15.3 Fruit of the Spirit
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23a). Again, Paul is not writing out an exclusive list, but rather giving us a number of examples.
Now, these are primarily social qualities. Only two, peace and self-control, have some meaning inside of solitude. Kindness, on the other hand, has little meaning when I am by myself and longsuffering none. Rather, these are qualities that are found in relationships with one another, God among us. These qualities, emanating by nature out from the Holy Spirit, are found inside of and out from living in the interplay of the Holy Spirit among us as we saw in the last lesson.
Being Real. Now, I have spoken of life together, here and there, in terms of our being “a pain in the rear” to one another or in terms of “trying to get along.” It is essential to me that we be real in our humanity, even as we rejoice in our ongoing learning of Christ. And it is also essential to me, as I lay out this vision of a glorious Church, that I not present a fantasy utopia that does not exist. I expect you to aggravate me, AND I expect to carry that aggravation inside the love of Christ, the mercy seat of my heart.
Then we look at these fruits of the Spirit and we see that they are words that are speaking of that grace. Kindness and gentleness are qualities of grace towards one another.
Bearing with One Another. I, therefore, bound in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthily of the calling to which you were called, with all humility or lowliness of mind, and gentleness with long-suffering, bearing with one another inside of love, being diligent to watch over the oneness of Spirit inside the bond, the connecting bands, of peace and rest. – And be kind with one another, tender-hearted, forgiving [giving favor to] each other, in exactly the same way that God inside of Christ gave favor freely to you (Ephesians 4:1-3 & 32 – JSV).
The fruit of the Spirit is all about the qualities found inside of bearing with one another inside of love. And here we see that even peace is a connecting band, not just a solitary feeling.
Fruit, not Works. Now, Paul said “the works of the flesh,” but he then said, “the fruit of the Spirit.” These qualities are NOT the works of the Spirit. The difference between “works” and fruit are the difference between night and day, between horror and Christ.
I did a quick perusal of the junction between Spirit and works in the New Testament. The works of the Spirit are what is translated as “miracles,” that is energema, the effects of energia, the working of the Spirit upon us. You can’t fake miracles, not really. “Fruit” that comes by works, on the other hand, is everything except real.
Spirit fruit is the natural, normal outcome of the tree of life.
The Mercy Seat. What have we just discovered? The real window of the Spirit is the Mercy Seat of our hearts. There is no greater expression of God in the universe than kindness by gentleness.
And be kind with one another, tenderhearted, forgiving [giving favor to] each other, in exactly the same way that God inside of Christ GIVES favor freely to you. The Greek word translated “forgive” is charizomai, which should be “freely giving favor” or “extending grace.” Funny, but “tenderhearted” is actually “good guts,” a gut-level compassion. “Bearing with one another,” then, is the fullness of reciprocity.
Fruit Is Real. The fruit of the Spirit is based entirely on an underlying premise. That premise is that Jesus is actually real, that He fills each one of our hearts with all of Himself in Person, and that rivers of Spirit are, in fact, flowing out from us at all times and in every direction. That Christ, in fact, IS a Spirit of Power connecting us together in every conceivable way.
If this be true, then fruit is real. “Working” these things comes out of the conviction that Jesus is far away and we are on our own. Working at the fruit of the Spirit is a symptom of gross unbelief, a falling from grace.
Only God Is God. Do you see the incredible dilemma in which we are caught? The eight additional expressions of fruit are simply extended definitions of love. And God alone is love. I must love you, but I cannot create God by my human effort.
This is what the Shulamite meant in the Song of Songs 8:7. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. You can’t create God by human performance. Work and work and work and work, but all pretending to be God only increases one’s offensiveness until God has no other choice but to vomit. Only God is God; only God is love. If I am to love you, that means that I must God you, Father Himself in Person.
There I Will Meet with You. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat… (Exodus 25:21-22). I did not know when I started this lesson that this picture would enter here. We are looking at the very window of God; His entrance into His creation through us.
I am willing to return into Christian community for one reason only – because I KNOW that I can love you. And I know that I can love you because I KNOW that my Father meets with me and I with Him inside my heart.
Sharing Heart with God. Living with my Father inside my heart, sharing all things with Him and He with me, is the foundation of my life. And out from this place of Father and I together, sharing heart with God, I can, not just love you, but actually joy in your companionship and you in mine.
There is no greater joy in the human experience than falling in love. Paul placed joy right after love in his list of the fruit of the Spirit because it’s all about falling in love with one another. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you as the face of our Lord Jesus Christ inside His presence? For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
Fruit Is a Garden. The love of God (Father Himself in Person) has been shed abroad in and poured out from our hearts through (dia) the Holy Spirit who is given to us. It is the Holy Spirit, then, who carries the fruit of love out from me to you.
