Galatians (24)

Singular as apposed to plural work(s) of flesh. Illustrate: Can you imagine eating a fruit that the first bite taste like cantaloupe, the next bit grapes, banana, pineapple, orange, and etc.? It’s only one fruit, but all these different flavors contained within. The point is this. When a person is born again by God the Holy Spirit, He is the singular fruit of our life that produces a whole assortments of characteristics and qualities that show the evidence that we belong to Christ.

Spirit: This is the Holy Spirit to whom we heard about in 3:3 & 14, 4:29, 5:16-18.

Fruit of … meaning this is the normal healthy result of the Holy Spirit producing fruit.

of Spirit is… This same little word used before to describe “those who do such things” are in a certain state or quality of being. Which means that the ongoing, non-optional fruit of the Holy Spirit that is actually and really going to occur will be evidenced. The normal results of those who are not in Christ are clearly evident in the works of the flesh… and in comparison, so too the fruit of the Spirit is clearly evident in those who are in Christ. This is the confident guarantee that if we truly belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit will produce this fruit in us. In what way??? What are flavors of fruit that the Holy Spirit produces?

1. Love: This is agape love. The unconditional covenantal love that is exemplified in God. This is love that follows through with promises even when the other person doesn’t respond in the way we would hope. This is the love that Paul refers to in Gal 5:6, and 14. Essentially this is the fruit of treating others the way God has treated us. As I John 3:16-18 says…

1 John 3:16–18 ESV

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Transition: Are we characterized by the love of God?

2. Joy: Joy is the expression of delight in God through the various afflictions and sufferings of life. As we see in Christ Jesus, Hebrews 12:2. Joy is very different from happiness. Happiness is usually circumstantial, and depends on the situation or experience I am having in the moment. Joy is rooted in the great hope that in Christ all things are coming to a great and glorious redemption where He will demonstrate His authority and power over all evil. As we were reminded in the beginning paragraph of this letter, (1:4) Jesus will deliver us from this present evil age. Jesus describes joy to His disciples in ... John 15:8-17

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 15:8–17 ESV

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Transition: Its very interesting that a person with little joy also loves little. Are or lives characterized by the joy of Jesus?

3. Peace: Peace is the freedom from disputes, or the absence of worry. Often, the nations around the world will experience seasons of peace or season of unrest. The person who is in Christ will be characterized by peace. This is first and foremost observed in our relationship to God. As Romans 5:1 tells us…

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This has essentially been the main defense of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. He has been reminding, correcting, and challenging them to understand the true gospel that answers the question of how a person can have peace with God. Having a rest filled relationship with God, being at peace with God, being in right standing before God. However, just as justification doesn't stop when we are made right with God but continues to have an ongoing impact upon the life of a Christian, so too peace with God turns into enjoying the peace of God. I have in mind Colossians 3:15 which says…

Colossians 3:15 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Transition: Let me offer you some truthful counsel today. As those who belong to Christ, any time that we are full of against, worry, and anxiety it is because our hearts are being ruled by something other than the peace of God. Are we characterized by the peace of God?

4. Patience: patience is forbearance through pain. It is endurance through unhappiness. When Emily demonstrates patience toward me it is not because I’m making her happy. When we are patient with our children it is not because we have just witnessed obedience. When we show patience with our co workers it is not because we are observing their diligence and thoughtfulness. When we show patience toward our leaders it is not because we are experiencing their great intellect. When we show patience to one another it is not because we are witnessing the Spirit in one another… no, rather the Spirit produces the fruit of patience in us right in the middle of being treated less than we would expect. The great discourse in I Corinthians 13 when Paul is offering a definition for love begins with.. “Love is patient...” This is the kind of patience that is fixed in the character of God, who according to II Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Transition: Are our lives being characterized by the patience of God.

5. Kindness: A person who is kind is considered to be warmhearted, considerate, sympathetic, or benevolent. The fruit of kindness in the life of a Christian can be a great means of encouragement and witness to the kindness of Christ.

