The Fruit of the Spirit is..

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26 ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit has to do with the deeds, actions, and results of the Spirit. And that fruit expressed in the lives of followers of Jesus Christ is everything done in true partnership with Christ. It is like Jesus is the tree or the vine and we are the branches, and so when we are in genuine union (relationship) with him, what should be produced in and out from our lives should be consistent with God’s character and his will and purpose for our lives, that we should live holy lives pleasing to him in obedience to him.

So the fruit mentioned in this passage of Scripture should be what is being produced in and out through the lives of us who are following Jesus Christ with our lives and who are no longer walking (in conduct, in practice) in slavery (addiction) to sin. And right before this fruit is mentioned we are given a list of the kinds of things that, if we practice them, will keep us out of heaven – such things as sexual immorality, idolatry, fits of anger, drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

So, instead of us walking in sin, we are now to be walking according to the Spirit bearing fruit (the fruit of the Spirit) in keeping with repentance and for the kingdom of heaven. And the first thing on the list is “love” (agape) which is centered in moral preference and which prefers all that God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, just, morally pure, upright, godly, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. So when we love others with this love we will not deliberately and habitually sin against them.

But when we love with this kind of love we are going to do and to say to others what is for their good, for their well-being and not to harm them in any way. And so we will be kind to them, which refers to meeting real needs in the way in which God would want us to meet them. Thus, kindness is never lying to people or saying things to them just to make them feel good if by doing so we are not being honest. For lies are never kind. Speaking the truth to others in love is kind, but it needs to be said in love.

For what was Jesus’ kindness (favor, mercy) to us? He gave his life up for us on that cross to deliver us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we can now walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And he died that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of bondage to sin so that we can now honor him with our bodies. This is love, and it is kindness.

[Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15]

And part of the fruit of the Spirit, which is also one of the characteristic traits of agape love, is patience, which is also longsuffering. And this engages much in the way of forgiveness and waiting on the Lord to act and keeping the faith and not giving up and believing God for the impossible, etc. Like God is patient towards us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, which is the reason Jesus has not yet returned to judge the world, because many more need to be saved from their sins.

And so we need to be patient and wait on the Lord for him to act when we see all the evil that is going on in the world, and all the evil deeds that wicked and immoral people are producing. And we must remember how patient he was with us, and how loving and kind he was with us who were also sinners living in sin at one time in our lives (some may still be). And so we need to not give up on those who have not yet come to repentance, for if we are living for the Lord today it was because Jesus did not give up on us.

And what is goodness? It is not of our own flesh. I can tell you that much! It comes from God, and we can only be good because of his goodness to us and because of the goodness that he produces in our lives as we cooperate with him in his work of grace in our lives in changing us and in making us more like Jesus. And this goodness will reveal itself in moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, love, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and in doing for others as we would have them do for us. 

And then there is faithfulness. This is of major importance to God in our relationship with him like it is for many of us who are married, and in our relationships with our spouses. We should want our spouses to be faithful to us just as our Lord, who is our spiritual husband, expects of us, his bride (the church) to be faithful to him. And this has to do with spiritual fidelity to our Lord and us not chasing after the gods of this world. For if we are faithful to the Lord we will do as he says and we will not choose to sin against him.

And lastly we have gentleness and self-control. But gentleness does not infer weakness, nor does it infer that we should placate people in their sins or avoid telling them the truth so that we don’t offend them. For gentleness means meekness, and Jesus was meek, but he was not weak, especially when it came to standing up for what is right and to standing against what was pure evil. He had no problems at all with calling evil what it was and with calling people to change and to obey God and to not do evil.

And self-control is under the control of the Holy Spirit and not under the control of our own flesh. And God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, instructs us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. So we are not to be living in ways in which are out of control or that are being controlled and led by Satan and by the flesh and that are self-indulgent and intoxicated to sin and not obedient to our Lord.

For we who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. And so we are now to be living by the Spirit, and keeping in step with the Spirit, and following the Lord in his ways and in his truth and according to his commands and in holy living. For this is the life of a true follower of Jesus Christ. And we are not to become conceited (prideful), and we thus should not be people who are provoking one another, unless it is to love and good deeds (see Hebrews 10:24-25).

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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