If you are a believer, no matter how many times you’ve viewed pornography, or if you’ve committed adultery or any other form of perversion or defilement, “you are clean because of the Word…”!
Let that truth sink into your heart. You are clean! Jesus died on the cross to open a fountain of cleansing (Zechariah 13:1-2), He came as soap that washes clean (Malachi 3:2-3), He suffered for you to purify you (Titus 2:14). And the moment you hear the good news and put faith in Jesus, you are clean!
But there is also an ongoing cleansing needed in the Christian life. “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean” (John 13:10 NIV). Here is where the Holy Spirit takes believers to the cross time and time again, to lift us up and cleanse us, to cut us back (prune) and wash us, to make us grow more and bear more fruit.
In Galatians 5, Paul compares and contrasts “the acts of the flesh” with “the fruit of the Spirit.” Acts are something we do; fruit is something produced through us when we abide in Christ. Let’s notice this contrast:
Galatians 5:19-24 (NIV) The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
The contrast here is obvious. Sexual immorality and impurity are clearly “acts of the flesh.” This is what people do by nature; they are acts committed in the flesh. But God desires love to replace lust; joy and peace to replace sexual immorality and impurity, self-control, gentleness and patience to replace debauchery, etc. This is the fruit of the Spirit. The Christian life is where the fruit of the Spirit is growing more and more, and the acts of the flesh are becoming less and less.
If we examine times in our lives when the acts of the flesh seem to be dominating, we will discover the root cause: we were not abiding in Christ!
Yes, those who belong to Christ have learned to War Against the Flesh and crucify the flesh with its passions and desires.
But how exactly do we crucify the flesh?
We find the answer in Jesus’ instruction in John chapter 15:
John 15:4 NIV Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Question 4. According to John 15:4, how do believers crucify their passions and bear fruit?