Fruit Of The Spirit (Part 1) Series

Last week we discussed being created in God’s image. His character.

I went home and that message began to percolate inside me.

That night, not long before we went to bed, I told Lisa “I’ve got nothing for next week”.

The next morning, my prayer was about Walking by the Fruit of the Spirit.

About 5 minutes after we got on the road to work, my phone rang.

I saw who it was and my immediate thought was “I don’t have the patience to deal with that today”. Don’t worry, it wasn’t any of you!

Realize that about two minutes before that, i Lisa and I were talking about fruit of the Spirit:

Love, joy, peace; patience, kindness, goodness; faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Epic fail, two hours out of the box!

We laughed a little bit, but the sting was there for me.

A few minutes after that I told Lisa, it was just revealed to me what Sunday’s (today’s) sermon would be, and that it would be a 3 part series.

Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written about 47 A.D.

It was written after his first journey that included Galatia, with is now part of modern day Turkey.

The purpose of his letter was to refute the Judaizers(Ju-DAY-I-zers) (a faction of Jewish Christians) who taught that Gentile believers must obey the Jewish law in order to be saved and to call Christians to faith and freedom in Christ.

By most scholarly accounts, this was the first epistle Paul wrote.

Galatians is broken down into 3 parts:

Chapter 1-2 Paul presents the authenticity of the Gospel

Chapter 3-4 He explains the Superiority of the Gospel

Chapter 5-6 He lays out our freedom in Christ

Stand with me as we honor God while reading His word.

-Read from my bible-

When He leads us, He produces fruit in us.

The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us.

He produces the character traits that are found in the nature of Christ.

The evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is the mark of the progress in our sanctification.

John 15:4–5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

If we are to produce fruit of the Spirit, we are to abide in Christ.

Let’s consider a couple of verses how Paul sets up verses 22-23.

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

Paul is writing of the freedom from belief that salvation is obtained by following Jewish law, and that yoke of bondage is sin in the flesh.

Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Paul is writing with such conviction of the Holy Spirit here.

Walk in the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Let’s look at:

Galatians 5:6–8 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.”

The Jewish Christians were teaching the Gentiles that only through circumcision, (part of Jewish law), can they obtain salvation.

Paul is condemning false teaching, and only Jesus brings salvation.

Listen how he begins the Epistle to the Galatians.

Galatians 1:6 “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,”

Before we unbox the first 3 listed of the fruit of the Spirit, let’s look at one more verse, the second part of v23.

Galatians 5:23 ... Against such there is no law.” Paul is telling the Galatians that no law can condemn one who has the fruit of the Spirit inside them.

For fruit of the Spirit to be produced in us, Jesus says this:

John 15:1–4 ““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

John 15:5–8 ““I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”