The Fruit Of The Spirit – An Introduction

Feature 1 – September 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Fruit Of Spirit – An Introduction

Paul began his second mission trip about two years after he had started his first missionary journey, when he had visited Galatia with Barnabas (Acts 13–14). Now with Silas, Paul returned to Galatia where he took Timothy along, to strengthen the new disciples there (15:40, 16:1-5).

The much younger Timothy faithfully followed the apostle despite the opposition they experienced. To encourage him, Paul listed several qualities the young man had displayed as a true disciple: “my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions” (2 Tim. 3:10-11). These nine features are like the ninefold fruit of the Spirit. They are much needed in view of a work to be done for the Lord while facing opposition, as demonstrated in Paul’s life and service. What an example for Timothy and for all the believers (1 Cor. 11:1; Phil. 3:17).

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). Paul’s challenge to the believers in Galatia was to stand firm in the freedom Christ had given them (v.1), to walk by the Spirit (v.16), and show forth the ninefold fruit of the Spirit. It is God’s plan for all believers to walk in conformity with the Spirit − which implies having our eyes fixed on Jesus (see Heb. 12:1-2) − together in the same rank, in godly order.

God’s Rights
Paul wrote The Epistle To The Galatians about eight years before he was arrested in Jerusalem. In the letter he stated what the Jewish leaders completely rejected: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:15). The apostle continued, “As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (v.16). The same verb was used again, to walk in conformity with a rule. According to the context, this rule is “the law of Christ” (v.2) which belongs to God’s new creation (v.15). Christ-rejecting Judaism does not recognize God’s rights. True disciples must free themselves from such a system, as the Lord explained in His parables (consider Lk. 5:39), otherwise we cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians teaches that Hagar (Gen. 16) represents a system of legalism linked to man in the flesh (Gal. 4:22–5:1). She could not be a real mother to the believers, for they must be under Sarah’s influence, with God’s grace, true liberty and the fruit of the Spirit. All disciples must learn that God’s true Servant (Mk. 10:45) has all the rights (see 11:1-11) over every believer from among Jews or Gentiles, for there is no difference as to faith (Rom. 10:12). Giving Him His rightful place, they then can produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Christ’s Greatness
Every true believer faces challenges to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use (2 Tim. 2:21). Soon the time will come when Israel will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Mt. 23:39). They will confess Him as their Savior and Messiah, the One whom they had rejected up until then (Isa. 53:1-3; Zech. 12:10, 13:9). Meanwhile, a remnant of believers among the Jews (see Rom. 11:1-5), joined by Gentiles, own Him as Lord and as “the Head of the Body, the Church, who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). This verse highlights Christ’s greatness. All true Christians are “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6) on the basis of Christ’s accomplished work on the cross, His death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-4). All are linked with Him who is the Head of the new creation.

One Spirit
Our glorified and exalted Lord sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to form this one body: “By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). In Acts 11 the apostle told his Jewish fellow believers about what had happened to Cornelius and his household. Peter showed the close connection between what had taken place with Jewish believers in Acts 2 and Gentile ones in Acts 10 – all introduced into the Church. “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit’” (11:15-16). The doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit is taught in the Epistles (for example: Eph. 2:11-22; Col. 2:10-13). This baptism characterizes the day of grace. All believers in Christ from the days of Acts 2 until the rapture are:

• One body (Jn. 11:52, see 10:16);
• United together and with the glorified Christ (7:39);
• Given the Holy Spirit, who is with them forever (14:16);
• Sustained by Him as members of the body (1 Cor. 12:13).

All this is needed for the fruit of the Spirit to be produced.

