The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Joy

Is the following statement correct? Please explain your answer.
"Joy is not something we seek, it is a fruit of glorifying God."

Tom

I'm not very comfortable with that statement. Joy, from what I have gathered from Scripture, is the RESULT of God bestowing grace upon His elect people and bringing them in union with Christ. In fact, all that God bestows upon His people is to be received as joy, even when He allows them to be tempted (Jam 1:2-4) or when He discipines them (Heb 12:6-13).

I have to admit that when I first read that statement the first thing that came to my mind was John Piper and his horrid "Christian Hedonism" view. But perhaps this is one of those instances where I will royally embarrass myself when you tell me it is a quote from Jonathan Edwards.

Pilgrim
The Bible reference of that statement is Gal.5:22. "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy..."
The quote doesn't come from either Piper or Edwards.
It was actually something I wrote and wanted to make sure it was accurate, before I used it elsewhere.
It has to do with someone I know who is trying to understand what joy is.
My thought was basically that seeing that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As believers when we are glorifying God one of the fruits is joy.
We don't need to seek joy, because it is something that naturally comes when we are obedient to the Word of God.
Do we seek the fruit, or do we seek to glorify God?
If I understand Piper, that is not what he believes.
Tom

Sorry Tom, but I don't find your statement in Gal 5:22. The fruit of the SPIRIT is joy, i.e., it is God-given. And that joy exists due to the great salvation given to the elect in Christ. The true Christian can and will have joy because of what GOD has done... NOT because of something we do; our paltry efforts to glorify God. Believers have joy IN God because of who God is, what He has done, and what He will do for those who are in Christ.

It would appear that we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

Pilgrim

Thank you, what you said makes sense. Which is the reason why I posted the question in the first place. I am not afraid of being wrong about something. In fact when I am, I am open for correction, simply because I don't want to believe something that is wrong.
I hope you understand where I am coming from.
I completely agree with you about However, somehow I had a disconnect between what I said earlier and that.

Tom

Perhaps it is because when I sin, joy is the last thing I have. Yet thanks be to God, He leads me to repentance.