“The Fruit of the Spirit”

By Mark A. Horne

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23

One aspect of life that seems to plague our culture concerns how we treat one another. The time of men having valor and chivalry, of just being upstanding gentlemen, seems laid to waste in a distant past. The era of women having class and propriety, of being virtuous ladies, also appears to have fallen to the wayside of cultural appropriation. In light of political correctness and feminism, the days of opening doors, and continuing to hold them open for someone else are gone. One may hold his or her tongue in the presence of others only to viciously attack them on social media hiding behind a computer screen. Instead of debates having a muster of civility about them, we now witness tirades filled with not-so-colorful expletives being hurled only for the disparagement of a person’s character and the so-called entertainment of the viewer. And yet, we haven’t given any consideration of advertisement, television and movie themes; the role model of athletes, entertainers, and public officials; and the exposition of the fashion and music industries that influence so much the way we think and act toward one another.

As a believer, one must not allow his or her heart to be affected by the worldly ways and modes of dealing with others. It is easy to do. One can compliantly have a witty, yet unsuitable, response towards an individual that, at the very least, hurts their feelings; and at the most, tears them down and defames them. Words spoken may be forgiven, but they are very hard to be forgotten. Incorrigible deeds towards others can cut another’s heart so deeply that the wound may never heal. So, over the next few weeks the goal of this blog is to address this issue considering God’s Word and particularly what Paul gives us in his letter to the Galatians called “The Fruit of the Spirit.”  

Paul was by far not immune to disparagement and defamation of character. In fact, the book of Galatians was written in response to some preachers, called Judaizers, coming into the Galatian church giving them bad theology and orthopraxy. Orthopraxy is correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical. These visiting preachers tried undo all that Paul had taught his children of the faith. They told the Galatians that they weren’t spiritual enough. They taught the Galatians that they needed to get back to Moses’ ways of doing things in the Old Testament including circumcision and the ceremonial laws. When met with the opposition of “that’s not the way Paul taught us,” they told the Galatians that Paul was a biblical hack, a second-generation Christian. They also told the Galatians that Paul really didn’t know Jesus and, because it wasn’t that long ago that he was persecuting the Christians, Paul couldn’t be trusted in scriptural or biblical things of God – it is much better to trust Moses’ qualifications.

This is an important first lesson for us because fruit that emerges is a product of the tree, or vine. An apple is an apple because it is a product of an apple tree, peaches comes from peach trees, grapes from grape vines, scuppernongs from scuppernong vines. What the Judaizers undid for the Galatian church is the theology that God’s salvation is rich and free – a grace-filled gift of redemption that can’t be earned. Salvation and its fruit come from our “Vine,” (John 15:5) Jesus Christ, who accomplished the work of keeping all the laws of Moses – both the ceremonial and moral laws. So, we see a contrast of real-life, two kinds of trees (Matthew 7:16-18) at play here in Galatians. There is the tree of the worldly teaching of effort and works that the Galatian church starts to follow. It causes conflict and backbiting within the church. The “church people” are in competition with each other. The people, who should be engrafted into the “Tree of Life,” are now diseased with viruses that are making them sick and their roots are being eaten away. And Paul knew that if the roots get destroyed then there would not be Christian conduct described as “the fruit of the Spirit.”

The question for us then is this: Am I in Christ? Is He my Lord and Savior? Have I unreservedly given my whole self to Him where I know without a shadow of doubt it is His work and only His work that gains me entrance into heaven and before the Heavenly Father? Are my roots healthy and strong growing in God’s word, sacrament and prayer? If you are not living in Him, then you cannot live for Him. If He isn’t conducting your life, then there can be no Spiritual conduct out of your life. Our spiritual fruit is how the world knows what we are. And the world can’t see Christ in us if our fruits look like theirs.