Galatians 5:22–26 (ESV) — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The Apostle Paul knew the Galatian church had gotten its start because of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had birthed the Galatians into Christ's family and strengthened them in their early days as Christians.
But over time, the Galatians began to think they could be perfected by human effort, leading to a nasty environment where people became conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another (26).
Because of the self-effort ideas floating around the Galatian church, Paul felt it was important to explain to them the differences between life in the flesh and the Spirit. As Paul articulated the battle between these two, he detailed the works of the flesh, which we considered in our last study, and the fruit of the Spirit (22). This fruit is the outworking of the new nature the Spirit gives every believer, and it grows when we walk in and are led by him (Gal. 5:16, 18). When we walk by the Spirit, we no longer follow the desires and passions of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). As we enjoy fellowship with God, the Spirit produces growth and transformation that rules and regulations could never generate.
Paul said the fruit of the Spirit is so strong that against such things there is no law (23). No law would ever be written to try to restrain the love, joy, and peace the Spirit produces. No legalistic code could ever create the patience, kindness, and goodness the Spirit does. And no one would ztry to prohibit someone from the kind of faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control the Spirit authors.
The Method of Our Growth (22a)
One of the first things to notice in this passage is the method of our growth. Paul wrote earlier about the works of the flesh, but here he refers to the fruit of the Spirit (19, 22). Paul used these words intentionally because they contrast each other.
The flesh is like a factory or a machine that inevitably produces various works. It conjures up images of the job site or factory line—human effort making and constructing.
But the Spirit's fruit cannot be produced. The concept of fruit takes us out of the human factory and into the farm. Any farm requires human labor, but the produce of the field is far different from the byproduct of the factory. Imagine a car factory—no one expects a car to grow from the ground merely if the conditions are right. But that's how fruit occurs. The farmer aims to set up the right conditions for natural growth.
If this is God's method of true transformation—if it is all about the Spirit producing fruit in us—then we must embrace this method. We are asked to walk in and be led by the Spirit, setting conditions for his fruitful work to occur in us. Just as the farmer tends the field to create an environment for growth, we must tend our lives and fight for good conditions for God's fruit to appear.
In another agricultural metaphor, Jesus said,
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
When we engage in and enjoy Jesus and his word, fruit comes from our lives.
The important thing to remember is that the works of the flesh come naturally to us, but the fruit of the Spirit must be organically grown within us. We can, of course, fake the fruit of the Spirit and act loving, joyful, or at peace. We can seem to others to be patient, kind, and good, at least for a little while. And we can easily portray ourselves as dependable, tender-hearted, and self-disciplined people. But Paul is not telling us to fake these attributes but to walk with God so the Spirit grows them within us.
This method of growth God has chosen is gradual but predictable. When an apple grows, it happens slowly over time. To the naked eye, nothing is happening, but soon, fruit is on the branch. So it is with our growth in Christ. Rather than fake immediate fruit, it is better to allow the process of time walking with God to produce real fruit in us. We must expect our growth to often be slow and imperceptible. But, if we continue to feed the Spirit, we will experience moments when we realize we have changed.
We understand this when it comes to physical transformation. No one expects radical transformation after one day of healthy eating and some gym time. Change is gradual and slow. Or think of your personal photo stream. You can easily come across a photo from five or ten years ago with a few clicks. And sometimes it can be astounding how much you have changed! While you changed, you didn't feel it, but change happened. So it is with the Spirit. Going to church, reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, or engaging in any other spiritual discipline all lead to slow but predictable growth.
Why is it predictable? Because it is promised. Walk by the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit grows. There is no mystery as to what the fruit of the Spirit looks like. Apple seeds produce apples. Orange seeds produce oranges. Fruit bears according to its kind. And the Spirit produces the same thing every time—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is a seed that cannot be stopped; its growth is inevitable.
I cannot express enough how important knowing and embracing this method for growth is to the Christian life. We must be fully confident that Christianity is not a "try hard" message but a "walk with God" message. As we walk in and are led by his Spirit, transformation comes. We aren't a factory that produces good works but a farm that grows good character.
Next week, we will look at the balanced growth of the fruit the Spirit produces within us.