Fruit of the Spirit
You’ve almost certainly heard talks, and read articles (maybe books), and thought about, and discussed the “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (verses 22-23)
If by chance you’re not that familiar with the passage, you have a treat in store. Every believer needs to explore these nine character traits—preferably with a concordance, exploring each of them in depth. Those who do find it’s a treasure chest.
One of the first things you’ll notice is that Paul talks about “the fruit”, singular. Not “fruits”. Perhaps Paul intends us to understand that the fruit is love, and the rest of the list details how love is expressed. Or perhaps he’s saying something else. Just one of the things to explore from this passage.
I’m not going to dive into the nine traits here. It’s the surrounding verses that have caught my attention this time. The wider passage is all about how the “flesh” and the Spirit are at odds—no compromise, it’s one or the other. Here’s how he launches the subject:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (verses16-17)
Technically, the word “flesh” means meat. But as used in the Bible it’s a shorthand way of referring to all the sinful impulses that arise from our nature. In fact some translations substitute “sinful nature” instead of the literal “flesh”, which I think nails it.
But what does Paul mean, “Walk by the Spirit?” Another shorthand word, “walk” encompasses how we live. “Walking” by the Spirit means conducting our lives God’s way, rather than the way the flesh wants to go. They’re opposed to each other. That’s the long-range fallout of the sin of our first parents. Adam and Eve recognized the opposition, but they chose the flesh anyway—and that’s become part of us, our sinful nature.
Isn’t it interesting that Paul says the opposition is there for a reason, specifically to prevent us from doing what we want? The flesh, the sinful nature, is going to keep on wanting us to serve it. That’s just a fact. So I think what Paul is saying is that God, by His Spirit, takes on the job of opposing the flesh—doing all He can to prevent us from serving the flesh. God put the opposition there, so we could see it. He provides red flags to warn us. And it’s a very serious warning: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (verse 21) What are the ”such things”? Paul supplies another list, which he calls the “works of the flesh”.
All this is the setup for what he says about the fruit of the Spirit. Which is then followed by this statement: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (verse 24) We perhaps don’t always feel the full impact of this. Crucifixion is a horrible, violent, agonizing way to kill someone. Paul’s statement says that’s what we do to the flesh, if we belong to Christ. Where is the flesh? It’s in us, it’s our nature. Crucifying it is going to be excruciating. (Yes, the words are related.)
And then he gives us the conclusion: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (verse 25) Do we live by the Spirit? In the literal sense, we sure do. It is God’s power that upholds the universe and gives us life. Spiritually (which is surely Paul’s focus) the new life in Christ has been provided to us by the Spirit. So, Paul teaches us, if it’s God who gives us life and keeps us alive by His Spirit, then we need to act like it.
One more thing I notice. Paul talks about, and warns us away from, the works of the flesh. Things we do that come out of our sinful nature. But the contrast he presents is not works of the Spirit, as we might expect. It’s fruit. Works come from us. Fruit comes from God. Choosing to walk in step with the Spirit allows God to produce the fruit in us.
Love, Paul