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Galatians 5:22-23

INTRODUCTION: We are starting a brand-new message series this morning on the Fruit of the Spirit. There are nine fruit of the Spirit, and today is an introductory message, so we have ten messages in total which will take us through the summer. What a great topic for us to be studying over the summer together!

When I’m working on a message, I read a lot of books and study various commentaries. I don’t always share those sources, although I do reference direct quotes, and I like to point out various resources when helpful. However, one of the sources that I am using for this particular message series is a Bible study on the fruit of the Spirit that was developed and taught by my wife, Rosi, here at PCC back in the 1990’s. It was an excellent study, and I am using her notes as part of my study materials for these messages.

So, as we go through the fruit of the Spirit together in these coming weeks, I want you to know that a lot of the thoughts, structure and even wording in these messages come from Rosi and her study of the fruit of the Spirit. So, credit where credit is due, and thank you, Rosi, for your diligent study of God’s word and for sharing the “fruit” of your labors with us. (Read Galatians 5:22-23 and pray.)

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I’ve subtitled our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, “Growing More Like Jesus,” because that’s really what the fruit of the Spirit is all about. When you become a Christian, God gives you the Holy Spirit to help you and change you. The Holy Spirit works to develop the character of Christ within you.

And so, today’s message is called “Growing More Like Jesus.” It is an introductory message that will lay the context for the whole series by helping you understand three things: 1) What is the fruit of the Spirit? 2) Why is the fruit of the Spirit important in your life? And 3) How do you develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

I. What is the fruit of the Spirit?

So, let’s get started. What exactly is the fruit of the Spirit? We already read through its individual parts in the Scripture reading, but what is the fruit of the Spirit overall?

   A. It is one fruit, not many
      – Galatians 5:22

First of all, it is one fruit, not many. Notice that the Bible calls it the “fruit” of the Spirit, not “fruits” of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22 says: “The fruit of the Spirit is …” (Galatians 5:22), not “The fruits of the Spirit are….” In other words, there are not multiple fruits of the Spirit from which you pick and choose, but there is one fruit that flows from the Holy Spirit that manifests itself in these various characteristics.

So, we shouldn’t think of these various characteristics as different kinds of fruit. Rather they are one fruit, like one apple cut into many sections. Each one of those sections is part of the same apple. Each one of those sections is as delicious as the next section and all part of one fruit. Therefore, we should consume the whole fruit to feel satisfied. One section alone will not be enough.

This is one of the several differences between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are plural. There are many gifts of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is one. Another difference is that God doesn’t give you all the gifts; he gives different gifts to each believer as he chooses. But we all receive the one fruit of the Spirit. God doesn’t want you to have all the gifts. But he does want you to have all the fruit.

What is the fruit of the Spirit? First of all, it is one fruit, not many.

   B. It is something God does rather than you do

Secondly, notice it is something God does rather than you do.

      1) God’s Spirit produces God’s fruit (Galatians 5:16-18)

We call it the fruit of the Spirit because God’s Spirit produces God’s fruit. We see this in Galatians 5:16-18, the verses immediately preceding the description of the fruit: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” (Galatians 5:16-18)

Here Paul tells us to live by the Spirt and to be led by the Spirit. When you live by God’s Spirit and allow the Spirit to lead your life, he will produce his fruit in you. You can’t grow the fruit of the Spirit on your own, because we are all captive to our sinful natures apart from Christ. God’s Spirit produces God’s fruit, so you need to live by the Spirit – walking in the Spirit day by day, yielding to the Spirit hour by hour, depending on the Spirit moment by moment.

I like the story about the young boy who used to escape from his second-story bedroom window by climbing down an old fruit tree. One day he heard his father saying he was going to cut down the tree because it hadn’t borne any fruit for years. So, the boy purchased a bushel of apples, and that night he and his friends tied them to the branches. The next morning the father shouted to the boy’s mother, “Mary, I can’t believe my eyes. The old fruit tree that was barren for years is covered with apples. It’s a miracle – because it’s a pear tree!” (Thomas Trask, The Fruit of the Spirit, pp. 3-4)

Trying to grow the fruit of the Spirit in your life without the Holy Spirit is like tying apples to a pear tree. The fruit of the Spirit is something God does rather than you do. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives because we cannot produce his fruit on our own. God’s Spirit produces God’s fruit.

