Introduction to the Gifts of the Spirit: The Fruit of the Spirit

Introduction

As we start this new series tonight, I want to focus on something that is not any of the gifts of the Spirit. We find it in Galatians. Tonight, I want to talk about a war. There is a war raging within each and every one of us. This is the war between the flesh and the Spirit.

You might ask, “Why, if the series is about the gifts of the Spirit, would we start off by speaking of a war between the Spirit and the flesh?” And that is a good question. The reason is because this war and who is at any given time winning within us, will determine the effective use of these particular gifts of the Spirit.

As we progress through this study, you will hear me refer to certain “dangers” of the gifts of the Spirit. You might wonder how there could be anything dangerous about God’s gifts to us, but the dangers do no lie in the gifts themselves, but in the misuse of the gifts. The reason there is a danger to misuse the gifts is all because of this war that rages within each Christian.

So let’s take a look at Galatians 5:13

Galatians 5:13 KJV 1900

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Already, before anything happens, we can see that there is some kind of conflict. We can see that we must be aware of something called the flesh. We must be careful not to use our liberty as an occasion to serve this flesh.

Context is key when we study the Bible, so let’s get a little background of what is going on.

The Apostle Paul had visited the region of Galatia and had started several churches. This region was a Gentile region, and as Paul traveled through here, he preached the Gospel and Gentiles were saved and churches formed. Later, certain people, called Judaizers, came after Paul and visited these churches. When the Judaizers arrived at the churches, they began to tell these Gentile converts that they were not fully saved. See, the Judaizers believed that you needed God’s grace to be saved AND you needed to keep the law as well.

Since none of the Gentile Christians in Galatia had been circumcised or kept the Jewish feasts or their particular diet, the Judaizers told them that they were not truly saved.

This false doctrine, the doctrine of legalism, was carried out by these Judaizers who were used by Satan to try to corrupt the faith of the Galatian Christians along with Christians in many other regions. Legalism has not stopped its advance since the first century and is still a prominent teaching in many churches today. Many of you have been part of or have heard of churches that are legalistic. They teach salvation by grace plus the law or they teach that salvation can be had by grace, but that if you want to keep God happy, you must fulfill the law or certain laws. It is a performance-based “Christianity.”

So Paul, under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes a letter to the churches in Galatia. This book blasts legalism right out of the water. He explains in the first 4 chapters that we have a freedom in Jesus Christ that does not bind us to any law. We have liberty. We are free from the curse of sin, the condemnation of sin, and the power of sin. We have no need to worry about keeping the law in order to make God love us any more.

But then, as we see in this verse, we are also cautioned to no use our liberty as an occasion to serve the flesh. Instead, our liberty is to enable us to better love and serve each other as Christians.

Paul then does something that we have seen Jesus do in Matthew 5: he points out that the purpose of the law was to help us love one another, not simply live by a checklist of rules.

Galatians 5:13–14 KJV 1900

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The Bible then goes on to tell us a little more of this war that rages within us. We’ll skip verse 15 for now and come back to it later, but let’s pick up in Galatians 5:16-17.

Galatians 5:16–17 (KJV 1900)

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The word lust means a passionate desire for that which is forbidden. The lust of the flesh is what drives us to do and say and adopt attitudes which we know are not right. How do I keep from doing that? Walk in the Spirit. What does that mean? To be fully controlled by the Holy Spirit.

I point you back to Galatians 2:20 which says

Galatians 2:20 KJV 1900

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We walk in the Spirit by daily dying to ourselves and our desires (and more often if needed) and letting the power of God live through us.

Back to Galatians 5:16-17

Galatians 5:16–17 (KJV 1900)

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Walk in the Spirit and you won’t do the things that your flesh wants to do.

Then he explains why - Because there is a war going on between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh lusts against, is passionately at war against, the Holy Spirit that lives in us. The Spirit is at war against the flesh. They are so opposed that you don’t do what you want.

