Note: the following is the manuscript the message and will not match exactly the recorded message above. This message is an adaptation of a series of messages preached originally by Timothy Keller in 1998 at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. Original material can be found at https://podcast.gospelinlife.com/e/how-to-change.
This is a great passage on change. How, through faith in Christ, through the gospel, through the Holy Spirit, we can experience lasting, deep, radical, permanent change.
What I want to do this morning is show the nature, the pattern and the process of Christian change.
The Nature of Christian Change
There are four things about the nature of Christian change implied in the phrase, “the fruit of the Spirit.”
Christian change is gradual, inevitable, internal, and symmetrical.
These first two have to come together, otherwise you’ll be in despair because change is often so slow. But it is inevitable.
Christian Change is Gradual
First of all, why does Paul use the word fruit? Why didn’t he say the traits or the characteristics?
He uses the word fruit because he is deliberately invoking a metaphor of botanical growth. This is common throughout Scripture.
1 Peter 1 says you were born by the imperishable seed of the Word of God. Psalm 1 talks about the fact that the godly are like trees that grow up near the water.
Jesus used the image of the grapevine when instructing his disciples on how to remain faithful to him.
There’s a lot of emphasis on botanical growth. The reason for that is to tell us at least one thing, and that is, Christian change is as gradual as a tree or a potato or a flower growing.
You can never really see plants grow. You can know it’s happening when you step away for a while and come back.
Suddenly, flowers are budding and then blossoming. But if you sit and watch it, you don’t see it happening.
Actually, any kind of growth, not just botanical growth.
When you look at a young boy or girl after having not seen them for a while, you say, “I think you’ve grown.”
You can’t see them grow. Growth is always so small, so gradual, you can’t see it. It can only be measured.
There are seasons in fruit trees where it comes very quickly. But they’re growing all during the year, they get bigger and bigger, and they bear more and more fruit.
During the wintertime, you see nothing at all. Then there are other times when you see a great deal.
Growth in love and joy and peace and all of these character traits is very, very gradual. It’s sometimes seasonal, and it’s sometimes even more invisible. It’s never so fast that you can really see it.
You may be growing, but you can never really tell until perhaps a difficulty comes or something shows up in your life that causes you to suddenly realize, “A couple of years ago, I never could have done that. I never would have been this patient.”
Christian Change is Inevitable
This is not just ordinary fruit. This is fruit of the Spirit. This is why it’s inevitable. If you have the Spirit of God in you, there will be change.
You will worry less. You will become more patient. You will become a more loving person. You will become wiser. You will be able to face your troubles.
When I was in Cambodia years ago, I visited the ancient Angkor temples. These temples were constructed centuries ago, with the largest one being completed around the 12th century. It is currently the world’s largest religious monument.
Over time, they were mostly abandoned due to the decline of the empire. The Khmer people continued to occupy some of the temples, but most of them started to be overcome by foliage.
Over the last hundred years, researchers and archeologists have begun the work of restoring the ancient temples to their original state.
But, one of the difficulties of the restoration is the infiltration of massive trees and their root systems.
Here is a photo I took when I was there. The tree towers above the stone structure, almost in a declaration of victory.
This is the power of botanical growth over mechanical structures. When a tree such as this starts making its way up through the cracks of the stone, there is no stopping it.
The roots and shoots will slowly but inevitably push the stone aside.
If botanical growth has that kind of power in its gradualness, what kind of power will the Spirit of God have?
Because this is not just fruit. This is fruit of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God is in your life, you will change.
Some of you have been Christians a long time. Think about this. Over the years, there have been these quirks in you. You have a secret sin you do in the dark.
You haven’t been able to overcome it. You’re not a very loving person, or you tend to be extremely resentful, or you’re always getting your feelings hurt.
I’m not saying if you’re not growing, you can’t be a Christian. I’m saying if you’re not growing, if you’re just sort of giving up the process, then you’re forgetting the power of the Spirit.
If the Spirit is there, you will definitely grow, as slow as it may be. And than growth will push aside whatever is in the way.
Christian Change is Internal
Christian change is also internal. What is the fruit of the Spirit? Leading? Counseling? Managing? Farming? Teaching? Singing?
Is this fruit of the Spirit? Intelligence? IQ? Is that fruit of the Spirit? Charisma? Is that fruit of the Spirit? Do you know what’s going on here?
There is a difference between mechanical growth and organic growth. There’s a difference between external, mechanical growth, and a difference between internal organic growth.
If you keep throwing bricks on a pile, the pile is growing. That’s not organic growth. The pile is growing, yes, but simply in quantity. And it cannot grow on its own.
It’s not the way a child grows or the way fruit grows. It’s not internal. It’s not alive. It’s mechanical.
Martin Luther and John Wesley are two classic examples of men who were very religious for several years before they really understood the gospel, before they really, really got converted, before they really received the Spirit of God indwelling in their heart, before they were born again.
They were very religious. They did good things, and they wrote books. They wrote commentaries. They taught the Bible. They gave gifts to the poor.
They fed the hungry, and they clothed the naked. They shared the faith, and they instructed the wayward.
They did all these good deeds. They were growing their résumé, but they weren’t growing themselves.
In 1 Corinthians 13, there’s that very frightening passage, which many people read at weddings.
People have it on their walls and all that sort of thing. It’s treated as a sort of motto or life verse.
It’s a frightening passage, because that’s where Paul says, “You may speak with tongues of men or angels. You may teach. You may know all mysteries. You may give your body to be burned. You may give your money away.”
He is talking about mechanical growth. He is talking about doing good and feeding the poor and evangelizing and leading and activities and business and busyness and religious activity.
He said you can do all that and have nothing if you don’t have love and patience. He says, “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is courteous.”
He looks to the Corinthians, and he says, “You have all this mechanical growth, but you’re harsh. You’re rude. You’re discourteous, and you don’t have self-control.” What is he saying?
Again, he is not saying you’re not a Christian, but he is saying it is possible out of a desire to prove yourself and out of a desire to feel superior to other people to get very active in the church and to have the Spirit use your talents to change the lives of people around you.
Then you say, “Ah! I’m growing.” Listen. Do you know what 1 Corinthians 13 is saying? Do you know what Galatians 5is saying?
Do you know what Matthew 7 is saying when Jesus says, “On that last day there will be people who come up to me and say, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, do miracles in your name, cast out demons in your name through the power of the Spirit?’ ” Jesus says, “Yes, but I never knew you.”
Do you know what it’s saying? If people’s lives are being changed through you but your life isn’t being changed, that’s not a fruit of the Spirit. That’s a fruit of their spirit.
If people’s lives are being changed by you but your life isn’t being changed, you don’t even know if you’re a Christian. I’m not saying you’re not, but real Christian change is internal. It has to be happening.
It’s the fruit. It has to be internal. It’s organic growth. So fruit of the Spirit means it’s gradual, it’s inevitable, it’s organic, and it’s internal.
Christian Change is Symmetrical
For centuries, commentators have noticed Paul does something very strange here.
He says the fruit of the Spirit is … Then he gives you a list of nine different characteristics.
Paul did this on purpose. Why? He is trying to show something incredibly important about real Christian change. That is, all of these things are one.
If you want to know whether the character growth is happening in your life,
if you want to know whether the love that’s growing in your life is real spiritual love from the Spirit, from the gospel,
if you want to know if it’s real love, real joy, real peace, real patience and not a counterfeit, not something artificial, not something temporary, not something patched up,
if you want to know whether these things are spiritual and from the Spirit, you must see they always are growing up together.
Let me give you an example of this. Some people are very gentle, but not faithful.
Do you know what faithfulness is? Loyalty and courage. Courage. Some people are just temperamentally sweethearts. We know who you are. You know who you are. Everybody loves you.
If you weren’t a Christian, you’d be a sweetheart. It’s your chemistry. It’s your physiology.
See, natural sweetness, natural gentleness does not go with loyalty and faithfulness and courage. It very often doesn’t go with integrity either.
