A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on November 5, 2023.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Gal. 5:22–23).[1]
The Branch and Its Fruit
In the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus calls himself “the true vine” and his Father “the vinedresser,” who cuts off branches that do not bear fruit but prunes those that do, that they may produce more fruit (John 15:1-2). The vineyard analogy emphasizes the Father’s sovereign selection but also dependence upon the Son’s provision, no vine, no branch, no fruit. Fruit then is telling of authenticity, as Jesus explains, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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 15:4-5). Abiding, that is in union with Christ by faith, then bears fruit.
To be clear, the imperative Jesus gives is not bear much fruit to abide in Christ but abide in Christ to bear fruit. Apart from him there is no fruit. There is then no such thing as a fruitless Christian. Though yield may vary, as well as seasons, fruit’s presence doesn’t. Fruit is proof positive, as Jesus says, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8).
In the Old Testament, Israel is called God’s “vine” (Ps. 80:8-9) but was not faithful in bearing fruit and so was judged. Jesus came as “the true vine,” doing what Israel did not, bearing fruit of righteousness. Living in perfect obedience, Jesus died the sinless substitute for all who look to him by faith. Dying an atoning sacrifice for our sin, he was resurrected to life that we may live. He then is not a dead or dormant vine but very much alive. We don’t look to him as a historical example to be followed but the very source of life, both now and forever, life that is proven through the fruit of our lives and borne in us by his Spirit.
The Fruit of the Spirit
In the fifth chapter of Galatians, Paul distinguishes between fruit of the spirit and fruit of the flesh. Spirit and flesh both bear fruit, just not the same kind. For example, the Spirit produces love, the flesh enmity; the Spirit peace, the flesh dissension; the Spirit patience, the flesh anger; the Spirit self-control, the flesh intemperance; and, so on. The fruit that Jesus describes, that comes from him, is the fruit of the Spirit, which tells of the Spirit of Christ’s presence. There is no fruit of the Spirit apart from his presence.
Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:22-23a). It is not an exhaustive list but demonstrable attributes of one, singular fruit. While every Christian has gifts which vary, the fruit of the Spirit does not. We do not pick and choose the attributes of the Holy Spirit’s fruit. Love is not present and joy absent, nor peace present and patience absent. Kindness is not absent from goodness, nor faithfulness from gentleness and self-control. Though fruit may vary in yield, its attributes will not.
Do not think that you can enjoy Spirit-filled joy and not love your brother. Do not think that you show Spirit-filled peace and have no self-control. Do not think that you are kind but have not patience with others. Faithfulness in the Christian life, you can be sure, will be accompanied with goodness and gentleness. The Holy Spirit bears fruit, not options.
Paul lists love appropriately first, as it is inclusive of and the greatest of the other attributes, including faith and hope:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends (1 Cor. 13:4-8a).
What Paul describes is not love by reciprocity. No one deserves this love, because it is the same love with which God loves us, from him, by him, and through him, and “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us” (Rom. 5:8). It is not a worldly love produced by our flesh, but “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5), and through him we love. Which means loving the unlovable. Don’t tell me of your Christian maturity and harbor hatred toward your brother. God is love (1 John 4:16), given in Christ (John 3:16), and every true branch will bear his love.
From love, Paul moves to joy, a defining Christian attribute emphasized repeatedly throughout the New Testament. It is not worldly happiness but gospel-rooted joy, as the sinner saved from condemnation and death by God’s grace lives in the Spirit-produced joy of this reality. It is neither spontaneous nor circumstantial but steady and substantive. Don’t mistake it for the highs and lows of your flesh, as joy may be present even in the worst of times. It is an attribute that characterizes the one captive to the gospel of Jesus Christ, a fullness of joy that rests squarely on our union with Christ (John 15:11).
Peace, or shalom as it is named in Hebrew, is broader than simply the absence of conflict or war. Rather, it is used throughout the New Testament as a one-word description of what Christ accomplished for us, reconciling us to God (Rom. 5:1). As the Holy Spirit has wrought this peace in our conquered hearts, so we are able to be at peace with others, even those with whom we disagree. Consider the peace that we enjoy with God, which is not based on what we do but what Christ has done. The Holy Spirit’s presence within us blesses us as peacemakers, proving us to be the very children of God (Matt. 5:9).
