Galatians 5:16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. NET
Paul is describing what life looks like after justification as we begin our transformation into Christ’s image. Justification is what God does at conversion where we are immediately judged “not guilty” and declared righteous in His sight through our faith in Jesus. Sanctification, which follows justification, is an ongoing process that continues throughout our lives as we progress from who we were to who we will be.
As a result of our faith, we can’t do whatever we please simply because we are now saved. On the other hand, we are not suddenly free from sin – it is still a battle as Christian life is a perpetual struggle between light and dark. In the process of sanctification, it is not about following the law but rather, about following the Spirit.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! NET
Certainly not the most popular of topics in most churches today. A key word is “practice” in verse 21 which suggests a habitual pattern. As Christians, we no longer enjoy sin as we did prior to coming to faith because of the internal conviction of the Holy Spirit and the transformation that is occurring in our lives through the work of the Spirit.
If you start with universalism, as many people do today, then who really cares about transformation? That is, if you assume everyone will get saved, then transformation is unnecessary and irrelevant. The problem this creates is that if don’t care about transformation, it affects our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. 16 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. NHEB
In context, Jesus is talking about the false teachers and how to determine who they are but this concept of fruit applies to us as well. This is not talking about salvation here but our lives after justification. If you are saved, it will begin to show.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another. NET
We know that we have the Holy Spirit because of gifts and fruits. We have been talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit in guiding us in sanctification but we will also experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Gifts are things such as prophecy, patience, preaching, teaching and healing (there are 30 gifts mentioned in the New Testament). God needs us to be His witnesses and servants in the world and the gifts are how He helps us to perform these works. Gifts are something that we do while fruit is reflective of the Christ-like transformation taking place in us.
There are four Greek words for us to consider, all of which are translated as “love”. In his book, The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis talks about how three of these loves (phileo/friendship, eros/romantic and storge/family) are “need” loves. We give because we expect something back, i.e., it is a reciprocal love. (Note that storge and eros don’t show up in the New Testament although the opposite of storge is used twice). There is one love (agape) that is different as it doesn’t expect anything in return – it is a love that sacrifices and gives. The first thing the Holy Spirit will do is push us toward agape love.
Joy is a bigger theme than we give it credit for as it is used 173 times in the New Testament. An example of joy is Paul and Silas singing in the Philippians jail. (This might not be the first thing we would do after being beaten and chained). Let’s not confuse joy with happiness as happiness is based upon favorable circumstances. Joy is not tied to circumstances but to conviction. It is an inward hope.
“Peace” is comprehensive salvation word equating to the Hebrew word “shalom”. It is the expectation in the Old Testament that salvation will be experienced as peace – a return to the garden. It has a multi-faceted meaning as we will have a spiritual peace with God, peace of mind (see Ephesians 2) and an eschatological peace that will come at the end times. Simply stated, a peace that is inward, outward and cosmic.
Seeing the word “patience” recalls the martyrs under the altar in Revelations asking “how long”. We see in 2Peter, chapter 3 where there are people are wondering why Jesus hasn’t come back. Peter’s response is that it is so that more can be saved before the Day of the Lord comes.
Acts 10: 38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, that God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him. NET
It is interesting that the word for kindness in Greek is chrestos versus Christos for Christ. Kindness can be defined as active goodness, i.e., love in the small things. Love is a big virtue but kindness is how it gets lived out.
We often think think of God as love but God is also faithful. Gentleness is a word that didn’t exist in the Greek language before Christianity. It is power under control, the turning of the other cheek that Jesus talks about in the Sermon on the Mount. It is a domestic beast of burden tamed to do good. Jesus could have come down from the cross and summoned 10,000 angels but He didn’t. (This gentleness is a characteristic of Christ in the 1st Coming but it will be different when He returns as judgment will then come into play).
Self-control (or temperance) is having discipline like the athlete who trains even when they don’t want to. The Temperance Society arose not so much as being against alcohol but in terms of stewardship as men were taking their wages and drinking instead of taking care of their families.