For example:

Transition:

6. Goodness: Actively working our generosity, non-stagnated moral excellence. Goodness is as if the body of Christ being a body of water that has a continual flow coming in and going out. Goodness doesn't hoard up and become stagnate with greed. Goodness is the manifestation of the goodness of God. God is good, and when we experience the continual flow of His goodness into our lives, the Holy Spirit empowers us to share that goodness with others. Goodness can be evidenced in all sorts of ways; a smile when everyone else is frowning, honesty when it’s not popular, being a good employees or employer, doing the right thing even when it’s not popular, standing up for those who are hurting, stepping in for those who are weak, encouraging those who are idol. Goodness is being polite, being nice, treating others the way you would want to be treated. Goodness is passing on the deposit of Gods goodness to us.

Transition: Since Jesus Himself is our final judge, would He find evidence in us today that we are bearing the fruit of goodness of God?

7. Faithfulness: Faithfulness has to do with being trustworthy. And so as those who belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit is forming Christ in us which will be evidenced in our faithfulness. Within the realm of earthly relationships this is seen in the way we prove to be trustworthy as well as the way we trust. Are we people who can be confided in, and are we confiding in others? Are we those who can be trusted and are we trusting others? Are we the kind of people that when we say we are going to do something, the person we have said that to can rest assured that it will be accomplished?

Scripture repeatedly reveals the truth that God is faithful! he has made and kept promises. And as those who are justified by faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit will produce faithfulness in us.

Transition: Are we showing ourselves to be faithful?

8. Gentleness: The word used for gentleness has to do with being even tempered. The gentle person is one who is walking in humility and considering others interests ahead of their own. Gentleness is the opposite of fits of anger that we saw in 5:20.

9. Self-Control: Self control is the mastery over personal desires. As we already discovered from 5:17-18, it is the Holy Spirit who wrestles against the flesh to produce the personal desires that are in line with God’s desires. The Holy Spirit is against the flesh so that we will not do what we want to do. For a Christian to practice self control means that we have been made aware by the relationship of the Holy Spirit that what we currently desire is not God. And therefore, we do not resist or quench the Holy Spirit but rather gladly yield to Him and through that submission He grants us self control. Self control is not us taking the reigns of our life and managing them by mere human effort. No, that would be the same problem that is being confronted in the false gospel polluting the Galatians. Rather, self control is our flesh being crucified with Christ so that i no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Transition: How does the Holy Spirit produce this fruit?

Verse 24 answers this question.

This truth helps to guard us against a false gospel that would lead us to believe that we can retain our old identity and simply ask Jesus to participate in what we are doing. No, belonging to Christ means we have a change of mind about the state of being we are in, and by faith we trust in Christ alone and are placed in Christ. When we are caused to be born again, our flesh is crucified with Christ, and we are made into a new creation in Christ. Belonging to Christ does not simply mean adopting a new set of rules. It does not mean that we have Jesus taking the wheel of our lives and being the great genie who guides us through our struggles. No, belonging to Christ means that we are converted from a child of wrath into a child of God. It means old things become new. It means that the flesh has been put to death because jesus was put to death in our place. It mean the life we now live is lived by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. To belong to Christ means that God the Holy Spirit continues to fight against our flesh to keep it in that state of deadness.

We are executioners of our flesh. However, we do not die as those who have not died before. Its not as if every time we sin we have to be made into a new creation again, no, rather we recon ourselves dead to sin. In other words, we consider ourselves to be in the state of being that Christ has placed us in. We renew our mind with the truth of our identity in Christ. This is what it means to walk by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. We have been crucified with Christ, and the passions and desires that we have are being continually transformed by the Holy Spirit into the passions and desires of God.

Transition: When the Holy Spirit has placed us in Christ and we are living under His control He empowers our lives to produce this kind of fruit. And so the consistent and continual pattern of our lives will be to not yield to the temptation to indulge the flesh but rather submit to the control of the Holy Spirit to produce this fruit in our lives.

Are we characterized by the fruit of the Spirit?

Against this kind of life.... there is no law.

Related Media

Related Sermons