Fruits of the Flesh and Spirit Contrasted.

FRUITS OF THE FLESH A D SPIRIT CO TRASTED. BY REV. CHARLES SIMEO ,

Gal. V. 11) — 21. ote the ivorks of the flesh are manifest, uhich are these ; Adultery , fornication^ uncleunness, lasciviousness, idolatrij, tvitchcraft, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envi/ings, vuirdtrs, drunkenness, revelUnirs, and such like : of the tvhich I tell you before, as J have also told you in time past, that they ichich do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance : against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have cruci/ied thejlesh with the affections and lusts. THROUGHOUT this whole Epistle we have mention made of two covenants, under the one or other of which all mankind are of necessity comprehended, the covenant of works, and the covenant of grace. Those who are under the covenant of works are under the curse of God as transgressors: but those who are under the covenant of grace, are delivered from that curse through the Mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has become a curse for them''. The transition from the one state to the other is effected solely by faith''. But faith is an operation of the mind wholly invisible to men, and but too liable to be mistaken even by ourselves. How then shall it be ascertained either by others or ourselves to which of these covenants we adhere ? We are told, that, on the transition from the one to the other, we are endued with a new and vital principle, under the influence of which we from that moment begin to live. The principle which rules in us under the former state, is called " flesh ;" and that which animates us under the latter, is called " Spirit." ot that on the transition from the one state to the other, the former principle is taken away : o : it lives, and

acts, and withstands with all its might the latter principle, and prevents it from operating so successfully * Gal. iii. 10— U. " lb. ver. 25, 26.

688 GALATIA S, V. 19—24. [1013. fully as we could wish : but still it is progressively weakened in its operations : and by the dominance of the better principle we know that we are no longer under the hiw, nor exposed to the curse which the legal covenant entails on all who are cleaving to it. Thus we have somewhat of a criterion whereby to judge of our state : but still that criterion is of no farther use than as we have a distinct view of the fruits which the two opposite principles will produce: let these be clearly marked, and then no further difficulty will arise : We have only to examine our works, of what kind they are ; and then we shall arrive at a certain conclusion as to our state before God : for, as " a good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit, nor a corrupt tree good fruit," we shall know the quality of the tree by the fruit which is produced by it. This satisfaction then is afforded us by the Apostle in the words before us : in which we see, I. The works of the flesh — In enumerating them, the Apostle mentions, 1 . Those which stand in more immediate connexion with the body —

[" Adultery" is an evil against which even heathens in all ages have felt the deepest indignation. " Fornication" v/as not regarded by them in so heinous a light : Would to God the malignity of it were duly appreciated even by the Christian world ? But God views these evils with the utmost abhorrence ; and not the