The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Part One – LOVE

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

   

Paul wrote four letters while he was in prison. They were Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon. Colossians and Ephesians are viewed as letters that parallel one another in many regards. While they were written to two different cities (Colossae and Ephesus) they have similar themes and support one another in many respects. Colossians tells us that we must seek to “let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly.”

    

Colossians 3:16-17

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Ephesians contains a parallel verse that tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.”

 

Ephesians 5:18-20

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. As we are filled with the Spirit we will manifest the fruit of the Spirit. This bearing of fruit is God’s will for our lives and it brings Him great glory.

 

John 15:8

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

 

Galatians was a letter Paul wrote early in his ministry. While Paul had visited Galatia and taught many Christians how to live for Christ, many were beginning to fall back into paganism or were being tempted to live by the Old Testament law due to Jewish influences. Paul addressed these issues by contrasting the deeds of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit.

The theme of the letter of Galatians is freedom, freedom from the power of sin, freedom from the law as a measuring stick, and freedom to let Christ live through us by the power of his Spirit. As the letter comes to a close, Paul tells us that when we allow God’s Spirit to live in and through us, that Spirit produces a set of Christ-like qualities or virtues, the Fruit of the Spirit.

 

As we study the fruit of the Spirit we need to make some observations. For instance, how are these nine spiritual virtues like fruit?  First, there are many different kinds of fruit. Secondly, fruit is the natural outgrowth of a healthy plant or a healthy follower of Christ. Finally, like fruit, these qualities are good for you. They are personal and interpersonal qualities that are manifested in relationships. Sometimes we think that the fruit of the Spirit are personal attributes and private virtues. While this may be true to some extent, they are more importantly interpersonal qualities, virtues that are a result of people treating and ministering to one another as they let the Word of Christ dwell in them as they are filled with the Spirit.

 

One of the reasons Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians was to address a problem revolving around relationships. Instead of loving one another, Christians in Galatia were being rude and hurtful toward one another. When Paul teaches about the fruit of the Spirit, he’s not just talking to individual believers about their private lives; he’s talking to a body of believers about the quality of their corporate life together. The fruit of the Spirit is meant to be practiced and experienced in community, in the local body of believers who are followers of Christ. The Christian life is not just about you and the Spirit; it’s about you and other followers of Christ as well as your individual relationship with the Spirit!

 

Unlike the fruit of the Spirit, the deeds of the flesh are done by a person’s own efforts, whether he is saved or unsaved. In Galatians 5:13-21 Paul listed these deeds of the flesh in detail, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”

The fruit of the Spirit, on the other hand, is produced by God’s own Spirit and only in the lives of those who belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is a practical and personal physical manifestation of a Christian’s transformed life. Paul in Galatians 5:22-26 lists the fruit of the spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Paul goes on to say in this passage, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Paul’s implication is that as we let the Word of Christ dwell in us, live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit, we will not express the deeds of the flesh but will manifest the fruit of the Spirit. The spiritual behavior of walking by the Spirit causes the believer to put away the habitual ongoing evil deeds of the flesh and causes him or her to bear the good fruit produced by the Spirit.

It is interesting to note that the products of the flesh are plural while the fruit of the Spirit is singular. In other words, numerous different types of sins can be expressed by someone, but usually not all of them all in one person. The fruit of the Spirit is singular. The fruit of the Spirit is always produced completely in every believer. When you are walking in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit you will express love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, no matter how faintly evidenced its various manifestations may be. When we manifest the fruit of the Spirit it is the inward and outward indicator of salvation. A believer’s spiritual fruit will indicate their walk with the Spirit, their relationship with the Father and their submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Matthew 7:15-20 informs us that false teachers can be recognized by their fruits and the implication is that true followers of Christ can be known by their fruit as well.

The “Fruit of the Spirit” is a biblical term that sums up the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life. These attributes are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We learn from scripture that these are not individual “fruits” from which we pick and choose. Rather, the fruit of the Spirit is one nine fold “fruit” that characterizes all who truly walk in the Holy Spirit. Collectively, these are the fruit that all Christians should be producing in their new lives with Jesus Christ as God’s Word indwells them and as they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

The first fruit listed is love. The love spoken of here comes from the Greek word “agape.” “Agape” love is acting in the interest of others, no matter who they are, how we feel, or what it costs. It is putting another person’s well-being ahead of our own, not because they are loveable or likeable or because we feel like it at the moment or because it’s convenient or comfortable or even reasonable, not because of actions they have done for us but because that’s what Christ-like love does. This love is possible in any of us, but must be empowered by the Holy Spirit for it to be pure, holy and true “agape” love. This is the love God the Father has for His son and it is the same love He has for us as well. Numerous passages speak of this kind of love.

 

Ephesians 5:1-2

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Romans 13:8-10

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Romans 5:8

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 15:13-14

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

 

1 John 3:14-17

“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

1 John 4:7-8

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

This command to love others cannot be fulfilled unless a person has the Holy Spirit living within them. The Holy Spirit is the source of this and all the other manifestations of spiritual fruit. “The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” Paul explained to Roman believers (Romans 5:5).

“Agape” love is a love that is unconditional. It does not depend on the other person’s performance or desirability. This love is also willful and is an intentional decision to act in another person’s interest. It is also sacrificial. It costs you something to love in this way; it’s not just giving, but giving up for the sake of someone else. “Agape” love is acting in someone else’s interest unconditionally (no matter who they are), willfully (no matter how you feel), and sacrificially (no matter what it costs). A fundamental truth about people is that we need each other. God has ordained that his people should live together in relationships, in a community called the church. As followers of Christ we know and rely on the love God has for us because God is love. “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

 

Jesus showed “agape” love when he washed the disciples feet in John 13:1-17. This was a dirty task usually assigned to slaves. But in this passage we see that Jesus modeled what He taught and lived. John 13:1 states, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” That expression: “the full extent of his love” tells us that His service in this common mundane task of washing feet was a way to express the deep “agape” love He had for the disciples and the love He wished to model for them. This serves also as an example for us as well in how we should live like Christ as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to love others. Jesus’ ultimate manifestation of “agape” love of course was when He willingly died upon the cross for the sins of mankind. We didn’t deserve this sacrifice, but Christ gave His life willingly and God the Father gave up His Son to make it possible that we might be saved from our sins. Love is a substantial part of the fruit of the Spirit for “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

    

1 Corinthians 13:12-13

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”