Following is a handout I prepared to teach to 24 men at the Haven of Rest mission this past week. These men are hungry for God's Word and hope. They are my heroes.
I am indebted to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones for helping me to see how the Holy Spirit
inspired Paul to arrange the nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 in three unique sets of three in accordance to a Christian's relationship to God and to others. This is so foundational. Be encouraged and edified!
BEARING FRUIT OF CHRIST'S LIFE
Fruit is a manifestation of life and nature.
For example, there is life in an apple seed. If this seed dies while buried in the ground, it springs forth life into an apple tree (John 12:24). The apple tree produces fruit consistent with its nature. Thus, the apple tree produces apples and not oranges!
The branches of the apple tree do not produce the fruit, but are the instruments for bearing the apples that the life of the tree produces. As such, the branches are like outstretched arms to display the fruit and to offer the fruit as nourishment to others.
Likewise, the Christian man bears fruit produced by the life of Christ in him. John 15:5 says that a Christian is a branch of Christ’s life. As such, he is serves as the outstretched arms of Christ to glorify Christ’s character to the world and to offer the fruit of His life (fruit of the Spirit) as eternal nourishment to others.
In contrast, the religious person strives to manufacture his own “fruit” on the outside of himself. This "fruit" only appears to provide some temporal nourishment because this "fruit" has no life. It is manufactured by man, not planted and grown by God.
The “fruit”
of a religious person can at times look attractive, but these “fruit” always are void of life – like ornaments on a tree. A typical “fruit” that a religious man manufactures is sinful anger – an inward bitterness that can appear attractive on the outside or an outer bitterness that displays a critical attitude.
Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine fruit of the Spirit, not
fruits of the Spirit. There is distinction, but not a separation, of these fruit. You can't have one without the other. These are fruit of the same life -- the life of Christ. The motive of all of these fruit is love -- the love of God through Christ Jesus His Beloved Son.
The inherent character of Christ in a
Christian
(always remaining anchored in Christ)
Love The Christian does not have any true love of his own, but has the love of God poured into his heart by the Holy
Spirit (Romans 5:5). Love controls everything this man does (2 Corinthians 5:14). The question for each of us is not only “Do you believe in God?” but “Do you love God?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Joy The Christian has an inner joy not bound to
outer circumstances. Jesus had this joy on His way to the cross (Hebrews 12:2). This is the very joy of Christ fulfilled in the Christian (John 17:13).
Peace The Christian has been reconciled to God and men, and he personally knows Christ as his Prince of Peace (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14,
Isaiah 9:6). Peace is the Christian’s anchor. He can forget himself and no longer in turmoil by the fear of rejection by others (Philippians 4:6-7).
A Christian’s relationship with others
(always looking outward to serve others)
Longsuffering The Christian hates sin toward him from another person, but he does not remain angry toward the person. The Christian understands the bondage he puts himself under if he chooses to remain angry (Ephesians 4:26-27). By faith, the Christian taps into the love of God poured out in his heart,
trusting that this “love suffers long” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Gentleness Longsuffering is like an arm outstretched to display the gentleness of Christ to others. Gentleness is not timidity. The Christian knows that only a strong man can be gentle. Jesus Christ was, and is, truly
the perfect Gentleman.
Goodness Longsuffering is also like an arm outstretched to display the goodness of God to others. The Christian not only desires to be kind to others who are kind to him, but to help others who are not so kind. God is good and He causes the rain to fall on the just
and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). This life of God is to be manifested as fruit in the life of a Christian.
A Christian’s character before God
(always looking upward to the Father)
Faithfulness The Christian is faithful in remaining humbly submitted to his Father’s will. He is trustworthy before God and, as a result, others can trust him (Colossians 1:3-8).
Meekness This is the only character trait Jesus called attention to. He said "I am meek and lowly" (Matthew 11:29). And, thus, this is the character of the Christian. As a Christian remains meek and humble before God, his heart is tilled by the Holy Spirit in order to receive the implanting of living Word of God (James 1:21). As a result, more fruit of Christ's life is produced by the Holy Spirit through the Christian.
Self-control The Christian remains disciplined in the presence of God; he is always aware of God's presence. As such, the Christian's self-control is an attitude of worship toward God. In contrast, the religious person strives to be disciplined by self-effort; he is only aware of himself.
Unlike the religious person. the Christian does not have to look to be in control on the outside in the presence of others, because he knows his control comes from the life of Christ inside him (James 1:18-20).
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Following is a picture I developed (through my God-given engineering mindset) to help describe the previous written narrative of "Bearing the Fruit of Christ's Life." I am reverently using the cross of Christ as the basis for this description, because the cross is indeed to basis for our life in Christ.
At the cross, the love and holiness of God are supremely made manifest in perfect union without either one being diminished whatsoever. Through the cross, each Christian is united with Christ. When Christ died, we died. When He was buried, we were buried. When He arose, we arose a new creation in union with Him!
(Romans 6). As new creations in union with Christ, God re-created (re-birthed) us with the very character of Christ -- love, joy, and peace.
At the center of the cross is the love of God from which all holiness flows: (1) in being anchored in union with
Christ (love, joy, peace), (2) in serving others (longsuffering, gentleness, goodness), and (3) in walking humbly in the presence of God (faithfulness, meekness, self-control).
