Journey into Christlikeness Conforming Into The Image Of Jesus A Study Of Discipleship

Becoming the Person God Wants You To Be LESSON 1 Part II Becoming the Person God Wants You To Be He is the Vine, we are the branches

SUMMARY OF PART I

The 9 elements of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) Love Joy Peace Longsuffering Gentleness (kindness) Goodness Faith Meekness (gentleness) Temperance (self-control)

One major point discussed was that God is concerned more about our character than about our comfort. Our main source of reference was the Gospel of John, in chapter 15. Our workbook said there are two things we must do to become the people God wants us to be.

We Must Allow God To Be Our Pruner #1 We Must Allow God To Be Our Pruner

The Purpose of pruning: To remove the unnecessary things from us that will hinder our growth The Necessity of pruning: The quality of our spiritual fruit will never reach full potential without it The Ways God prunes us: Through His Word (Bible) Through Problem

#2 We Must Abide In Christ

John 15:4-5 (KJV) 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

It was mentioned that one of the definitions of abide is: To continue in a certain state, condition or activity … In the Greek language tense is the aorist, imperative. The idea is that abiding is a command that is on going; not a random option. Another Greek definition is to remain or stay put. Our workbooks say this requires two things:

We Must Be Filled With The Holy Spirit FIRST We Must Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:15–18 (KJV) 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

The Complete Biblical Library says: The command … could be translated "stop being drunk." … Instead of being filled physically, … be filled spiritually. The command … a present passive imperative verb, … is not optional. It is passive, denoting that God has to accomplish it… it is present, meaning it is an ongoing process.

According to our workbook: The word filled means to be controlled The verb filled is present tense, so … literally means “be continually filled with the Spirit” The fruit of the Spirit, which is Christlike character, is not produced by self effort. It is the natural result of being attached to the Vine…

Ephesians 4:30-31 (KJV) 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

One important point about the Holy Spirit is that He is a not an it; He is a person. This means that He experiences grief when we fail to do the things that are not Christlike. Therefore, before He can properly do His work in us, there are certain habits we need to rid ourselves of and negative attitudes that we need to change. But, according to our workbook we need help.

Philippians 2:12–13 (KJV) 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

In other words, it is God’s Spirit who works within our being, to give us – not only the desire – but also the ability and power to do those things which bring Him pleasure. Recognizing that we cannot do it on our own, is a first step toward Christlikeness. We must learn to depend upon the Holy Spirit to empower us. This is the essence of abiding in the Vine. Our strength comes from the LORD!

SECOND We Must Obey God’s Word

John 14:25–26 (KJV) 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Our workbook references John 14:26 and asks us what does Jesus say the Holy Spirit will do for us? Then it goes on to say: The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work in tandem to help us become the people God wants us to be. The Bible tells us how we should live, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to live that way. This is true because of the purpose of God’s Word.

2 Timothy 3:16–17(KJV) 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Lesson APPLICATION Christlikeness should be every believer’s desire. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Some who profess Jesus as Savior, do not desire to honor Him as LORD. So, before there can be an application, there has to be a desire!

In other words, before “Becoming the Person God Wants You To Be,” each of us need to come to grips with, do we want to be what God wants us to be? If the answer is yes, then God’s Word should be a top priority in our lives. There should be a thirst to learn. We learn to be like Him by knowing Him and spending time with Him. The choice is up to us!