The Holy Spirit and Fruit

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:16-23). 

What kind of person is a believer in Christ? The Scriptures teach that there is to be a definite change in the words and actions of those who have put their trust and obedience in Christ. Peter describes it this way, “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you” (1 Peter 4:3, 4). The change happens in the believer’s life because the power of the Holy Spirit changes them. The fruit of the Holy Spirit shows that the old man of sin has died, and the new man in Christ walks. The fruit of the Holy Spirit transforms the life of the believer. It changes how a person views themselves, the people around them, and most importantly, how they view God. 

• Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, the selfish sinner is only concerned with their well-being and now looks for ways to love their neighbor as themselves (Matthew 22:39). 
• The sinner-turned-believer now uses the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives to find true joy and peace for the first time (Philippians 4:4-7). 
• The Holy Spirit empowers believers to know, experience, and demonstrate longsuffering and faithfulness to themselves and others (2 Corinthians 12:5-10). 
• Kindness and goodness flow from the Holy Spirit’s teaching to the believer (Galatians 6:1, 2). 
• The most challenging characteristics to possess, gentleness and self-control, are quickly gained by the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life (2 Timothy 2:24, 25).

Paul ties the fruit of the Spirit to our walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). If the Spirit influences the believer through the teaching of the Scriptures, the believer should walk with a purpose to demonstrate that influence in their lives. “The fruit will be perfected only when each of these nine elements is present in its proper proportion. In proportion that any of these lacks the fruit will be imperfect.”^[1]

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^[1] Elkins, Garland. Studies in Galatians, The Fifth Annual Denton Lectures. Dub McClish, ed. 1986: 212

By: Justin Odom