Following peace is patience, which indeed is a virtue, but in the Christian life it often reveals itself in hardship, endurance through adversity. Of course, patience is demonstrated perfectly in the Lord Jesus. Paul explains in 1 Timothy that Christ displays “his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:16 NIV). Such is the extraordinary patience of our Lord which he also produces extraordinarily in us by his Spirit, enabling and empowering us to have patience with others, especially those who wrong us. The Holy Spirit reproduces in us, as William Barclay put it, “God’s undefeatable patience with people and God’s undiscourageable patience with events.”[2] It is indeed a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7).
Kindness, next on the list, is demonstrated in God’s grace to sinners, for “God’s kindness is meant to lead [us] to repentance” (Rom. 2:4). And the one to whom God has shown kindness is able to show kindness to others, notably in a willingness to help others. Goodness, similarly, includes a willing generosity, which transcends the imaginable, according to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says,
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:43-45 NKJV).
The child of God has been shown the kindness and goodness of God, which is shown through us to others by the Holy Spirit.
Faithfulness is a trustworthiness derived from trusting God, who is always faithful (Heb. 13:5-6), while gentleness, or meekness, has been referred to “power under control,”[3] but also a humility exemplified in Christ,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8).
Gentleness counts others more significant than self (Phil. 2:3) and conveys a sweetness of spirit that reveals the presence of Christ. So also self-control, which connotes bridling human passion, or temperance. Self-control keeps us from gluttony, intoxication, sexual promiscuity, as well as other lusts of the flesh. The Christian is not at liberty to indulge the flesh in sinful desires but is empowered by the Holy Spirit to restrain the flesh and obey the Lord, and in doing so revealing a love for God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37-39).
Bearing the Spirit’s Fruit
Paul’s list of the attributes of the Holy Spirit’s fruit is telling of what the Christian life is to demonstrate, as we are each indwelled by the Spirit. What Paul lists is not a fruit of merit nor works but proof positive of presence. There are of course virtues of God’s common grace which we see in the world at large, such as love, but that’s not what Paul is describing here. This is fruit borne only by the indwelling Holy Spirit, by God’s grace through faith in Christ. Therefore, “against such things there is no law” (5:23b), because such things come by God’s grace through faith in Christ, who kept the law perfectly, died sacrificially, and arose victoriously that we might live in him, bearing the fruit of his Spirit’s indwelling. We do not earn fruit; we bear it.
Why then is this fruit not evident in every Christian? One possibility is that one who is called a Christian may not be. For example, the one then who cannot love but instead harbors hatred may very well not know the love of God in Christ at all. Or, the one how knows not the joy of the Lord may not know the Lord, since there is joy in faith (Phil. 1:25). Likewise, a lack of peace that results in inner-church strife and dissension may very well reveal a lack of peace with God. If you find yourself in this moment realizing that in your life there is no evidence of the Holy Spirit’s fruit, do not let this moment pass without repenting of your sin and trusting solely in Jesus Christ as your savior. He, and he alone, will save you from the curse of sin and judgment deserving of it, and will give you eternal life and his Spirit to guarantee it. Do not let this moment pass: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!
You may, however, know the Lord and through your life have witnessed some fruit but witness it sparingly. This should concern you, because a lack of spiritual fruit in the Christian life often reveals sin. Christian, if you are not seeing spiritual fruit in your life, it is time to confess your sins, for “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). But if you would harbor your sin, unwilling to let it go, unwilling to confess it, but to wallow in it, to essentially deny it, John says, then you make God a liar, and his word is not in you (John 1:10). Heed John’s caution well, and look to Christ, who loved us and gave himself up for us (Eph. 5:2).
What God desires in us, and what we desire as his, is that we bear much fruit. And as his church, he has graciously given us his means of grace that we may bear much fruit. Through his Word, the sacraments, and prayer, he grows us in his grace. God has truly provided everything we need, even his indwelling presence. May he be glorified in the bearing of much fruit in us!
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] William Barclay, Flesh and Spirit, quoted in Leon Morris, Galatians: Paul’s Charter of Christian Freedom (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 172.
[3] Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2005), 233.
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 