In other words, Christians, while we live in this body corrupted by sin, there will always be a part of us that wants to do the godly things, and there will always be a part of us that wants to do the ungodly things. Those desires are so opposed to each other that no matter which one you pick, you can never fulfill both desires at once.

The Works of the Flesh

The Bible goes on to enumerate the common works of the flesh. Notice how Paul puts it:

Galatians 5:19–21 (KJV 1900) [Read through it once, then read it again with the definitions.]

19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest[obvious], which are these; Adultery, fornication [sexual immorality], uncleanness [moral impurity], lasciviousness [sexual promiscuity],

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance [contention- always ready to argue], emulations [jealousy and malice], wrath [passionate anger that quickly boils up and soon subsides again - WOW!!! “I get mad easy; I loose my temper easily, but I get over it quick, so it’s ok.” Guess again...], strife [being a fractionist - seeking your own interests, not caring what relationships you damage in the process - “I’m going to say what I say, and if it hurts someone’s feelings, well too bad.” also, pursuing rivalries], seditions [divisions, disunity], heresies [also having to do with disunity],

21 Envyings [spite, having ill-will toward someone], murders, drunkenness, revellings [pertaining to activities fueled by drunkeness], and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The war against evil is easy to think about, but when you start looking at this list of the obvious works of the flesh, you find that the damage that is done by the flesh is primarily toward other people. Paul is writing to a group of Christians telling them to beware that they do not fall into practicing the works of the flesh. He is writing to warn them about the damage that happens to the church when we Christians begin to live outside the Spirit. And he writes to these churches to let them know that it is obvious.

You might think that you have everything under wraps. You might think, “Well, how could anyone tell whether or not I am living for God or for myself? How could anyone tell that I am involved in such-and-such ministries so that people will notice me? Nobody can see the heart. Nobody knows the resentment I hold toward others; nobody knows that I secretly think I am better than so-and-so. Nobody can tell that my worship is fake, and that I really have no invested time or effort in my relationship with God.”

Well, Paul says in verse 19, the works of the flesh are manifest. They are obvious. And let me tell you something, they are usually obvious to others way before you think they would be.

And when these things come up, it is usually brother against brother, sister against sister. And look what Paul has to say about that. A little bit ago we skipped verse 15; well, let’s read it now.

Galatians 5:15 KJV 1900

15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

Paul gives an allusion to wild animals falling preying upon each other, devouring one another. Think of the National Geographic or Discovery Channel shows you’ve seen where a lion attacks a gazelle, and when it is finally brought down, it drags it to where it wants to eat it and begins to rip its flesh apart along with the rest of the pride.

That is what Paul compares Christians that do not walk after the Spirit with. Who do those Christians most often attack? The world? No… They attack each other.

I asked ChatGPT to illustrate this verse and this is the image that it came up with.

Kind of disturbing, isn’t it? But the way some Christians treat each other, this is the way they look. You think that little snarky comment is hidden from view? You think nobody notices that you have anger or hatred toward someone else? No. This what it looks like when you turn on your brothers and sisters in Christ. And it doesn’t matter how many Facebook posts you have about loving God and loving others, it doesn’t matter how many times you give testimony that serving God is where your heart is, it doesn’t matter how hard you try to hide it, it’s as obvious as that [picture].

In fact, the more I try to put up a facade of fake righteousness, the more obvious my fleshly works become, because they are absolutely opposed to one another.

Look at the end of Galatians 5:21 again.

Galatians 5:21b (KJV 1900)

21...of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul gives another warning. Those that do these things, the works of the flesh, shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That is to say, those that live in this state, without a care, without a bother, with no remorse, and no repentance, those are fruits of unsaved people. Paul is sending a warning to the churches of Galatia, “If you live like this, you need to check your heart. You may not have a relationship with God like you think you do or like you claim you do.”

The Fruit of the Spirit

The works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, as Galatians 5:17 says, are so opposed to each other that they look completely different. It is like night and day.

Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV 1900)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering [patience], gentleness [kindness], goodness, faith [faithfulness],

23 Meekness [we discussed this at length in our series over the Beatitudes - but it deals with not being defensive or aggressive], temperance [self-control]: against such there is no law.

