trusting person. In turn,
a trusting person will be a stable person, for his trust in God continually
regenerates itself. As he puts his situation in the hands of the Lord, he
brings him out and through. This is a person who learns that people and circumstance
cannot change what he sets his mind to do for God. This is a person able to
manifest “the fruit’s for righteousness.” This is a person destined for glory.