The Holy Spirit is also called “the Spirit of Christ” (Rom. 8:9) and “the Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7 JND), always representing Him. The objective of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to present Christ’s glories to the believers, putting His virtues and qualities before them. When called “the Spirit of Jesus” it is because He desires to reproduce in the believers the same qualities seen in the life of the humble Jesus of Nazareth. The Holy Spirit’s mission is to glorify Christ (Jn. 16:14), and He presents the exalted One to us, forming Christ in us, “You are our letter written in our hearts” or “Christ’s epistle” (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

The One Fruit Of The Spirit
The many works of the flesh (please read Gal. 5:19-21) are in marked contrast to the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit. This one fruit displays itself in grace in nine different aspects, which are interconnected and inseparable. Luke and Paul used the Greek word for “fruit,” or “crop” (karpos) a multiple of seven times in their writings.1 Analyzing the concept of fruit, we first go back to where things start, with a seed from which the fruit comes, ultimately coming from the great Sower. This seed implies a program, a process and a purpose.

In Galatians we notice sharp contrasts between the religious flesh and the Holy Spirit. Romans 7 describes the doctrine of grace and salvation, and how Paul had discovered a battle in himself between the new nature he received at the moment of his salvation, and his sin-nature, called “my flesh” (v.18). Like all of us, he inherited that flesh from Adam. Once he had become a believer, Paul realized that he descended from Abraham spiritually and learned many important lessons from “our father Abraham” (4:12). However, the God-given new nature has no power, and it needs the help of the Holy Spirit who indwells us2 to give us strength and deliverance (8:1-4). Galatians describes the conflict between the indwelling Holy Spirit and the religious flesh in the believer seeking to please God.

We learn that God was pleased with Christ and His sacrifice, and exalted Him at His right hand. From there He sent the Holy Spirit, who brought multiple blessings and produced much fruit in the lives of the believers. The Lord Jesus addressed the topic of fruit bearing, directing believers to Himself, the true Vine, and to His Father as the Vinedresser, who constantly cares and applies what is needed for fruit bearing. In that context the Lord pointed out the importance of being under the control of God’s Word and relying on or abiding in Him. “I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5 NKJV). Let that sink in!

Let’s now introduce the nine elements of the fruit of the Spirit.

1. Love. The first, agapè-love (verb and noun), occurs 77 times in Paul’s writings and 86 times in John’s. In the Greek world of those days, the word agapè-love was almost never used, since people were more familiar with other terms: éros, sexual love; phileô, friendship-love; or storgè, care and love toward close family members.

In the New Testament, agapè-love is usually used in relation to God; He “is love” (1 Jn. 4:8,16). It shows how love functions in response to Him or to those who belong to His family. God demonstrated His love – incredibly great and impossible for us to understand – in that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). Then, God poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit He has given us (Rom. 5:5). Amazing grace, unfathomable love! This love is the source from which springs the other eight components of the fruit of the Spirit, and His love is the uniting bond between them.

The Lord spoke of “My love” when He said, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (Jn. 15:9). His love has been poured out into our hearts, and we may continue or abide in it in a close relationship with the Father and the Son, through the Holy Spirit He has given us. This love is the greatest gift, and it abides (1 Cor. 13:13) with the believers now and forever.

2. Joy. The Lord spoke with His disciples of “My joy,” saying, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15:11). The Lord Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, and He anticipated this joy, even before coming into this world: “Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). The Lord’s joy – happiness, gladness – implied that He anticipated the satisfaction His accomplished work would bring to God, to Himself and to His redeemed ones. His joy is our joy because of the happy fellowship with Him as we see Him crowned with glory and honor. Also, this joy is everlasting.

3. Peace. The Lord called this “My peace” (Jn. 14:27), as was the case with “My joy” and “My love.” This peace is not only the absence of war when we receive peace with God, but it implies a state of rest: “the peace of God” (Phil. 4:7; Col. 3:15). In other words, it provides the proper context in which the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit can function, prosper and be enjoyed. Just as agapè-love is the starting point of the other parts of the Spirit’s fruit, promoting them to reach their potential, so this peace cannot be missed. While He is in the glory, the Lord has left us here to represent Him. We might say that the fruit of the Spirit is Christ displayed in the believers, in their walk and actions. It implies trying “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).

