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The Fruit of the Spirit
Paul makes a relatively big transition near the end of today's passage: he has spent the bulk of Galatians on the Law and the Gospel, but now he shifts his focus:
"By his extended argument during much of this letter, Paul had refuted those who insisted on a law-centered life. But in 5:13, following his pattern of reserving the final parts of his letters for practical application, Paul turned to the personal, spiritual lives of the Galatians. He had warned them not to follow the teaching of the Judaizers. Here he warned them about following their own wishes and desires. Slavery was a threat from the outside influence of the false teachers, but it was an equal threat from the inside desires of the flesh. Paul began with the warning in 5:13, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature” (NIV), and he immediately contrasted it with the second part of Christ’s summary of the law, “Serve one another in love” (NIV). Paul wanted them to replace self-indulgence with loving service to others.
In this section, Paul explained that the secret to loving our neighbor as ourselves is by living in the Spirit and not giving in to our sinful human desires. He contrasted the characteristics of a life motivated by the sinful nature and a life motivated by the Spirit." [1]
That big transition explained, I want to take a minute to focus on a very well-known passage, "The Fruit of the Spirit". Actually, I really just want to say one thing, but it's an important one: fruit here is singular. It's easy to miss in English because of the way our language works, but we are not talking here about "fruits" (plural) but "fruit" (singular). This is in contrast to the many "works" of the flesh right before this. Is this significant? I think so - both the term and the fact that it is singular are very significant. First the singular: these qualities come as a whole. The force behind this verse is that these things all come at once through the word of the Spirit. You can't say, "I have peace and patience, but I'm just really terrible at that love stuff." It doesn't work that way. The Spirit brings all of these things into existence and they collectively are the result of the Spirit's work. This isn't a checklist. These aren't life goals.
Which brings me to the second thought on the term fruit: notice that Paul specifically DOESN'T use "works" again - this is the fruit of the Spirit, not the "works of one in the Spirit" as you might expect to complete the parallelism with the previous list. Why?
"Paul’s introduction of the word fruit is filled with meaning. While we might have expected him to say, “The works of the Spirit are,” Paul needed to use a fresh term. He had used “works” enough throughout this letter. Besides, “works” indicates lots of activities that people must do. “Fruit,” however, is singular, indicating that all the fruits exist as a unit (like a bunch of grapes rather than many different pieces of fruit) and that all are important to all believers (unlike “gifts” that are dispensed differently to different people). So Paul conveyed the meaning of a full harvest of virtues. Also, “fruit” is a by-product; it takes time to grow and requires care and cultivation. The Spirit produces the fruit; our job is to get in tune with the Spirit. Believers exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, not because they work at it, but simply because they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit separates Christians from a godless, evil world, reveals a power within them, and helps them become more Christlike in their daily lives. In contrast to the list it follows, Paul did not describe these characteristics as obvious. The previous ones reside in us; the following ones come as a result of the Spirit’s presence." [2] (emphasis mine)
Amen!!!!
The Fruit of the Spirit
Paul makes a relatively big transition near the end of today's passage: he has spent the bulk of Galatians on the Law and the Gospel, but now he shifts his focus:
"By his extended argument during much of this letter, Paul had refuted those who insisted on a law-centered life. But in 5:13, following his pattern of reserving the final parts of his letters for practical application, Paul turned to the personal, spiritual lives of the Galatians. He had warned them not to follow the teaching of the Judaizers. Here he warned them about following their own wishes and desires. Slavery was a threat from the outside influence of the false teachers, but it was an equal threat from the inside desires of the flesh. Paul began with the warning in 5:13, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature” (NIV), and he immediately contrasted it with the second part of Christ’s summary of the law, “Serve one another in love” (NIV). Paul wanted them to replace self-indulgence with loving service to others.
In this section, Paul explained that the secret to loving our neighbor as ourselves is by living in the Spirit and not giving in to our sinful human desires. He contrasted the characteristics of a life motivated by the sinful nature and a life motivated by the Spirit." [1]
That big transition explained, I want to take a minute to focus on a very well-known passage, "The Fruit of the Spirit". Actually, I really just want to say one thing, but it's an important one: fruit here is singular. It's easy to miss in English because of the way our language works, but we are not talking here about "fruits" (plural) but "fruit" (singular). This is in contrast to the many "works" of the flesh right before this. Is this significant? I think so - both the term and the fact that it is singular are very significant. First the singular: these qualities come as a whole. The force behind this verse is that these things all come at once through the word of the Spirit. You can't say, "I have peace and patience, but I'm just really terrible at that love stuff." It doesn't work that way. The Spirit brings all of these things into existence and they collectively are the result of the Spirit's work. This isn't a checklist. These aren't life goals.
Which brings me to the second thought on the term fruit: notice that Paul specifically DOESN'T use "works" again - this is the fruit of the Spirit, not the "works of one in the Spirit" as you might expect to complete the parallelism with the previous list. Why?
"Paul’s introduction of the word fruit is filled with meaning. While we might have expected him to say, “The works of the Spirit are,” Paul needed to use a fresh term. He had used “works” enough throughout this letter. Besides, “works” indicates lots of activities that people must do. “Fruit,” however, is singular, indicating that all the fruits exist as a unit (like a bunch of grapes rather than many different pieces of fruit) and that all are important to all believers (unlike “gifts” that are dispensed differently to different people). So Paul conveyed the meaning of a full harvest of virtues. Also, “fruit” is a by-product; it takes time to grow and requires care and cultivation. The Spirit produces the fruit; our job is to get in tune with the Spirit. Believers exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, not because they work at it, but simply because they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit separates Christians from a godless, evil world, reveals a power within them, and helps them become more Christlike in their daily lives. In contrast to the list it follows, Paul did not describe these characteristics as obvious. The previous ones reside in us; the following ones come as a result of the Spirit’s presence." [2] (emphasis mine)
Amen!!!!
[1] Bruce B. Barton, Galatians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1994), 177.
[2] Ibid, 187.
[2] Ibid, 187.
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