      2) Contrast the “fruit” of the Spirit with the “acts” of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:19)

This becomes even clearer when you contrast the “fruit” of the Spirit with the “acts” of the sinful nature. We read in Galatians 5:19: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious.…” (Galatians 5:19) Why do we call them the acts of the sinful nature? Because they are actions. The acts of the sinful nature are things that you do. They are your works, your actions. But the fruit of the Spirit is something that God does. He develops his fruit in you through the Holy Spirit.

Notice also that the acts of the sinful nature are many. They are listed in the plural as opposed to the fruit of the Spirit which is one. We do the acts of the sinful nature. But the fruit of the Spirit is something that God does. God’s Spirit produces God’s fruit. God develops his fruit in you through the Holy Spirit.

   C. It is the character of Jesus that God grows in you
      – 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:9-10

So, what exactly is this fruit of the Holy Spirit, then? It is the character of Jesus that God grows in you. Notice that the fruit of the Spirit is not so much a list of things to do, but rather character traits that God wants to develop in you. But they are not just any character traits. They are the character traits of Jesus.

That’s why we call it one fruit, because together these character traits form the one character of Jesus. That’s also why we are calling our study on the fruit of the Spirit “Growing More Like Jesus.” The Bible describes the whole process of growing as a Christian as growing to be more like Jesus.

For example, we read in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that we “are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) The Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Spirit of God and sometimes the Spirit of Christ. The Christian life is a life of transformation where you grow to be more and more like Jesus through the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Again, we read in Colossians 3:9-10: “You have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10) You are a new person in Christ, and you are being renewed in the image of God. Jesus perfectly reflects God the Father, and through the Holy Spirit we can reflect the character of Jesus the Son.

The fruit of the Spirit is a beautiful picture or portrait of Jesus. And God wants your life to reflect that beautiful picture. This is another difference between the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit all have to do with service, but the fruit of the Spirit has to do with character. The gifts of the Spirit are what make us different from each other in the body of Christ. We are each given different gifts to serve each other. But the fruit of the Spirit is what makes us the same in the body of Christ. God wants each of us to reflect the same character as Jesus.

So, what is the fruit of the Spirit? It is one fruit, not many. It is something God does rather than something you do. It is the character of Jesus that God grows in you.

II. Why is the fruit of the Spirit important in your life?

So that’s the “what.” Now let’s talk about the “why.” Why is the fruit of the Spirit important in your life? Here we want to look at three reasons: 1) God wants you to grow in godly character. 2) It is part of your Christian witness to others. 3) Life is so much better when you have the fruit of the Spirit!

   A. God wants you to grow in godly character
      – Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 1:11

First of all, God wants you to grow in godly character. Once again, this is one of the reasons God saved you. This is part of what it means to be a Christian.

We read in Ephesians 4: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) You are a new person in Jesus, and God wants you to grow into this new self that is created to be like him in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul writes in Philippians 1:11 how as believers we are to be “… filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:11) Once again, the fruit of the Spirit is the character of Jesus, which reflects the righteousness of God himself.

That’s the first reason why the fruit of the Spirit is important in your life. God wants you to grow in godly character.

   B. It is part of your Christian witness to others
      – John 15:8; 1 Peter 2:12

A second reason is because it is part of your Christian witness to others. Jesus said in John 15:8: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8) 1 Peter 2:12 tells us: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12)

The fruit of the Spirit is part of your Christian witness to others. When you display the fruit of the Spirit in your life, people will see Christ and will be attracted to Him. People can sense a difference in those who are walking in the Spirit and those who are not. They may not know what is different about the believer, but they can sense that there is something different and they are drawn to it.

That’s a second reason why the fruit of the Spirit is so important in your life. It is part of your Christian witness to others.

   C. Life is so much better when you have the fruit of the Spirit!
      – contrast Galatians 5:19-21 with 5:22-23

And then a third reason is that life is so much better when you have the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s go back to Galatians 5 again and this time we will read through the acts of the sinful nature. We read in Galatians 5:19-21: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 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.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

Now contrast that with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

You tell me, which would you rather have in your life? Sexual immorality, impurity, hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, dissension and factions, envy, drunkenness? Or love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Which person do you think is happier? Which person do you think is more fulfilled in their life? Which would you rather be?