This is the fruit of the Spirit, and before we ever concern ourselves with what the gifts of the Spirit are or were, we should first be sure to embody the fruit of the Spirit.

And look carefully, this is one fruit, not multiple. This is not the fruit basket of the Spirit. It is the one fruit of the Spirit. So, you cannot have part of the fruit of the Spirit. You either have it all, or don’t have it.

If the fruit of the Spirit is not found in you, completely, then one of two things is true:

you are not saved and do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, or

you are not walking in fellowship with God.

That’s it. Those are our only two options. And listen, if the fruit of the Spirit is not coming out of me, then the gifts of the Spirit are of no use to me.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (KJV 1900)

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

It does not get much clearer than that. Paul references five gifts of the Spirit in these three verses - speaking in tongues, prophecy, word of knowledge, faith, mercy, and giving. And yet, without charity, without love (agape- same Gr. word used in Galatians 5:22 as 1 Corinthians 13:1-3), without love I am nothing. It is of zero benefit for me if I have all those gifts of the Spirit yet I do not have the fruit of the Spirit.

The mark of living in the Spirit is that we have crucified the flesh and now bear the fruit of the Spirit instead of the works of the flesh.

Galatians 5:24 (KJV 1900)

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections [this means that I don’t even want it anymore. I don’t seek to satisfy it anymore] and lusts.

An Encouragement to Those That Walk in the Spirit

Galatians 5:25–26 (KJV 1900)

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.

“If we live in the Spirit” = if we are saved, if we have the Holy Spirit within us, if we are alive spiritually.

“let us walk in the Spirit” = let us be guided, influenced, directed, and controlled by the Spirit.

“Let us not be desirous of vain glory” = let us not seek our own glory or worried that others would think of us to be wise or of more worth.

“not provoking one another” = provoking others to anger, trying to get under other’s skin, not despising or insulting others.

“not envying one another” = this envy, as opposed to the word translated envy in v.21, does refer to jealousy. Don’t be jealous of others, of their gifts, or positions, or finances, or any other thing.

These sins are to be guarded against, for they will cause the Gospel to be mocked and the church to be ineffective.

Discuss

In what ways can legalism be a stumbling block to walking in the Spirit, as Paul addresses with the Galatians?

Why do you think Paul begins his discussion on the fruit of the Spirit by addressing the inner conflict between the Spirit and the flesh?

What are some practical ways we can recognize when the flesh is taking control over the Spirit in our actions and attitudes?

How might using our freedom in Christ for selfish reasons harm our relationships with other believers?

How does the list of “works of the flesh” in Galatians 5:19–21 reveal the destructive impact of the flesh on our relationships with others?

Why is it often easier to see the faults of others than to recognize our own areas where we may be walking in the flesh?

Paul describes the “fruit of the Spirit” as a single fruit with multiple characteristics. Why do you think he presents it this way, rather than listing them as separate fruits?

What does it mean to “walk in the Spirit,” and how can we cultivate this walk daily?

How does the fruit of the Spirit contrast with legalistic or performance-based faith, according to Paul’s teaching in Galatians?

What does it mean to “crucify the flesh” with its passions and desires, and how do we put this into practice?

How can a desire for “vain glory” or envy harm our relationships within the church and our own walk with God?

How do you think focusing on the fruit of the Spirit can guard us against falling into pride when using spiritual gifts?

Evaluation

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:9e6d6ec2-52ba-4e80-8c39-600aaf187607

or

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AmmsyA49ad9cg-RMqBJX2JX9bMR-3Q?e=UznjFA

Fruit of the Spirit Self-Evaluation

Use this as a tool to evaluate the presence of the different characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit throughout your day. This is not a checklist. It is imperative that we understand that we cannot produce these characteristics within ourselves for a sustainable amount of time.

My hope is that this will give you an indication if there is a certain part of your day where you are not being fully surrendered to the Spirit.

The presence or absence of these characteristics can be an indicator as to whether or not we are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh.