If You Belong to Christ

In contrast to the fruit (deeds) of the flesh, which produces immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, and which results in death, not in eternal life with God, is the fruit (deeds) of the Spirit. These deeds are what give evidence that our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine biblical faith, and that we have the Holy Spirit living within us guiding and instructing us in the ways of the Lord, and empowering us to deny self, die to sin daily, and to walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands.


And this is where it all begins. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him on that cross so that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus, we will now die with Christ to sin and surrender our lives to him in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. Sin should no longer be what we practice, for if sin remains our practice, and not obedience to God, then we are not in relationship with God, we do not know him, and we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, faith in Jesus, which comes from God, which is persuaded of God, and which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, will result in us denying self, putting sin to death daily, by the Spirit, and us walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands. And this does not mean we will be absolutely perfect in every way from that moment forward, or that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that a lifestyle of sin and disobedience = unbelief, not faith.

But this isn’t just about putting sin and the flesh to death, by the Spirit, so that we can walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in the power of God. For this life choice is also going to have with it trials and tribulations and persecutions and rejections and mistreatment, even at the hands of others professing faith in Jesus Christ, some of whom might be pastors of “church” congregations, or could even be some of our own family members. For so many professers of faith in Jesus have not died to sin in order to obey God.

But if we are under Holy Spirit control, and no longer under the control of the flesh, the outgrowth of that will be seen in our attitudes, our values, our beliefs, our practices, our words, our thinking, and our behaviors. And this will impact not only how we live in daily practice, but in how we treat other people, too. And, again, this is not claiming that we will be absolutely perfect all the time in every respect, for we are still clay in the hands of the Potter, and he is still molding us into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.

But none of us should be repeating the same sins over again habitually and deliberately in direct opposition and rebellion against our Lord’s will.

Instead, we are to be those who love God and who love other people with a love which comes from God, and which is pleasing to God, and which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord’s commands, in practice. And so we will not deliberately and habitually sin against God and against our fellow humans in committing adultery, sexual immorality, and the like. But we will do for one another what is for our good, as God defines “good.”

And “peace” never involves compromise with the world and with the flesh and with that which is unholy and sinful. And “patience” never tolerates and makes acceptable sinful practices within the body of Christ, for love speaks the truth in love to one another so that we don’t fall captive to sin’s deceitfulness. And kindness is not lying to people to make them feel good, for lies are never kind. Always speak truth, but speak it in love. And gentleness is not backing down on truth but it is controlled strength.

And faithfulness and self-control go hand-in-hand. For those who are deliberately and habitually making particular sins their practice, they are not living with self-control, and thus they are not being faithful to God and to their spouses and children and others whom they are to love. They are not only setting the wrong example for others to follow, but they are willfully and habitually hurting the ones they are supposed to love and cherish and protect from people like them. But this is epidemic today in the church.

So, the solution is we must all deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice, in daily living, empowered by God. And then we must do the opposite of what we did when we were living according to the flesh. Now we must love God and others with a love which is surrendered to the will of God for our lives and which is kind (No lies) and considerate of others and their needs, but without compromise with the culture and with worldly methods and means; always obeying God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Broken and Contrite

An Original Work / May 13, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I bow before You, I implore You,
Heal my broken heart, I pray.
Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You are the King of my heart.
Lord, purify my heart within me;
Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully
The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength and wisdom to obey.
Father God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t You set my heart on fire?
Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My heart cries out for understanding.
I want to follow You in all ways,
Never straying from Your truth.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Fill me with Your love today.
Lord, mold and make me;
Your hands formed me;
Live Your life through me, I pray.


If You Belong to Christ
An Original Work / May 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love