GALATIANS (33): The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

After describing the ugly works of the flesh, Paul describes the beauty of the fruit of the Spirit - the beauty of holiness that the Holy Spirit in union with our reborn spirit will produce in our life. In contrast to the many works of our flesh, the Spirit in us produces one fruit with many segments or flavours (Paul lists 9 manifestations of this one fruit). Fruit only grows as a result of life. Thus the fruit of the Spirit is the result of the life of Christ working within us through His Holy Spirit. Our spirits were born again by the incorruptible seed of God's Word, so that they have been recreated with the love-nature of Christ (1Peter 1:22-25), and are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, who now pours the love of God into our hearts (Romans 5:5) We look at other Biblical passages that describe the fruit of the Spirit and how we can co-operate with God and bear much fruit, especially Jesus' foundational teaching in John 15:1-16. We can only bear fruit if we are in Christ (the Vine) and abide in Him (fellowship), (1) looking to Him as our Source of life and love and drawing upon the sap of His Spirit by faith, and (2) yielding to His Spirit of love within us, by obeying His commandment to love others. From the depths of our heart in prayer we can call upon the depths of God's grace to fill us with His fullness and He will (Psalm 42:6-8, Ephesians 3:14-21).