Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The works of the flesh, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, seem overwhelming both in us and around us. However, God is good enough to give us the empowerment to overcome these works of the flesh by the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit can always conquer the works of the flesh.
It's interesting that when Paul talks of the "works" of the flesh, he used the plural, but in talking of the "fruit" of the Spirit, he uses the singular (fruit, not fruits). In the big picture, the Spirit has one work to do in all of us. These aren’t the "gifts of the Spirit," which are distributed on an individual basis according to God's good purpose and will, this is something for every Christian. Thus, all these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are to be manifested in each believer.
I will now go through each of the fruit of the Spirit in detail as I did the works of the flesh.
Love (Greek "agape")
It's interesting that love is mentioned first...because love encompasses the words that follow in the list. The following eight terms are really love in action.
There were four distinct words for “love” in the Greek language. Eros was the word for romantic or passionate love. Philia was the word for the love we have for those near and dear to us, be they family or friends. Storge is the word for the love that shows itself in affection and care, especially family affection. But agape describes a different kind of love all together. It is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving. This is above and beyond natural affection, or the loyalty to blood or family. This is loving people who aren’t easy to love; loving people you don’t like. It is also noteworthy to say that agape is the type of love that can only be bestowed by God...because it is the love that He has toward us. To be more specific...only believers can know and practice this type of love because we know God...the unbeliever who does not know Jesus Christ as his/her personal savior cannot ever know or practice agape. Agape only comes with relationship with the Lord.
It is interesting to understand the works of the flesh in light of this love of the Spirit. Each one of them is a violation or a perversion of this great love.
* Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness are counterfeits of love among people.
* Idolatry and sorcery are counterfeits of love to God.
* Hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, and murders are all opposites of love.
* Drunkenness and revelries are sad attempts to fill the void only love can fill.
This shows us the foolishness of excusing the works of the flesh because of “love.” Charles Spurgeon once said, “To talk of ‘love’ when a man covets his neighbour’s wife, or when a woman violates the command, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ is little less than sheer blasphemy against the holiness of love. It is not love, but lust; love is an angel, and lust a devil. The purities of domestic life are defiled, and its honors are disgraced when once the marriage bond is disregarded.”
Joy (Greek "eirene")
This "joy of the Spirit" is a higher joy than just the thrill of an exciting experience or a wonderful set of circumstances. It is a joy that can abide and remain, even when circumstances seem terrible. This is a joy whose foundation is the Lord.
The joy we experience as believers should not be dependent upon circumstances; our joy comes from what and who we are in Christ.
Peace (Greek "chara")
This peace is peace with God and peace with others. It is a peace filled with blessing and goodness, not just the absence of strife. This peace is a peace of the Spirit because it is a higher peace than just what comes when everything is calm and settled. It is a peace which surpasses all understanding.
Longsuffering (Greek "makrothumia")
Longsuffering means that you can have love, joy, and peace even over a period of time when people and events annoy you or are extremely difficult. Martin Luther once said, "Longsuffering is that quality which enables a person to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the improvement of those who have done him wrong."
Kindness and Goodness
These two words are closely connected. About the only difference is that goodness also includes the concept of generosity.
Faithfulness (Greek "pistis")
This is the ability and willingness to serve God faithfully throughout one's years despite all the troubles and temptations of life. Again, this is only something the Spirit can provide us, not something we can muster up on our own.
Gentleness (Greek "chrestotes")
The word has the idea of being teachable, not having a superior attitude and not demanding one’s rights even when they are deserved. Contrary to common belief, it is not timidity or passiveness...but shows the self-control to be able to display anger when it is proper for it (a godly "righteous anger"). This idea completely goes against the motto of "self-assertiveness" in our modern society. Gentleness is the kind of spirit that does not demand “its proper respect.” It is the attitude of Christ who, while being God here on earth, did not demand that people bow down and worship Him...showing the respect that is due Him as the Creator of all things...but He instead suffered rebuke and torture on behalf of all humanity.
Philippians 2:3-7 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Self-Control (Greek "egkrateia")
The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for selfish reasons. It knows the self-discipline and denial someone will go through for themselves, but, unlike the world's form of self control, the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others.
We believers should curb our freedoms (even if there's nothing morally wrong with our desires), if that particular act we do or desire can hurt the spiritual walk of another believer. In other words, "we are our brother's keeper."
Romans 14:14-15,21 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
1 Corinthians 8:10-12 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
v. 23 b "Against such there is no law"
There is certainly no law against love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But more so, if a person has this fruit of the Spirit, they don’t need the law; they fulfill it already in their attitudes and actions.
There is a need of law, of course, but it does not apply to those who bear these fruits of the Spirit. The law is not given for the righteous man. A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does not need any law to warn or to restrain him/her.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The works of the flesh, as discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, seem overwhelming both in us and around us. However, God is good enough to give us the empowerment to overcome these works of the flesh by the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit can always conquer the works of the flesh.
