On page 249
Bonhoeffer points out that while there are many works “of the flesh,” there is
only one “fruit of the Spirit” (5:19ff; Eph. 5:9).
“Works are dead,
but fruit is alive and the bearer of seeds which themselves produce new fruit…
[fruit is] something that has grown organically…The fruit of the Spirit is a
gift of which God is the sole source. Those bearing this fruit are…unaware of
it…The only thing they are aware of is the power of the one from whom they
receive their life” (page 249).
“The saints themselves
are unaware of the fruit of sanctification they bear. The left hand does not
know what the right hand is doing…if they decide to engage in
self-contemplation, then they would have already torn themselves away from the
root and their time of bearing fruit would have passed” (page 249).
On page 250
Bonhoeffer directs us to Galatians 5:22 – 24; 2:20; 1 Cor. 15:31, and 2 Cor. 4:16
with the following thoughts:
Galatians 5:22 –
24 speaks of both the sanctification of the individual and the holiness of the
church-community; the source of both is community with Christ and in Christ and
with one another in Christ.
The deeper our
growth in sanctification, the more we recognize that we are dying according to
the flesh, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24).
The fact that we
still live in the flesh means that our entire lives must be “an act of faith in
the Son of God who has begun His own life in them” (Gal. 2:20).
Christ is our “daily
death and…daily life.”
The fruit of the
Spirit cannot remain invisible to the world, indeed, it is such that from ancient
times forward the world has said, “See how they love one another.” Here we might
add John 13:34 – 35 to Bonhoeffer’s text.
On page 251, as
Bonhoeffer considers that we are in fact saints in Christ, he writes, “These
very same Christians, who embrace the truth that sin no longer rules over them,
and that the believer no longer sins, will also confess that ‘if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’”
He quotes 1 John
1:8 – 2:1 in helping us to see the “already – not yet” of our life in Christ,
of us being complete in Him (Col. 2:10) while at the same time living in the
process of sanctification. Those who do not live in the tension of 1 John 1:8 –
2:1, who cannot “see” this dynamic of our life in Christ, often live on one of
two ends of the spectrum. On one end they insist that our identity is that of
sinners, on the other end they insist that we no longer need to speak of sin,
beware of sin, teach against sin, or seek the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin.
I have known
Jesus Christ, in some measure…it is a mystery to me…since 1966, and I will say
that 1 John 1:9 is more precious to me today than ever before. “If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.”
We could ponder
1 John 1:8 – 2:1 every day for the rest of our lives and not exhaust its
treasures.
Bonhoffer also
makes the point that as Christ forgives us, so we ought to forgive one another “without
ceasing” (Eph. 4:32; Matt. 18:21ff). Forgiveness is to be our way of life, both
in the receiving and the giving.
“The community
of saints is not the ‘ideal’ church-community of the sinless and perfect. It is
not the church-community of those without blemish, which no longer provides
room for the sinner to repent. Rather it is the church-community that shows
itself worthy of the gospel of forgiveness of sins by truly proclaiming God’s
forgiveness, which has nothing to do with forgiving oneself. It is the
community of those who have truly experienced God’s costly grace, and who thereby
live a life worthy of the gospel which they neither squander nor discard” (pages
251 – 252).
I would like to
ask Bonhoeffer why he inserted “which has nothing to do with forgiving oneself.”
Of course this is true, but I would like to know what he encountered that
motivated him to make this point.
There is nothing
in the Bible, not directly nor by extrapolation that supports the idea that we
must forgive ourselves. In fact, the Scriptures are clear that only in Jesus
can we find forgiveness. Yes, we find the forgiveness of Jesus Christ
communicated to us through His Body, both at the Lord’s Table and in our daily
lives, but there is no other source of forgiveness than the Lamb of God.
I was once part
of a large audience who heard a well-known author and speaker preach on our need
to forgive ourselves. At the end of the message the pastors were called to come
up front to minister to those who desired prayer. As I stood facing the
audience, I looked at the pastor who was standing beside me and said, “You
know, this business of forgiving ourselves isn’t true.”
He said, “Yes, I
know.”
When a man came
up to us for prayer regarding things in his life for which he was seeking
forgiveness, we explained to him that lasting forgiveness was only to be found in
Jesus and received from Jesus. The man was relieved to hear this and we had a
sweet time of ministry and prayer with him…all centered in Jesus Christ.
If we have “truly
experienced God’s costly grace” then we can display that costly grace to
others, both within and without the visible church-community. Saints are those
who both receive and give God’s costly grace. Saints forgive one another
without ceasing. Saints are those who have been sanctified and are being
sanctified. This sanctification is both individual and communal, and there
cannot truly be individual sanctification outside of the Body of Christ – O how
we need one another!
Perhaps our
congregations ought to always be asking, “How is Christ sanctifying us in this season
of life?”
We ought not to
lose sight of Galatians 5:16 – 24, while our focus is on the fruit of the
Spirit, let us not be so foolish as to dismiss the deeds of the flesh – Jesus our
Lord was tempted, we will be tempted, only the foolish dismiss the reality of
temptation (1 Cor. 10:1 – 13). We are to run to Jesus in temptation, our Great
and Merciful High Priest (Heb. 4:14 – 16; 7:25; 2:17 – 18).
Might it not be
that much of our practice of “church” these days is in the form of
accommodation to the world, the flesh, and the devil? That rather than calling
the people of the world to know Jesus and to be conformed (as believers) to His
image (Rom. 8:29), that we are conforming ourselves to the present age? That
our salt is losing its flavor, that we are putting our light under a basket,
and we are shutting off the light on the city on the hill (Matt. 5:13 – 15)?
These things can
be subtle, especially when we have acclimated ourselves to them. Yes, they can
also be blatant, but I think subtlety is our primary danger, the soothing siren
song of the world, the music that takes us away from the Christ of the Cross
and the Cross of Christ. I imagine that this temptation exists in every life,
in every congregational setting – it will usually look attractive, it will
usually make sense – and it will always move our hearts away from Jesus and His
Cross.
Galatians 2:20;
6:14.
Is this our
testimony?
Is it the testimony
of our congregations?
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