Hebrews 4:9-11 (Amplified) says, "So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete sabbath-rest reserved for the (true) people of God; For he who has once entered (God's) rest also has ceased from (the weariness and pain) of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His Own. Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest (of God, to know and experience it for ourselves) that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience (into which those in the wilderness fell)."
This might seem like a strange scripture to use concerning the character of Christ. Truthfully, it's difficult to walk in the Fruit of the Spirit (the character of Christ) by your own works. The Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 is actually the very character of Christ and is impossible to produce by the works of the flesh. We continue trying to produce this fruit of character by our own efforts. It's true that we must exert discipline over our flesh by the Word, but we must learn to rest in God's rest for it to be manifest.
This "rest" that God speaks about is the grace we now have instead of the Law of the old covenant. Under the Law, the people had to try and manifest all the character traits by their own efforts and they failed. However, we now have the Holy Spirit living in us to produce from within and not from without.
As we learn to rest in the new covenant of grace, we find that the less we try manifesting it by works, the more is manifest by grace. God never intended for us to do things on our own. He, indeed, knew we could not do them on our own. The same qualities were demanded of the old covenant people, but without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the grace, they couldn't produce the character of Christ. We, however, are of a new covenant and a new Spirit.
Under Law, the people had the old sin nature and character of the dead flesh. Under the new covenant, we're to live our lives through Him and allow that character to produce from His very Own Spirit Who lives through us. We can never produce the love that the Word speaks of through the works of the flesh.
Part of this Fruit character is peace. How can we live in this peace that "passes all understanding" by the works of the flesh? The only possible way of producing this part of the Fruit or character of Christ, is to live in Him. John 14:27 (Amplified) says, "Peace I leave with you; My (Own) peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you."
The only means of producing this peace or Fruit or character, is to receive it by faith in His covenant of grace and then rest in it. The harder we try to live in peace in this world, the more it evades us. The only way to have His peace is to live in Him and in His peace. This is a part of the character or Fruit of the Spirit that now lives in and through us.
If we don't enter into His rest or His grace, then we cannot bring forth this peace. Everything in this world is now screaming out fear, anger, resentment and trial. Only grace and entering into this grace or rest can produce this character in our lives. Without the Holy Spirit living in him, humanity can never produce this Fruit or character anymore than an apple tree can bring forth peaches. The root of the tree determines the fruit of the tree.
This isn't something we can simply manufacture in our lives. We must yield to His life within us. We've wanted to produce this fruit in our lives and to reveal Jesus to the world, but it hasn't been working very well for us. We've tried modifying our behavior by willpower and restraint, but mostly that's resulted in failure.
The rest of grace God speaks about in Hebrews 4 is nothing more than the realization that God has already completed everything needed to be completed. We are simply to rest in Him in order for the Fruit or character to begin producing. We are "still in the world, but we are not of the world." We can never expect the world to produce that which only the Holy Spirit can produce.
We learn to rest in His grace and love and then we see the old fruit, the anger of the old man, has been pruned away already. We don't need anger management classes when we rest in Him. The anger dies out because it's no longer being nourished. His goodness now overshadows the nature of the old flesh and our whole character becomes His character.
Just like we no longer yield to sin in our bodies, we no longer yield to any of the other habits of the flesh. We combat them the same way; by the Word and the teachings of grace. John 15:3 (Amplified) says, "You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the Word which I have given you (the teachings I have discussed with you)."
When we learn to read the Word by the Holy Spirit instead of religious doctrines, we will produce what grace has sown in our spirit. It's simply living through Him and allowing Him to live through us. Many Christians are still have clouded thinking about this subject due to religious teaching instead of Holy Spirit teaching. The Root that produces Christ in us is the Holy Spirit Himself. He alone has been given the task or ministry of producing the character of Christ in the Body of Christ. Only by listening and yielding to Him can we truly produce the Fruit of the very character of Christ and let the world see Him through us.
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