The Fruit of the Spirit

2018-06-17

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (24) And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (25) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (26) Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)

The Source of the Fruit

Contrary to the works of the flesh, the source of this fruit is the Holy Spirit, which means that its source is not of us. You can compare these blessings to the works of the flesh, and how these are centered around service to others. The works of the flesh are selfish in nature.

When yielding to the Spirit, we are gentle with other people, and content in Christ. Our surroundings do not matter as much as who we are in Christ. We are self-controlled and trusting in God.

The law, especially the Ten Commandments, are negative in nature: “Thou shalt not...” When we are in the Spirit, and He does His work in us, we are not under that law. In Christ, we no longer have condemnation (Romans 8:1), and are free to serve Him, being led of the Spirit.

They Have Crucified the Flesh

How do we crucify the flesh? There are two aspects here. Positionally, we have crucified the flesh. It is the finished work for anyone in Christ. However, it is a daily thing for us to put away the flesh, remain in faith in Christ, and believe it as fact. We live in the Spirit; it is a fact. However, the walking in the Spirit includes continuing to believe in Christ, constantly considering ourselves dead to sin, so that the Spirit can do His work.

Let Us Not Be Desirous of Vain Glory

As the walking in the Spirit is centered on others, we cannot walk in Him and be focused on serving ourselves or looking at others in envy. These are contrary one to the other; we must die daily to ourselves, and let the Spirit lead us.