He rejects the fruit of the Spirit in several ways,
Including that he has no patience for studying the scriptures
That God had delivered to his generation,
Yet he expects the self-same Spirit to grant him understanding
Of those same scriptures.
How can this be?
How can he be blessed by a Font whose blessings
He willingly rejects in part?
And what arrogance is this that so flagrantly
Denies so much of the good planned for him,
Yet wallows in such a sense of false entitlement
To the understanding of writings he does not love?
This man needs such a voodoo religion, by which
He is magically imbued with understandings
He won’t lift a finger to attain on his own—
And watch him go so far as to proclaim boldly
That such understanding is impossible of man,
Except as a pure gift from the Spirit.
But his view makes no allowance for the fact
That the Spirit already did its giving
In the very inspiring of the scriptures in the first place—
That the partaking is in the reading and studying
And pondering and obeying, and not in
The self-assurance that what he feels about the writings
Is put there by the Spirit himself.
He has built for himself a do-nothing religion—
A work-free environment that requires of him
Nothing more than to do what feels right to him,
Such that he may continue on unchanged by
The words of the Spirit in those holy scriptures.
And even so, he dares to chide the rest about
The “futility” and “pride” of their study—
About the “legalism” of it, and the heresy of trying
“To earn one’s salvation.”
And he has no idea that those he so criticizes
Are in fact the ones who are asking and seeking and knocking—
Who are the good and faithful servants, investing
What was given to them so as to make more of their service—
Who are showing themselves as workmen approved—
And striving to love the Lord their God with all their
Hearts, minds, souls, and strength.
He will likely not read, and will surely not take to heart what is written here [with notes from me interspesed in brackets]:
Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk [not sit and feel, but walk] by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led [this implies that you’re moving and making progress] by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Paul. Galatians 5:16-6:5. ESV
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh [such sacrifice is not made by those whose priority is to feel good] with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. [Again, this implies He is active and going somewhere.] 26 Let us not become conceited [note the arrogance mentioned in the poem above], provoking one another, envying one another.
6:Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work [there is work to be done, and not just sitting around and feeling our way through the scriptures], and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.
Look at this last verse, and consider how the guy in the poem accuses those who bear their own loads of being “legalistic”, and of ignoring the “grace” that he assumes as an entitlement to receive all the blessings without doing the work of a disciple.
Many millions are being taught this very day in their camps to wave off the work of the Way, the Truth, and the Life as anathema to what they think is the “true” gospel of nothing but grace and forgiveness (without maturation, achievement, learning, obedience, and accountability). And I see that such a notion of the religion did not come from the Bible, but from middlemen who purport to make the religion easier for man that how God had designed it to be.
It is these, and their followers, who are constantly going around claiming that their understanding of the scriptures is assured by none other than the Holy Spirit that lives with them—even as we see them rejecting some of the fruit of the Spirit, and neglecting to study His words for themselves.
Tell me, o entitled one—if the Spirit truly gives you such wisdom and knowledge, why is it necessary at all for you to have your pastors? Are they not necessary to keep the delusion alive? To keep telling you that you need not lift a finger to look into the scriptures for yourselves, or to keep in step with the Spirit and to bear the fruit that was, once upon a time, considered mandatory for the faithful?
