Bearing Spiritual Fruit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
We know that the Spirit of God dwells within the believer. We also know that He gives us spiritual gifts for enablement to serve Christ sand produces within the believer spiritual fruit. We recall the words of Christ with regards to that which is true and that which is false – Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Matthew 7:20).
We normally miss something in the Galatians passage. Most of us can quote Galatians 5:22 and 23 without realizing that the Apostle Paul is contrasting the fruit of the world the (the unsaved), with the fruit of the Spirit of God produced in the lives of genuine Christians. The key to this passage is in verse 16. Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh – you will not produce worldly fruit. This verse includes both lifestyles.
The fruit of the flesh is described as the lust of the flesh – Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like…that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5;19-21). Look closely at this list because you might think you are reading something out of the Daily Chicago Tribune.
Genuine Christians are different. Those who are under the control of the Holy Spirit want nothing to do with this kind of lifestyle. Often, the consequence is that variance, emulations, wrath, strife, and hatred focus at those who follow the Spirit of God. The contrast is between those who want to obey God and those who do not. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:30-32). The contrast is clearly between those who want to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1) and those who clearly are imitators of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worth in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). Our response toward them must remain one of kindness and love, even though we cannot approve of their lifestyle. We need to remember that we were once like them (Ephesians 2:1-10).
The fruit goes back to the parabolic illustration Jesus used in Matthew 7:15-21 — one that brings forth good fruit and the other that brings forth evil fruit. The good fruit is evidence of a good tree, evidence that we have been born again.
The good fruit is love and the more we love God, the more we will find ourselves loving others, even those who might be our enemies. The Bible commands us to love God and others in Matthew 22:37-40. It also gives many examples of the characteristics of love (I Corinthians 13). The more we allow the love of God toward us to influence our lives, we find ourselves loving Him and others more without needing the commands to do so.
Out of love comes joy, which comes naturally when we experience the love of God firsthand and find ourselves being channels of His love toward others. We become joyful people full of hope and joy unspeakable (I Peter 1:8). The closer we draw ourselves to God, the greater becomes our joy (John 15:11).
More flows out of love:
Peace – Isaiah 57:21 states that there is no peace to the wicked, those whose tree is corrupt. Indeed, in this world there will be tribulation (John 16:33), but even in the midst of it, there is a sense that all is well for God is in control. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).
Long-Suffering (patience) and we see the opposite of this everywhere around us. It seems that everyone is in a hurry. Long-suffering is evidence of love, joy and peace.
Gentleness — some translations substitute this word as kindness. A gentle person is mild of temper, one who has a calm and quiet disposition.
Goodness — We are commanded in the Word to be like Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 5:1; Philippians 2;5). Acts 10:38 reveals that Jesus went about doing good and this trait ought to characterize our lives as well.
Faith – This is primarily the ability to take God at His word and act accordingly. Certainly this is where every believer ought to excel. Romans 10:17 notes that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. In Acts 2, thousands heard the Gospel as Peter preached it and 3,000 believed and acted accordingly. This can be told over and over again. Five thousand heard, believed and acted in Acts 4. The Ethiopian heard, believed and acted in Acts 8:26-40. Saul, who became Paul heard, believed and acted (Acts 9). In Acts 10, Cornelius and his household heard, believed and acted. This process is what transpired in our lives when we heard the gospel, believed it and then trusted in Christ as our own personal Lord and Savior.
Meekness is another characteristic of Jesus who was meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). Jesus said that the meek are blessed (Happy) — this is power under control. People who have yielded their rights exhibit this aspect of love. This is totally the opposite of what is taking place in our society today with so many demanding their “rights.” We normally speak of this right as humility. Andrew Murray said, “Humility isn’t thinking meanly of one’s self – it isn’t thinking of one’s self at all.” We should recognize that the truly humble believer does not recognize it.
Temperance is ‘self-control,” which indicates that one is under the control of the Holy Spirit of God and it signifies moderation in all things.
What kind of spiritual fruit do you produce because of your lifestyle? The greater your relationship is to God through Jesus Christ, the greater will be your ability to produce spiritual fruit.
George Stiekes held successful pastorates in churches in Michigan and Washington among other places. He currently resides in North Carolina and blogs at Reverent Reflections. We recommend his ministry and republish his material by permission.