Northside Church
Galatians teaches that believers are justified by Jesus alone. They are a part of a diverse family and equipped by the Spirit to love God and others. Galatians teaches that believers are justified by Jesus alone. They are a part of a diverse family and equipped by the Spirit to love God and others.
Examples of the fruit of the Spirit that walking in the Spirit produces in our lives.
Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
But the fruit of the Spirit: The works of the flesh seem overwhelming — both in us and around us.
God is good enough and big enough to change everything with the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit can always conquer the works of the flesh.
It contrasts the acts of the body with the fruit of the Spirit.
Fruit is fruit, and works are works. Fruit has a number of significant qualities.
1. Fruit isn’t achieved by working, but is birthed by abiding.
2. Fruit is fragile.
3. Fruit reproduces itself.
4. Fruit is attractive.
5. Fruit nourishes.
Fruit of the Spirit: Paul used the plural in describing life after the flesh (works of the flesh), but he uses the singular (fruit, not fruits, of the Spirit).
In the big picture, the Spirit has one work to do in all of us.
These aren’t the gifts of the Spirit, which are distributed on an individual basis by the will of the Spirit; this is something for every Christian.
The fruit of the Spirit is love: It is fitting that love be the first mentioned, because it encompasses all of the following.
It may even be said that the following eight terms are just describing what love in action looks like.
Love translates the ancient Greek word agape, a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving.
The fruit of the Spirit is… joy: One of the greatest marketing strategies ever employed was to position the kingdom of Satan as the place where the fun is and the kingdom of God as the place of gloom and misery. But the fruit of the Spirit is joy.
The fruit of the Spirit is… longsuffering: Longsuffering means that one can have love, joy, and peace even over a period of time when people and events annoy them. God is not quickly irritated with us (Romans 2:4, 9:22), so we should not be quickly irritated with others.
Romans 2:4 ESV
Romans 9:22 ESV
The fruit of the Spirit is… kindness, goodness: These two words are closely connected. The only difference is that goodness also has with it the idea of generosity.
The fruit of the Spirit is… gentleness: The word has the idea of being teachable, not having a superior attitude, not demanding one’s rights. It isn’t timidity or passiveness;
The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control: The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for a selfish reason. It knows the self-disciple and denial someone will go through for themselves, but the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others.
The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control: The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for a selfish reason. It knows the self-disciple and denial someone will go through for themselves, but the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others.
Against such there is no law: Paul wrote with both irony and understatement.
There is certainly no law against love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
But more so, if a person has this fruit of the Spirit, he doesn’t need the Law. He already fulfills it.
Keeping in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:24-26 ESV
And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires: God has a place for our flesh, with all its passions and desires.
He wants us to nail it to His cross, so that it may be under control and under the sentence of death.
Crucified is an important word. Paul could have simply chosen the word “killed,” but he used the word crucified because it speaks of many things:
It reminds us of what Jesus did for us on the cross. (Matthew 16:24)
It reminds us that we are called to take up our cross and follow Him.
It reminds us that the death of the flesh is often painful.
It reminds us that our flesh must be dealt with decisively.
Matthew 16:24 ESV
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh: This speaks of something that the believer does, being directed and empowered by the Spirit of God.
It was not and is not the sovereign, “unilateral” work of God.
The old man, the self-inherited from Adam, is crucified with Jesus as the sovereign work of God when we are born again.
Romans 6:6 says, Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him.
We are simply told to reckon, or account, the old man as dead (Romans 6:11), we are not told to put him to death.
But the flesh is another matter. We are called to choose to work with God to do to the flesh exactly what God did all by Himself to the old man: crucify the flesh.
Romans 6:6 ESV
Romans 6:11 ESV
John R.W. Stott said in his, "The Message of Galatians", “Please notice that the ‘crucifixion’ of the flesh described here is something that is done not to us but by us… Galatians 5:24 does not teach the same truth as Galatians 2:20 or Romans 6:6. In those verses we are told that by faith-union with Christ ‘we have been crucified with him’. But here it is we who have taken action.”
Galatians 5:24 ESV
Galatians 2:20 ESV
Romans 6:6 ESV
With its passions and desires: In Jesus Christ, you can live above the passions and desires of your flesh.
The resources are there in Jesus.
Look to Him.
See your life in Him.
If you are one of those who are Christ’s, then you belong to Him — not to this world, not to yourself, and not to your passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit: We can better understand what Paul wrote here if we understand that the ancient Greek words for walk are different in Galatians 5:16 and 5:25.
The first (peripateo) “Perri pa toe” is the normal word for walking, used there as a picture of the “walk of life.”
The second (stoicheo) “Stoy charo” means “to walk in line with” or “to be in line with.” Paul here is saying, “Keep in step with the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16 ESV
Galatians 5:25 ESV
Let us not become conceited: Paul concluded this section of walking in the Spirit with this warning, knowing that some will become conceited in their own walk in the Spirit.
This can be a masterful stroke of Satan. We can think of a child of God finally walking in the Spirit — then Satan tempts him to be conceited about it.
Soon, he is sure that he is almost always right and everyone else is wrong.
It often happens gradually, so Paul warned, “Do not become conceited.”
Provoking one another: When we are conceited — always sure we are right, always confident in our opinions and perceptions — it definitely provokes other people.
It will rub them the wrong way and be the source of many conflicts.
Envying one another: When we are conceited, we also are open to the sin of envy.
If we know someone is more right, or more successful than we are, we resent it and envy them.
This whole chapter lends itself to a searching examination of ourselves.
We often think that our problems and difficulties are all outside of ourselves.
But that ignores the tenor of this chapter: the problems are in us, and need to be dealt with by the Spirit of God.
Augustine used to often pray, “Lord, deliver me from that evil man, myself.”
With that kind of reality check, we can see a new world, and a new life — and not one other person or one other circumstance has to change.
All we must do is yield to the Spirit of God, and begin to truly walk in the Spirit.