Why is the fruit of the Spirit important in your life? Three reasons: 1) God wants you to grow in godly character. 2) It is part of your Christian witness to others. 3) Life is just so much better when you have the fruit of the Spirit!

III. How do you develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

So, we have looked at what is the fruit of the Spirit. We have looked at why the fruit of the Spirit is so important in your life. Finally, we want to talk about how. How do you develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life? And there are three things we want to look at here.

   A. Weed the garden (“Be killing sin…”)
      – Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-6

First of all, you need to weed the garden. You need to be killing sin in your life. We read in Colossians 3:5-6: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” (Colossians 3:5-6) There’s a famous quote: “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” (John Owen) You need to put to death those things which belong to your sinful nature.

But how do you do it? How do you kill sin in your life? We read in Romans 8:13 says: “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) How do you kill sin in your life? By the Holy Spirit!

It’s the same thing we saw earlier in Galatians 5. The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. What was Paul’s solution to this problem? Live by the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit. He says the same thing here in Romans 8. You put to death the sinful deeds of the body by the Spirit. If you want God’s fruit to grow in your life, first you’ve got to weed the garden.

   B. Water the garden (read the word)
      – Psalm 1:2-3; Colossians 3:16 (cf. Ephesians 5:18)

And then secondly, you need to water the garden. You can pull out every single weed, but if you don’t water the garden, it’s still not going to grow. So, how do you water the garden? You water the garden by reading God’s word.

We read about the godly person who is filled with the fruit of the Spirit in Psalm 1: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:2-3)

Don’t you want to be like that? Don’t you want to be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither? Whatever you do prospers? Then you need to read and study and delight in and meditate on God’s word.

The word of God and the Spirit of God go together. Colossians 3:16 says: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….” (Colossians 3:16) The parallel verse to this in Ephesians 5:18 says: “Be filled with the Spirit….” (Ephesians 5:18) In other words, the two go together. You are filled with the Spirit of God as you let the word of God dwell in you richly.

The Bible says you are to be filled with the Spirit continuously. Someone once asked D. L. Moody why he needed to be filled continuously with the Spirit rather than just once. Moody replied, “Because I leak!” Well, that’s all our problem, isn’t it? We leak! And so, we need to be continuously filled with the Spirit, which happens as we continuously dwell on God’s word and allow God’s word to dwell in us. You need to water the garden! And you do that by reading God’s word.

   C. Remain in the vine (abide in Christ)
      – John 15:4-5; Colossians 2:6-7

You need to weed the garden. You need to water the garden. And finally, you need to remain in the vine. Jesus said in John 15:4-5: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

Once again, you may have weeded the garden. You may be watering faithfully. But if the branch is not connected to the trunk, it’s not going to bear any fruit. You can water a branch lying on the ground all you want. It’s not going to bear fruit.

If you want to bear fruit, you need to remain in the vine. If you want to bear the fruit of the Spirit, you need to abide in Christ. When you do so, you will bear much fruit. But apart from Christ, you are just tying apples to a pear tree. Without Jesus, you can do nothing.

Colossians 2:6-7 says the same thing: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7) Live in Christ. Develop a close relationship with him. Branches don’t produce fruit on their own. They need to be connected to the tree. There needs to be a constant surrender of your life to Jesus if you want to bear fruit.

Billy Graham asks the question: “Are you abiding in Christ? This is the primary condition God sets down for us before we can really bear the fruit of the Spirit. Is there any unconfessed sin in your life that is keeping you from a close walk with Christ? Is there any lack of discipline? Is there any broken relationship with another person that needs healing? Whatever the cause may be, bring it to Christ in confession and repentance. And then learn what it means each day to ‘Abide in Me.’” (Billy Graham, The Holy Spirit, p. 245)

How do you develop the fruit of the Spirit in your life? You need to weed the garden. What weeds do you need to pull up in your life? You need to water the garden. Are you reading God’s word each day? You need to remain in the vine. Are you walking in close relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit each day?

CONCLUSION: I hope you are excited about this series. I hope you are excited about learning more about the fruit of the Spirit this summer.

If you are a Christian this morning, then you already have the Holy Spirit in you. My prayer is that as we study these things together, you will seek to grow more like Jesus. I pray that you will yield yourself to the Holy Spirit and ask God to develop the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I can’t think of any better way to live. Can you?

© Ray Fowler

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