What does it mean to be a spiritual person?  Do they manifest specific observable behaviors?  And if so, what are they?  Galatians 5:16-25 does give us some of the answers to those questions.  The spiritual Christian is one who walks in or by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit manifests His presence by the display of what Paul called the Fruit of the Spirit.  Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (NKJV).  The fruit of the Spirit is basically a manifestation of His personality in the person who walks by the Spirit. 

I have one more question and that is do we know what the fruit of the Spirit looks like in a human being?  I ask that because I’m not sure we understand what God means by love or joy or any of those words He identifies as the Fruit of the Spirit.  For example, ask yourself what is love.  Then ask another believer and compare it to your answer.  Now compare it to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  If all three match then you may not need to read the rest of this post.  I’d appreciate it if you did anyway but that is only because I took the time to write this down. 

Here is the thing, no one can become a spiritual person without a renewed mindset.  Our natural way of reasoning won’t get us there.  I refer you my last post and Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (NKJV).  The natural mind we received at birth and have filled with extrabiblical information cannot discover or comprehend Spirit truth. 

1 Corinthians 2:9 & 10 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
The Holy Spirit guided the human authors of the Bible as they recorded what God wanted us to know. The Holy Spirit is also active in helping us understand what is recorded in the Bible. 

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (NKJV).  

That is why we have so many passages in the Bible stressing our need to read it and learn what God has revealed.  We are called to live by faith.  Faith is believing what God has said.  And you cannot believe what you do not know.  Being a spiritual person requires a growing knowledge of God’s word.  

​I want to lead off this post with a passage in John 14 and Jesus’ last words to the disciple before His arrest and subsequent execution the next day.  John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

In response to Judas’ question (not Iscariot, the other Judas) about how the Lord would manifest Himself to the disciples; Jesus Christ said the following:
 
John 14:23-26 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
 
The idea behind the word manifest is He would reveal or to make apparent His presence.  Here in John 14 Jesus Christ was speaking specifically to the disciples, but the big idea applies to everyone who has and keeps the Lord’s commandments.  Jesus Christ was actually expressing the same experience Paul wrote about in Galatians 5 where he referred to this as walking by the Spirit and the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit has now taken over for the Son, Christ Jesus.  The fruit of the Spirit is Him revealing His personality in us when we walk (live) in obedience to the Lord’s commandments. 
 
But read John 14:26 carefully.  The Holy Spirit did not download new information into the Disciples minds.  He brought to their remembrance the things which Jesus Christ had taught them.  He did reveal to them the meaning behind what Christ had said as they had not really grasped much of what they had been taught.   I believe that is true for us today.  Rather than give each believer a data dump of God’s word the Holy Spirit works in us to understand what we have read for ourselves.  Remember, we are commanded to study the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15, Deuteronomy 6:6-9).  If we don’t know what the Bible says then there is nothing for the Holy Spirit to recall to our memory.  God wants us to fill our minds with something new.  Something other than what this world teaches. 
 
Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit said it this way.  Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
​The renewed mind is operating with a new spiritual data base we up load from the Bible. That is fundamental to having and keeping Christ’s commandments.  

One of the things I encourage the people at Trego Community Church to do is read their Bibles.  Mainly because it is our only source of information about the God who is.  It is also one of the commandments we’re given by God.  One verse a lot of people are familiar with is 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (NKJV).  But God also issued the same command in the O.T.  It was worded a little differently but was the same basic idea.  Check out Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and Joshua 1:8. There are others as well but you get the idea.  I recommend the practice of reading at least 4 chapters a day.  I picked 4 chapters because that doesn’t take a lot of time and it will get you through the entire Bible in less than a year.  Something else to consider.
 
Jesus Christ said the following in John 15:14: You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  What an amazing thing, Jesus Christ said His friends obey His commandments.  So, does that mean you’re not His friend if you don’t keep His commandments?  Notice, He said Friend which means this doesn’t contradict His promise in John 3:16.  Everlasting life is a gift given to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ for life.  So, you can have everlasting life and know you will be in Heaven when you die and not be a friend of the Lord.  Not everyone with everlasting life knows this because they don’t read their Bible.  They depend on their Pastor to tell them what they need to know.   But if He doesn’t tell them or they miss that Sunday, well I guess they will just miss out. 
 
We are called to live by faith, Romans 1:17 For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”  But you can’t believe what you do not know.  As Paul wrote in Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Living by faith requires knowledge of God’s word.  And His word contains a lot of important pointers on living by faith.  Promises that help us navigate life on this planet.  Which you may already have realized is not very user friendly. 
 
I can’t imagine what it would be like to only learn about this after you get to Heaven.  To have missed the good things God had for you now if only you had known those promises.  To learn for the first time that you could have been laying up treasures for your use in the eternal kingdom after it is too late to do so.  There is no guarantee you’ll keep His commandments if you do know them.  But, you have a better chance to do so if you know what they are!

In my last post I stated that Romans is the letter you need to read to get the basics of living by faith.  The reason being that those whose righteousness is by faith must also live by faith if they want to please God and avoid wrath (Romans 1:16-19).  Consider Romans 3:21-23 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

The only Righteousness that matters is that which is imputed by God through faith in Jesus Christ.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a Jew or Gentile, there is no difference.  But don’t overlook v. 23.  All have sinned means all are guilty and in need of righteousness.  But notice the 2nd clause “and fall short of the glory of God” is in the present tense.  The sentence structure shows this to be a factual statement and means we continue to fall short.  In other words, we never, by our own efforts, measure up to God’s expectations. 

The good news is in Romans 3:24 (all) “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” All fall short but all can be freely justified by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Redemption covers the entire package of what you received when you believe in Jesus Christ for the gift of everlasting life.  What Paul wrote in Romans 5:9 & 10 is how we deal with the issue of continuing to fall short.  But first I need to point out another factual reality for those who have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ.   

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You may not be at peace with yourself, but God is at peace with all who are in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 1:6 “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”   We have peace and He has accepted us in the Beloved, Jesus Christ.  This is the result of His love and grace towards us, not anything we have done.  Because it originates in God, we can’t change it.  The question for us is do we believe what God has said?  That is what living by faith is all about, taking Him at His word.  Resting in the truth of His promise.   

As for not measuring up, He has made provision for that as well.  1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  As John explained in the first 4 verses of 1 John, he too was writing to believers.  He is addressing the same basic issue Paul was in Romans.  He just used different terminology.  God is not pleased with our sin and it can ruin our fellowship with Him.  His promise is that if we confess our sin to Him He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  That is a key part of living by faith. 

Believing and obeying God’s commands is how we are to live now.    

​Based on our observations of Romans 5:9 & 10 in the previous post, I believe it is obvious Paul is using the word “saved” differently from the common way we use it today.   Saved from wrath must be something other than deliverance from hell since the person in mind has already been justified.  The word wrath has already occurred 6 times in the first 4 chapters and each time it referred to temporal rather than eternal consequences of sin. 
 
So, how does that impact our understanding of Paul’s purpose in writing his letter to the Romans?  Well, go back and look at his greeting and introduction in chapter 1.   Romans 1:7 identifies his addressees: “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  He wrote this letter to believers, people who already had everlasting life and were in no danger of the lake of fire. 
 
We also have his stated theme laid out in Romans 1:16-19 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
 
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is also the revelation of God’s righteousness to people of faith because we who are saved by faith are also to live by faith.  Why?  Because God’s wrath is presently being revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.  All means regardless of their eternal destiny.  Can a Christian suppress the truth?  That should be apparent from all the doctrinal disagreements we have between denominations.  They all cannot be right; some have gotten it wrong.  In fact, our need to be saved after being justified (Romans 5:9) insists that we can! 
 
While the Holy Spirit felt it necessary for Paul to make sure we have a clear understanding of justification by faith (Romans 3-4) the balance of Romans deals with living by faith.  The justified shall live by faith (1:17).  It is the only way to please God and avoid wrath.  Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Romans is the letter you need to read to get the basics of living by faith. 
 
Because those whose righteousness is by faith should also live by faith if they want to please God and avoid wrath.