You’re so filled with gentleness you don’t want to hurt anybody because it would go against your nature of gentleness.
But, it’s a lack of love because the true source of your gentleness is self-serving.
See, real gentleness has to go with love, and it has to go with faithfulness.
They all come together and they’re interdependent. It’s not just that they always come connected. They’re very, very interdependent.
A lot of people say they think they have self-control, but you can’t have real self-control on its own.
Very often there is a counterfeit kind of self-control that comes not from humility and joy but from pride. How many of us know or are the type of men who seem to have complete control over our emotions?
Think about this. The average guy doesn’t cry as much as the average woman. Isn’t that true?
I’ll tell you how many of us got that kind of self-control. Because when we cried as little boys, somebody came along and said, “Don’t act like a girl.”
That gets you self-control, but how does it work? By making you feel superior to girls. That’s self-control without humility.
That’s self-control with arrogance. You can always get self-control through arrogance, but it won’t last. It’s mechanical, not organic.
It will be a rigid kind of self-control. Sometimes we need to cry, and we can’t.
Some people are great at meeting others. They seem very joyous and bubbly, but they can’t keep friends because they’re not faithful and patient.
What that means is they don’t have real joy. Real joy that doesn’t go along with the faithfulness and the patience is just extroversion. It’s not real joy.
I’ll give an example from my own life. Some of us are extremely accepting. I think that most people here would agree that I’m a very accepting person.
People will come and talk about their problems because I’m so accepting and non-judgmental.
The reason some people are non-judgmental is … we are gentle. The reason we are gentle is actually because we have no self-control.
I’m always falling down, always lapsing. People like me are always breaking our own promises to ourselves.
That’s the reason why we are so tolerant and accepting. We have no discipline of our own. That’s why we are so open.
In other words, that sort of tolerance and acceptance do not come from humility and peace and joy. It’s just a way of dealing with our own conscience.
This is probably why I’ve been making it my life’s goal to understand humility. It is what I most lack.
Some people are incredibly unflappable. They seem to have peace, but they’re not gentle, and they’re not kind.
Where did they get their peace from? They don’t care. That’s not real peace. These things will all break down.
Examine your heart and ask, “Are these things growing in my life?” If they are growing in your life, celebrate.
If they’re not growing in your life, then here is the pattern and process for how you can change.
The Pattern of Christian Change
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its over-desires. “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.”
There are always two things if you want to grow in grace. You’ll see this in Romans 8. You’ll see this in Colossians 3. You’ll see it in Hebrews 12. You’ll see it right here in Galatians 5.
Romans 8: kill the deeds of the body by the Spirit. Colossians 3: put to death what is earthly and put on the new self.Hebrews 12: lay aside sin and fix your eyes on Jesus.
Grace grows where death and new life happen together.
It says crucify the sinful nature with its over-desires. Find those things which are too important to you (more important to you than Jesus Christ) that are running your life and creating the works of the flesh.
On the other hand, it says, “… keep in step with the Spirit.” What does “… keep in step with the Spirit” mean?
Look at verse 17. Don’t forget this. Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit [desires] what is contrary to the flesh.”
That word for desire is longing, or lust.
But the Spirit lusts too, it says.
What does the Spirit lust for? That which is contrary to the flesh, which is the death of our humanity.
In other words, the Spirit desires, longs for, lusts after new life in Christ.
The Spirit is always looking at the beauty of Jesus Christ and saying, “The whole reason you don’t have self-control, the whole reason you don’t have love, the whole reason you’re worried is you don’t see how beautiful Christ is.”
Therefore, when it comes right down to it … This is the reason, by the way, why it does not say in Galatians 5, “The fruitof the Spirit are this, and the weeds of the flesh are this.”
It doesn’t say fruit and weeds. It says what? Fruit and works. Why would Paul deliberately mix his metaphors?
Because the works of the flesh are something you do, but the fruit of the Spirit is only something you can open yourself to, just like a gardener.
A gardener doesn’t make the things grow. The gardener just creates the conditions through which the power of the seed is released.
