THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Galatians 5:19-26 Key Verse: 22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Thank God who blessed our New Year s Special Bible Studies! Last year we had been proceeding through Paul s epistle to the Galatians. We have several more lessons left before we finish our pilgrimage. As we put the last touchdown on our crossing, it seems good to review what we learned in the previous passage. Through Galatians 5:1-18, Apostle Paul proclaimed that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Therefore, we should stand firm so that we may not be burdened by a yoke of slavery again but live by the Spirit. In today s passage, we are introduced to two different ways of living; first, the way of the sinful nature, and second, the way of the Spirit. Paul calls it the acts of the sinful nature and the fruits of the Spirit. Then Paul teaches us how to live in this sinful world in order to overcome our sinful nature and to bear the fruit of the Spirit. May God bless us to crucify our sinful nature so that we may bear the fruits of the Spirit this year! Part I: The acts of the sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit (19-23) First, the acts of the sinful nature. Verse 19a says, The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. It means that the acts of the sinful nature are not vague but very clear. We cannot say, I didn t know the acts of the sinful nature, I didn t get the email, because they are very clear to everybody. The sinful nature is invisible, but it is revealed through our speech, behavior and lifestyle. The fact is that we all struggle with sin, sometimes secretly behind closed doors. Yet, we must know that it is not sin to struggle with sin. Rather, it is sin when we stop struggling and give in like a dead fish. Read verses 19-21. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. How many acts 1
of the sinful nature does Paul mention? Yes, 15. We can divide them into 3 categories. Firstly, the sin of sensuality that is committed against oneself. Secondly, the sin that is committed against God, that is, religious sin. Thirdly, the sin that is committed against society which is related to others. Firstly, the sins of sensuality are sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery. Sexual immorality is all kinds of illegal sexual activities. Sexual sins refer to any sexual activity outside of marriage, including all forms of pornography, immoral video games, premarital sex, and extramarital sex. People try to cover up their guilty consciences in the name of love and pleasure. However, any kind of illegal sexual activity is sexual immorality no matter how people modify it or rationalize it. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, Sexual immorality is a sin against our own body. It is against God. The sins of sensuality degenerate the human being to the animal level. Karl Barth, a 20th century Swiss theologian, defines sexual immorality as follows, Sexual activities without love are adultery. Any kind of sexual relationship outside of marriage, which dehumanizes others, is adultery. Christianity brought the good value of purity into this world. Other religions do not care about purity. But Christianity teaches that sexual immorality is a sin even though people accept an immoral life naturally. Impurity is the result of sexual immorality that cannot stand before God. It is abnormal sexual desires like homosexuality. These days, humans have degenerated to be lower than animals. We should not complain to other people in nasty ways saying, Son of a bitch, because dogs are cleaner than humans since dogs are not homosexuals. We had better say, Son of men. Debauchery is self-indulgence that is not socially acceptable especially in relation to sex and alcohol. Secondly, religious sins are idolatry and witchcraft. Idolatry is to worship other gods other than the Creator. As we studied last week, God hates idolatry. Witchcraft is Pharmacia in Greek, the origin of the word pharmacy in English. In ancient times, witches deceived people with drugs and took them away from God to worship idols. We should have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Today in high schools Wicca, the new witchcraft, is popular among teenagers. Courses in black magic are taught openly now on TV and in coffee shops not just deep in the forest. But there is no harmony between witchcraft and the Word of God. The Bible condemns witchcraft in every form. James 4:7 says, Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 2
Thirdly, social sins are hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. What is hatred? Hatred is having bitterness that leads to revenge. One person described hatred like you taking poison and hoping someone else dies. Discord causes quarrels. Jealousy is not bearing the prosperity of others. Fits of rage are sudden outbursts of anger like Road Rage, mad driving. Selfish ambition is having ambition only for one s own advantage; dissentions are deliberate separations; factions are complete divisions. Envy is to have an unpleasant feeling toward those who have something that you want. Drunkenness and orgies are related to drinking. Orgies are wild parties with a lot of alcohol and sexual activities. This means to enjoy sexual pleasures without self-control. There is a carnival every April in Koln, German. It is a masquerade party. People have many illegal children because of the party due to their sexual desires. We call it, carnival babies. These kinds of social sins cause not only individual misery, but also broken relationships among people. What is the most serious result of the acts of the sinful nature? Verse 21c says, Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. It means endless suffering in hell. People do not expect that the acts of the sinful nature cause this miserable outcome. For example, drunkenness and orgies do not look like serious sins; rather people boast about it considering themselves to be more broad-minded and manly. But the Bible warns us that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. So, repent, live a holy life and be saved! Second, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Read verses 22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Paul uses the words the acts for the sinful nature. But why does he use the words the fruit for the Spirit? It is because the acts of the sinful nature come naturally, but the fruit of the Spirit grows like a seed that is planted and cultivated. A fruit does not come naturally. If we want to bear good fruit, we have to plant good seed and cultivate it into good trees. We should not expect good fruit from bad seed. We must bear good fruit through our lives because God judges according to the fruit we bear (Mk 11:12-14, 20). The fruit does not deceive. The fruit of the Spirit comes to those who live by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit. We can categorize 9 fruits of the Spirit in 3 ways. 3
