The Fruit of The Spirit

Overview

The Fruit of the Spirit is the embodiment of the qualities of Jesus Christ. It is what it means to be Christ-like. As a fruit like pomegranate has different sections in it with many seeds in each section, so does the Fruit of the Spirit; although one has different dimensions or facets to it. The fruit(emphatically singular) consists of portions, namely love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is one fruit yet has different dimensions. It is also important to note that the fruit is of the Holy Spirit therefore once He dwells in you, you have this fruit in you although it may take time to grow in all of the dimensions at the same time due to circumstances. This process of growth will be complete, however, when Jesus comes back and glorification takes place. This is the reason we must never think we’ve arrived.  The true child of God will manifest the fruit but with different potency levels with regard to each facet. IF YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT, YOU HAVE HIS FRUIT. IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME.

Fruits

There are characteristics worth noting of the Fruit of the Spirit. These first affect us and then overflow to others because we are to be each other’s keeper. All dimensions of the Fruit affect our lives as we grow in Christ and go out to affect others and thereby meet their needs (what we call service onto one another by the Fruit of the Spirit cf. Galatians 5:13,14 NKJV, 1 Peter 4:10,11 NKJV). This is true however, we must note that just as we have the fruit of the Spirit which results in acts of service towards one another in a way that glorifies God, there are actions that result from the indulgence in the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV emphasizes this. It reads, “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”.

We see from the text that these actions are evident in works that fall into any of these categories. The list doesn’t end here. We also see in Colossians 3:5,8,9 NKJV another list, some of whose items are similar to what we have already seen. It reads, “⁵ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,“.

Essentially, we see one thing we can learn and it is, that anything that stems from the flesh is not God-glorifying. It clearly isn’t. We see Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit whose fruit we are exploring, encouraging and admonishing the one who has the Holy Spirit to deviate from acts of the flesh because they are not profitable and befitting to them seeing that they are not of the flesh anymore, and that these acts are not God-glorifying. In fact, we see a call to “put to death” meaning completely separating our selves through our actions as an act of our will, from such acts. We have a responsibility in this, to act and live as ones who have the Holy Spirit such that the evidence, which is the Fruit of the Spirit is seen through our actions and inactions.

Why the fruit?

In 2 Peter 1:3-8 NKJV, we read, “³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. ⁵ But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins“.

The Fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and our relationship with Jesus as co-heirs and children of God. We have no option than to manifest the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is why we must show evidence of the fruit of the Spirit.

Now, manifesting this Fruit is a joint effort between the believer and the Holy Spirit. We must accompany our faith with actions. Faith and actions are inseparable. Faith in itself if not accompanied by action is dead. Faith is incomplete without action. James 2:14-17 reads, “¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead“. We see from the text that there are two types of faith (stay with me! Don’t lose focus!); there is dead faith and live faith. Dead faith is without works while live faith is with works. You are asking yourself what at all is faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.“

In essence dead faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, not accompanied with action or works which is our responsibility while live faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen accompanied with action or works, which is our responsibility. We now see the balance. It is faith plus works that constitute live faith.   You can still have faith in Jesus by His Spirit  but what kind of faith do you have? What led to the kind of faith you have now? What actions, as inspired by God’s word, can you take? Take time to reflect prayerfully and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He might direct you to someone more mature to help you.

In the coming months, if the Lord tarries and in accordance with His will, we will dive deeper into the different dimensions of the Fruit of the Spirit and we will trust God as we journey together to see transformation because we see that we are being sanctified as we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV which says, ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord“.

Transformation starts with knowledge. You need to know “what is” and “what is not” as this is necessary because the Lord says His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge in Hosea 4:6a. Knowing the right things as inspired by the Holy Spirit through His word informs prayer and leads to understanding, which can help in the effectiveness of prayer.

How do we respond?

Galatians 5:24,25, “²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.

We see in Galatians 5:24, 25 that once we are in Christ we have crucified the flesh. This must change our perception of our state. It calls for a change of mindset that the flesh and its desires have been crucified. The way we ensure and enforce this in our  everyday is keeping in step with the Spirit. Practically, this means denying yourself of pleasures that are of the flesh and simply saying no. It also means making the effort to stay away from contaminating media and company that indulge in the things of the flesh(you have seen what the acts of the flesh are, and even if you don’t know, there is an inner witness who will prompt you of such things are not God-glorifying so you desist from them).

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spitit rest and abide with us as we seek to grow more in Christ. Amen!

God loves you. Shalom!