You cannot make yourself loving and joyful and peaceful. You can’t just say, “I’m going to. I’m going to.” No! You have to crucify.
You have to crucify the things you lust after too much, and you have to learn to long for Jesus.
Listen to the Spirit. Pant after that which the Spirit pants after. You don’t need new circumstances.
You need the truth about Jesus Christ to be so real that your desires for these good things become manageable. As a result, all the fruit begins to grow.
Look at verse 25. “Since we live by the Spirit … keep in step with the Spirit.”
The Spirit’s job is to glorify Jesus Christ, is to show us Jesus Christ, and is to make him real to us. That’s the job of the Spirit.
This is the pattern of Christian change. Put to death the lusts of the flesh and put on the new life of Christ.
The Process of Christian Change
So how does this process begin?
Next week, we will start a new series on the Gospel of John. This series will, I hope, help us fall more in love with Jesus and show us how to imitate him in our lives.
So, the process is going to continue for us until the Easter season as we go through the Gospel of John.
For today, I want to draw your attention to a passage you have heard me talk about many times. Philippians chapter 2.
According to Philippians 2, Jesus Christ runs toward that which we run from.
We are afraid of any situation that makes us feel small. We’re afraid of any situation that makes us feel weak or needy, any situation that makes us feel less important.
We’re scared of it. We get out of it, any relationship or situation that minimizes us.
We’re told in Philippians 2:5–7 “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
He did the opposite of what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to fill ourselves. Jesus emptied himself.
If the Spirit made him real to you, you wouldn’t be so discriminating in the way you relate to people.
You wouldn’t feel like somebody has made you feel unimportant. Somebody has ignored you. Somebody hasn’t given you what you want.
Look at the One who did the opposite of what you’re trying to do. “… though filled with glory, he emptied himself …” He became absolutely unbeautiful by human standards.
He emptied himself of his glory, and he came to earth, and he got exactly what we should get.
If you see him doing that, to the degree you see him doing that, to the degree the Holy Spirit shows you what he has done for you, that keeps the process of growth going.
When you receive the gospel, you take a living truth into your heart. Whenever you encounter people or situations that make you feel inferior, defensive, or tempted to give in to the desires of the flesh, that living truth points you in the right direction.
It says, “You’re not saved by your good works, by your superiority. You are not made illegitimate by your failures.”
When you’re saved by your good works, you’ll feel superior to people when you feel like you’re living up.
And you’ll feel inferior to people when you feel like you’re not living up.
But the gospel takes all that away and makes you both bold and humble, keeps you from either envying or provoking.
And the gospel needs to take root in your life. This requires looking at and knowing Jesus.
You have to see Jesus Christ dying for you. You have to say, “When I have a Saviour who will die for me, why do I need to try and save myself? If Jesus Christ values me so much that he would do this for me, why in the world do I feel like I have to satisfy the desires of the flesh?”
Paul is saying, “Take it to the cross. There is a deeper process that has to be going on inside you. Give this process room to grow, or in the end you’ll have nothing but willpower, and you’ll eventually give in.”
The sinful nature, the over-desire, the lust of the flesh, passionately drives you towards certain things because you’re under a mechanical structure of growth, because you’re saying, “If I have this, then I’ll feel great. Then I will be saved.”
But, the Spirit says, “Look at Jesus. Look at him! Look at what he has done. Look at where he is.” That’s what it means to keep in step with the Spirit.
It doesn’t just mean to try harder. It means to worship. It means to adore.
The Spirit in you will show you Jesus’ beauty. He will show you his love with a reality that is impossible by our own strength.
The Spirit wants to show you the beauty of Christ, and if you see it, to the degree you see it, you’ll be free from the desires and lusts of the flesh.
That’s the pattern and process of real Christian change. It’s worship and crucifixion.
How does someone become a Christian? Repent and believe. Turn away; turn toward.
How do you grow and change as a Christian? Crucify the sinful desires. Take them to the cross and then turn and see what the Spirit is looking at, and he will help you see it too.
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