It's interesting that when Paul talks of the "works" of the flesh, he used the plural, but in talking of the "fruit" of the Spirit, he uses the singular (fruit, not fruits). In the big picture, the Spirit has one work to do in all of us. These aren’t the "gifts of the Spirit," which are distributed on an individual basis according to God's good purpose and will, this is something for every Christian. Thus, all these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are to be manifested in each believer.
I will now go through each of the fruit of the Spirit in detail as I did the works of the flesh.
Love (Greek "agape")
It's interesting that love is mentioned first...because love encompasses the words that follow in the list. The following eight terms are really love in action.
There were four distinct words for “love” in the Greek language. Eros was the word for romantic or passionate love. Philia was the word for the love we have for those near and dear to us, be they family or friends. Storge is the word for the love that shows itself in affection and care, especially family affection. But agape describes a different kind of love all together. It is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving. This is above and beyond natural affection, or the loyalty to blood or family. This is loving people who aren’t easy to love; loving people you don’t like. It is also noteworthy to say that agape is the type of love that can only be bestowed by God...because it is the love that He has toward us. To be more specific...only believers can know and practice this type of love because we know God...the unbeliever who does not know Jesus Christ as his/her personal savior cannot ever know or practice agape. Agape only comes with relationship with the Lord.
It is interesting to understand the works of the flesh in light of this love of the Spirit. Each one of them is a violation or a perversion of this great love.
* Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness are counterfeits of love among people.
* Idolatry and sorcery are counterfeits of love to God.
* Hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, and murders are all opposites of love.
* Drunkenness and revelries are sad attempts to fill the void only love can fill.
This shows us the foolishness of excusing the works of the flesh because of “love.” Charles Spurgeon once said, “To talk of ‘love’ when a man covets his neighbour’s wife, or when a woman violates the command, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ is little less than sheer blasphemy against the holiness of love. It is not love, but lust; love is an angel, and lust a devil. The purities of domestic life are defiled, and its honors are disgraced when once the marriage bond is disregarded.”
Joy (Greek "eirene")
This "joy of the Spirit" is a higher joy than just the thrill of an exciting experience or a wonderful set of circumstances. It is a joy that can abide and remain, even when circumstances seem terrible. This is a joy whose foundation is the Lord.
The joy we experience as believers should not be dependent upon circumstances; our joy comes from what and who we are in Christ.
Peace (Greek "chara")
This peace is peace with God and peace with others. It is a peace filled with blessing and goodness, not just the absence of strife. This peace is a peace of the Spirit because it is a higher peace than just what comes when everything is calm and settled. It is a peace which surpasses all understanding.
Longsuffering (Greek "makrothumia")
Longsuffering means that you can have love, joy, and peace even over a period of time when people and events annoy you or are extremely difficult. Martin Luther once said, "Longsuffering is that quality which enables a person to bear adversity, injury, reproach, and makes them patient to wait for the improvement of those who have done him wrong."
Kindness and Goodness
These two words are closely connected. About the only difference is that goodness also includes the concept of generosity.
Faithfulness (Greek "pistis")
This is the ability and willingness to serve God faithfully throughout one's years despite all the troubles and temptations of life. Again, this is only something the Spirit can provide us, not something we can muster up on our own.
Gentleness (Greek "chrestotes")
The word has the idea of being teachable, not having a superior attitude and not demanding one’s rights even when they are deserved. Contrary to common belief, it is not timidity or passiveness...but shows the self-control to be able to display anger when it is proper for it (a godly "righteous anger"). This idea completely goes against the motto of "self-assertiveness" in our modern society. Gentleness is the kind of spirit that does not demand “its proper respect.” It is the attitude of Christ who, while being God here on earth, did not demand that people bow down and worship Him...showing the respect that is due Him as the Creator of all things...but He instead suffered rebuke and torture on behalf of all humanity.
Philippians 2:3-7 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Self-Control (Greek "egkrateia")
The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for selfish reasons. It knows the self-discipline and denial someone will go through for themselves, but, unlike the world's form of self control, the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others.
We believers should curb our freedoms (even if there's nothing morally wrong with our desires), if that particular act we do or desire can hurt the spiritual walk of another believer. In other words, "we are our brother's keeper."
Romans 14:14-15,21 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
1 Corinthians 8:10-12 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? 11 And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 12 But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
v. 23 b "Against such there is no law"
There is certainly no law against love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But more so, if a person has this fruit of the Spirit, they don’t need the law; they fulfill it already in their attitudes and actions.
There is a need of law, of course, but it does not apply to those who bear these fruits of the Spirit. The law is not given for the righteous man. A true Christian conducts himself in such a way that he does not need any law to warn or to restrain him/her.
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