The Fruit of the Spirit

The setting. Galatians is Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia, a Roman region in what is now Turkey. False teachers were telling believers that faith in Jesus was not enough; they also needed circumcision and the law of Moses to be accepted by God. Paul answered, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (5:1). Freedom with a purpose (5:13-14). Freedom in Christ is not freedom to sin: “only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Verse 16 shows how that kind of life is possible. Sarx. The Greek word for flesh is sarx (say: SARKS). In 5:16-17 it means our fallen human nature, the part of us that leans toward self instead of God. It is not the same as the body, which God made good. A command and a promise (5:16). Keep walking in the Spirit, “and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The answer to sin is not more effort on our own. It is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in every believer. The conflict (5:17). The two are “contrary to one another.” Romans 7:19 describes the same struggle: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do.” The answer comes in Romans 7:25: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Not under the law (5:18). The law shows sin, but it cannot give the power to overcome it (Romans 8:3-4). A person “led by the Spirit” lives under a new Master. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

Works, not fruit. Paul calls these “the works of the flesh” (5:19). Works are what we produce on our own. A few verses later he speaks of “the fruit of the Spirit” (5:22). One list comes from self; the other grows from God. Four groups. The list in 5:19-21 falls into four groups: sexual sin and impure living; false worship (idolatry and sorcery); broken relationships; and losing control (drunkenness and wild parties). Sorcery means seeking spiritual power apart from God. Mostly about people. More than half of the words describe how we treat one another: hatred, contentions (quarrels), jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions and heresies (splitting into rival groups), envy and murders. That matches the warning of 5:15: “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” “And the like” (5:21). The list is not complete. Paul gives examples of a life run by self, so no one can say that his own sin is missing from the list. The warning. “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” To practice means a settled way of life. A Christian can still fall into sin, but he hates it, confesses it and turns back (1 John 1:9). A life that loves these things and never turns away shows a heart that has not been made new. Our hope. Paul himself once fought against the church, and Jesus saved him. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Redeemed means bought back. The cross is God's answer to the works of the flesh.

Karpos. The Greek word for fruit is karpos (say: kar-POSS), and Paul uses it in the singular. The Spirit does not hand out separate pieces to different Christians. He grows one fruit, with all nine parts, in every believer. Works and fruit. The flesh produces “works” (5:19), things done in our own strength. The Spirit produces fruit, which comes from life inside. A factory makes products; a tree bears fruit. Three groups. One helpful way to see the list: love, joy and peace show our life with God; longsuffering, kindness and goodness show how we treat people; faithfulness, gentleness and self-control show the inner life the Spirit trains. Love first. “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). 1 Corinthians 13:4 shows what that love looks like: “Love suffers long and is kind.” No law against it (5:23). The law aimed at this kind of life all along: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word” (5:14). What the law asked for, the Spirit produces. An old promise. Through Ezekiel God promised, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezekiel 36:27). That promise comes true for everyone who trusts Jesus. Good tree, good fruit. Jesus said, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). The fruit shows what kind of tree God has made. It is evidence of a new heart, never the price of one. Fully seen in Jesus. Jesus was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Every part of the fruit was complete in Him.

A finished act (5:24). “And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh.” Paul speaks of it as already done. When we came to faith, we were joined to Christ's death: “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). Counting it true. Romans 6:11 tells us what to do with that fact: “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Reckon means count it as true and live like it. Passions and desires. The flesh is not only actions but the wants behind them. The cross deals with the root, not just the branches. Stoicheo. The word for walk in 5:25 is stoicheo (say: stoy-KEH-oh), a different word from the one in 5:16. It means to keep in line or keep in step, like soldiers in a row. In 5:16 walking is about daily living; in 5:25 it is about staying in step with the Spirit's lead. Life and walk (5:25). “If we live in the Spirit” is a fact for every believer: “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9). “Let us also walk in the Spirit” is the call to live out that fact. Back to people (5:26). Conceit, provoking and envy are the same biting and devouring Paul warned about in 5:15. Pride looks down on others, and envy looks up at them with resentment. The fruit always shows up in how we treat one another. Being changed. “But we all… are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).