4. Longsuffering.3 This word is often translated as “patience” 4 but literally means “to be long of mood or mind.” It is a quality in God who, in His goodness, forbears the sinner in view of getting him to repent. The Spirit’s nine-fold fruit represents qualities in the believer that he has received from God, so in behavior and actions he may reflect Christ, reproducing those features daily. Obviously, to display even one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit implies a complete and lifelong commitment to our Lord Jesus and total surrender to the Spirit’s leading in our lives.

5. Kindness. This, displayed in the Lord Jesus, is an important feature of His “easy” yoke (Mt. 11:30). The term is derived from the same Greek word 5 that is translated “good” or “gracious” (1 Pet. 2:3).

6. Goodness. Closely related to kindness, “goodness” (from the Greek root agathós) occurs in the Bible 144 times by itself or as part of various compounds.

7. Faithfulness. This, of course, is related to faith. It leads us to Abraham, the father of all believers, but even more to the Lord Jesus, the ever-faithful One. This quality is inseparable from the next one.

8. Gentleness. Otherwise known as “humility” or “meekness,” 6 gentleness is indispensable to produce the nine qualities of this fruit.

9. Self-Control. Sometimes translated “temperance,” self-control is required to produce spiritual fruit. All these qualities we learn from the Lord Jesus, who has said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:29). May it be so, for His name’s sake.

ENDNOTES
1. Luke, 14 times (Lk. 1:42, 3:8-9, 6:43-44, 8:8,15, 12:17, 13:6-7,9, 20:10; Acts 2:30, 14:17). Paul, 21 times, if Paul wrote Hebrews (Rom. 1:13, 6:21-22, 7:4-5, 15:28; 1 Cor. 9:7, 14:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9,11; Phil. 1:11,22, 4:17; Col. 1:6,10; 2 Tim. 2:6, 4:13; Ti. 3:14; Heb 12:11, 13:15). “Unfruitful,” 7 times (Mt. 13:22; Mk. 4:19; 1 Cor. 14:14; Eph. 5:11; Ti. 3:14; 2 Pet. 1:8; Jude 1:12).
2. Abraham did not have the privilege of the indwelling Spirit as we do today, because the Holy Spirit came from the glorified Christ in heaven, after His work on earth was finished. Forty days after His resurrection, God glorified Jesus at His right hand and ten days later He sent the Holy Spirit to the believers on earth (Acts 2:1-36; Jn. 7:39).
3. “A state of emotional quietness in the face of unfavorable circumstances, patience, long-suffering; (1) as patience under trial, endurance, steadfastness (Heb. 6:12); (2) as constraint exercised toward others, forbearance, patience (2 Cor. 6.6); (3) as God’s constraint of His wrath, long-suffering, forbearance (Rom. 2.4)” (quoted from the Friberg Lexicon).
4. The Greek word macrothumía occurs fourteen (2x7) times in the New Testament (Rom. 2:4, 9:22; 2 Cor. 6:6; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 4:2; Col. 1:11, 3:12; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Tim. 3:10, 4:2; Heb. 6:12; Jas. 5:10; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 3:15).
5. Its root, chrêstos, occurs 19 times in the New Testament in adjectives or compound nouns (Mt. 11:30; Lk. 5:39, 6:35; Rom. 2:4 twice, 3:12, 11:22 three times, 16:18; 1 Cor. 13:4, 15:33; 2 Cor. 6:6; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:7, 4:32; Col. 3:12; Ti. 3:4; 1 Pet. 2:3).
6. Meekness: (1 Cor. 4:21; 2 Cor. 10:1; Gal. 5:23, 6:1; Eph. 4:2; Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:25; Ti. 3:2; Jas. 1:21, 3:13; 1 Pet. 3:16).

By Alfred Bouter