Firstly, love, joy and peace are toward God because real love, joy and peace come from God. Here, love is Agape in Greek that is different from its usual meaning. There are many kinds of love such as friendship, devotion, and patriotism; there is Phileo which is brotherly love; there is Eros, love between a man and a woman; Storge is love between parents and children; but Agape is love for God. Agape is the fruit of living by the Spirit, not a natural result. When we are touched deeply by God s love, we can bear the fruit of love and be witnesses of God s love with a debtor s heart. When we are empowered by God s love, we like Jesus can really love those we could not love, even our enemies. We taste true happiness with the love of God dwelling in us. Joy is not just an emotional condition but true joy from God. Joy does not depend on situations, possessions or knowledge, but it is spiritual joy from God. Joy is like a spring of water welling up in our hearts as the Samaritan woman tasted. Joy gives us the power to overcome sadness and all difficulties in our lives. I am happy that I live with Joy. Peace comes from a proper relationship with God. This peace is different from that which the world gives; it comes from our deep heart so that no one can take it away from us. Peace is like an undercurrent. We can have true peace in our deep hearts no matter how furious the waves of this world are. When we have peace with God, we become a peacemaker like Saint Francisco of Assisi. Secondly, patience, kindness and goodness are toward others. Patience is to bear with those who harass and persecute us. Some people burst out, failing to control their temper, saying, Do you know how long I have endured this? I cannot bear it any longer! Some people burst out after having held back for 10 years. How frightful it is when 10 years of accumulated anger suddenly bursts out! This is not patience. In this case, it is better to burst out earlier rather than cause more serious problems. Like Joseph in Genesis, patience is enduring one thing after another so there is nothing left to carry on any more. Kindness is to speak softly and behave decently toward others. There are many kind people around us such Dr. Gideon mother, all the parents of Jeremy, Matthew, Matt, Phil and Sly. They are very kind people. Goodness is more active than kindness. Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian songwriter says, Kindness is a potential goodness and goodness is a real power to reveal kindness. Yes! Goodness is not passive, but active. Like Dr. Albert Schweitzer, goodness is not only doing favors for those who ask, but also seeking out those who need help. 4
Thirdly, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are toward ourselves. Faithfulness implies trust. Faithfulness, sincerity and faith are the same word in Greek. In other words, when we are filled with the Spirit, we become truthful, sincere and faithful like Noah. Gentleness is like a horse tamed into obedience which means we must obey God s Word by denying our own will and stubbornness. Like Moses, Gentleness is an inner character that can embrace all kinds of people. Self-control is the power to control oneself. It is an inner strength to control emotion, pride and lust. Proverbs 16:32 says, Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. Our students need self-control in their school studies. Paul was a man of self-control. If a person is fully controlled by the Spirit, all 9 fruits will be clearly manifested in that person's life. Msn Susanna worked at one company in Korea called 9 Fruits Media. In fact, the 9 fruits are actually 9 great characteristics of Christ. Verse 23b says, Against such things there is no law. There is no law that forbids these fruit so we can bear fruit abundantly. If we live by the Spirit, we can bear Christ s character so that our lives become fruitful and happy. Moreover, we will inherit the kingdom of God as a reward. Therefore, living by the Spirit is like catching two birds with one stone. In the past, I could not but bear the bad fruits of sin while living according to my sinful nature. But through repentance and living by the Spirit, God has blessed me to bear fruit of the Spirit little by little. Please keep praying for me to grow continually in Jesus! Do you want to bear good fruit or bad fruit? Everybody wants to bear good fruit. No one wants to finish one s life meaninglessly without any fruit. However, people bear the bad fruit of sin unintentionally. The fruit we bear through hard work in our own way of the world fades away like a flower in the field because it is useless before God. However, when we live by the Spirit in Jesus despite of our weaknesses, we are bearing beautiful fruit more and more. Then we can live a blessed life with overflowing happiness. People in this world are getting worse and die in the end, but Christians bear the fruit of the Spirit and have eternal life in the end because of living by the Spirit. (Ro 6:21-22) Part II: Crucify the sinful nature (24-26) Look at verse 24. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Those who belong to Christ Jesus 5
are the children of God being born again with the Holy Spirit. They live by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit. They struggle hard to crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires. What does crucify mean? It means to give up the desire to commit sin. We try not to have humanistic thinking such as envy, lust and so on, but it comes naturally. At that time, we should not welcome it or not enjoy it secretly, but get rid of it right away. Click Delete key! Do you like birds such as eagles and ducks flying in the sky? As many birds fly over us, many kinds of thoughts come in our minds. But we should not let a bird make a nest on our heads. Like a football, we must kick out the humanistic thoughts from us. If not, it becomes bigger and bigger and later on, we find ourselves in a hopeless situation. We must crucify any lingering attachment of sin. Hebrews 12:4 says, In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. After crucifixion, we should not try to take out the nails again. We must crucify the sinful desires without regret. Paul says in verse 25, Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. What does keep in step with the Spirit mean? It means we should follow the Spirit like soldier s march in the military. Those who keep in step with the Spirit think of spiritual things. Colossians 3:1-2 says, Set your hearts on things above! 1 Timothy 4:13 says, Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. If you want to live by the Spirit, you may make godly friends and train yourselves to be holy through prayer, Bible study, writing testimony, and so on. Live by the Spirit may make your life beautiful. Finally Paul urges us in verse 26, Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Here Conceited means showing very high opinion of your own abilities. Those who live by the Spirit should humbly consider others better than themselves and seek after the glory of God. *Conclusion: Today Paul encourages us to bear the fruit of the Spirit. But sometimes we suffer for committing sins that we do not desire. However, we have to come to God by faith again and again. We should not be self-condemning with a sense of failure. We should not give up. We have to struggle with the Word of God. When we live by the Spirit, God will give us the fruit of the Spirit in God s time. We can live a blessed life giving glory to God through bearing the fruit of the Spirit. May God help us to crucify our sinful nature and bear abundant fruits of the Spirit in our lives this year! 6