Now here’s the thing, there is “labor” in fruit, but no “work.” I cannot create fruit by the mechanical performance of human effort. But fruit is grown in a garden. And my labor over fruit consists of planting the seeds of Christ, watering that seed with Spirit, gently removing the weeds, and rejoicing in the goodness of that fruit in the midst of community.
The Garden is the Church. The garden is the church, each local community of Christ.
A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse… Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, fragrant henna with spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices—A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. The Shulamite: Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits (Song of Songs 4:12-16).
The Shulamite is not an individual Christian, but the Church. Jesus eats, Jesus is nourished by, the fruit of the Spirit among us.
Above the Blood. The wind is the Holy Spirit blowing through the community of Christ and the fruit is the normal, everyday sort of natural outcome of a very real, very Holy, very dynamic, very gentle Spirit flowing among us, connecting us together as one living body. Yet that fruit among us comes out of the price we pay to be with Father in our hearts, to love one another above the blood, and to release one another into the knowledge of Christ.
Now that we have placed our understanding aright, let’s look briefly at each one of these fruits of the Spirit as it operates from one to another inside the community of Christ. I didn’t think I was going to do that, but now I can.
Love.
Love. Father Himself in Person. We KNOW that we are always filled with love because God says. We pay zero attention to outward appearance or our human feelings or our human judgment. I am filled with God in love because I am confident that I am filled with God in love.
But love is a social quality; love is family. Love has no real meaning if I am entirely by myself. Love is Father and I together, moving out from the Mercy Seat that is our shared Heart, and through all the qualities of love, extending grace to one another. Love, this certainty of love, is the source.
Joy and Peace.
Joy. Joy means that being together with you is just the funnest thing I could ever imagine. (Spell check is telling me that “funnest” is spelled wrong. It suggests, funniest, finest, fun nest and funfest, all great choices for the joy of falling in love. – And funnest sounds better to me than “more fun.”)
Peace. Peace is the bond; peace is the rule. Peace is simply the deepest and most powerful cord of togetherness. – in the bond of peace. Yet that Bond of Peace is specific, that is, Jesus Himself. Our connection is always the Lord Jesus Himself; you are as my Jesus to me. Yet that knowledge flowing among us is a fruit of the Spirit flowing out from Father in our hearts.
Longsuffering.
Longsuffering. Longsuffering is a word describing the outward appearance of the inward Mercy Seat. Longsuffering is bearing with one another in love. There is no sadness in longsuffering, however. Two teenage love birds, fallen head-over-heels in love, “suffer long” in that love, that is, they don’t ever notice any faults in one another.
Longsuffering, then, is that quality of the Spirit flowing out from me to you and you to me that extends no consciousness of sins, no imputation of falling short. Rather, longsuffering is that quality that turns all that you are into immense value to me and all that I am into immense value to you.
Kindness and Goodness.
Kindness. What is kindness? Now, this is very interesting, because when I look at the Webster’s 1926, I see that kind is “kin,” or family, and it refers first to what we are by nature inside our belonging in a family. Kindness is in little things, not big things. Kindness is that quality that says, “You belong to me and I belong to you.”
Goodness. Goodness is closely related to kindness. The Greek word means “inherently good.” Goodness and kindness are the actions coming out from our high regard for one another. In 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul uses the term “the good pleasure of goodness.” Goodness means that it is our joy to do little good things for one another.
Faithfulness and Gentleness.
Faithfulness. Faithfulness means filled with faith. But it refers primarily to that quality of love that endures in all things for one another. Faithfulness is that quality of loving one another that continues day after day, in good times and in poor. When the fruit of faithfulness is flowing from one to another in the midst of community, we have a rock upon which we can build all that we do together.
Gentleness. Gentleness is a quality of power. That is, I exercise power, spirit power and natural power, towards you, entirely in a gentle manner. This is the meekness of God. Gentleness flows out of seeing one another as better than ourselves.
Self-Control.
Self-control. Self-control is the one fruit of the Spirit, the one quality of love, that each one of us applies to ourselves in regard to one another. Self-control is when I choose not to say “what I feel,” or to dump my frustration on you in a negative manner. Self-control is gentle restraint.
Thus we see Paul’s final admonition to be inside of self-control. – Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:26). Self-control means that when I feel like boasting in my superiority, I don’t. When I feel like provoking or challenging you, I don’t. When I feel like envying your success, I don’t. This also is a fruit arising out from a real Holy Spirit flowing out from us.
Gathering His Lilies. This is the garden of Christian Community in which Jesus is found, browsing among His lilies. And when you see a gathering together of believers in Jesus as family, living in an environment of the Holy Spirit outpoured, these things that are the fruit of the Spirit is what you see.
We see by light; we are seeing God. How rich we are! How rich we are.
I am describing the normal Christian life. I am describing God made visible, Father revealed.
But fruit is for eating. Fruit is for the nourishment of Jesus. The fruit of the Spirit flowing among us fills Jesus full.