By Mark A. Horne
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” ~ Galatians 5:22-23
What do you think about when you hear the word joy? If you are a believer and familiar with traditional hymnody, the hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”[1] may come to mind. Christmas season is upon us and with it a sense of joy for many people as they think upon the incarnation of Christ, the gathering of friends and family, and the exchange of gifts. The ultimate joy for a lot of people comes on the day of their marriage, or the births of their children. Considering children a little more, parents may celebrate joy when a child takes his/her first step, learns to ride a bicycle, gets their first base hit, or graduates from school. One may even find their joy in worldly success and financial security. There are many experiences that elicit joy but are they the fruit that God calls us to have as believers?
Spurgeon introduces his sermon on joy commenting that, “As for joy, if it be not the first product of the Spirit of God, it is next to the first, and we may be sure that the order in which it is placed by the inspired apostle is meant to be instructive. The fruit of the Spirit is love first, as comprehensive of the rest; then joy arising out of it. It is remarkable that joy should take so eminent a place; it attaineth unto the first three, and is but one place lower than the first. Look at it in its high position, and if you have missed it, or if you have depreciated it, revise your judgment, and endeavor with all your heart to attain to it, for depend upon it this fruit of the Spirit is of the utmost value…and it is brought forth in believers not alike in all, but to all believers there is a measure of joy.”[2]
In the gifts Paul teaches us that come from the Holy Spirit, which should manifest in the life of the believer, joy is the second. In the Greek, the Holy Spirit lead Paul to use the word chara. Its basic meaning is a feeling of inner gladness, delight or rejoicing. Joy for the Christian is marked by celebration and expectation of God’s ultimate victory over the powers of sin and darkness. This last statement is exceptionally important for us to consider because, as mentioned in the introduction, there are many things in life that one may find happiness. There is more than a feeling of happiness when one’s child is born. Most likely there is a titillation of elation. Therefore, a contrast is set up for us, for in earthly secular circumstances, joy is defined as the emotion evoked by well-being, success and/or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. The world’s definition of joy is virtually synonymous with the definition of happiness, for both of these “emotions” are dependent on what “happens“.
Here is where many, even Christians, becomes derailed in their thinking about the joy one should have in one’s life. There is a tendency to replace the biblical definition of joy, “a celebration and expectation of God’s ultimate victory over the powers of sin and darkness,” with the world’s definition of joy, “the emotion evoked by well-being, success and/or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires…virtually synonymous with the definition of happiness.” Like love, the believer’s joy should be rooted, grown, and ripened in God. Yet all too often we expect joy to come from our circumstances.
The error of this way of thinking is that our expectations are not always met, not even by God. As John Sanderson states, “God does not always work as we want Him to – God does not have to work as we want Him to. Our source of joy must always be God, not His ways of working…. [Joy] is not dependent on outward circumstances, but is based on the reality of God and the immutability of His promises.”[3] When we systematically take a few samples from Scripture, our hearts understand how God explains the spiritual basis for us. Joy as a fruit of the Spirit is joy in the Holy Spirit, “…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17); is the joy of faith, “And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith” (Philippians 1:25); is the joy of the Spirit, “…became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6); is joy in the Lord, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you” (Philippians 3:1); and is the welcome which will be addressed to faithful servants, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master’” (Matthew 25:21-23). Therefore, the believer’s joy is supernatural fruit of the Spirit, independent of circumstances such as much tribulation, heartache, health, etc.
When one understands that this supernatural joy is independent of what happens, we can trust what Jesus Himself promised His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full,” where full here means complete and overflowing (John 15:11). Certainly there is joy in human life, such as joy when one experiences a victory (Psalm 20:5) or reaps a bountiful harvest (Isaiah 9:3), but more often the Bible speaks of joy in a spiritual sense. For example, Nehemiah declared to the down in the mouth (not very filled with joy) Jews that “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Similarly, David pleaded with God to “restore to me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12).
Joy then is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord. It is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but even occurs when those circumstances are the most painful and severe as Jesus taught His disciples declaring, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. 21 “Whenever a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 “Therefore you too now have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you” (John 16:20-22). As C. Norman Bartlett rightly says, “Joy is more intense than happiness and is not, like it, dependent upon outward circumstances or happenings. The difference may be illustrated by a river that flows steadily and continuously onward as compared with the transient hillside torrents produced by cloudbursts. There is no joy to compare with that which flows from a deep, rich and sweet communion with Jesus Christ.”[4]
Jesus’ and David’s (Psalm 51:2) words should ring true for those whose focus on obtaining joy comes from their outside circumstances. When expectations are not met, ungodly sorrow leaks into our lives often with murmuring and complaining (Deuteronomy 1:27; Exodus 17:2; Numbers 14:11; Psalm 106:25). A change of heart is then necessary. We must come to understand that “any quality of life, attitude of mind, or activity that God requires of us may be acquired through the Lord Jesus Christ. So, when we say, ‘I have no joy,’ we must understand that Scripture teaches this is not true, for the gift of the fruit of the Spirit is available to every Christian.[5] When we experience this sin in our life, we must repent of it and turn to the Lord.
Be encouraged dear one. Joy is
God’s gift to believers. Paul speaks of more than just a mood. This is a deep
confidence that was rooted in God’s sovereign control of the universe, His own
unchanging divine promises, and eternal spiritual realities including the
assurance of ultimate victory for those in Christ. It is a part of God’s own
nature and Spirit that He manifests in His children. It is the inevitable
overflow of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and of the believer’s knowing His
continuing presence and having a sense of wellbeing experienced by one who
knows all is well between himself and the Lord (1Peter 1:8). It not only does
not come from favorable human circumstances but is sometimes greatest when
those circumstances are the most painful and severe. And God’s joy is full,
complete in every way. Nothing human or circumstantial can add to it or detract
from it. However, it is not fulfilled in a believer’s life except through
reliance on and obedience to the Lord.[6]
[1] Van Dyke, Henry. “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” Public Domain: 1907.
[2] Spurgeon, CH. Sermon – “The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy.”
[3] Sanderson, John W., The Fruit of the Spirit, Philipsburg, P&R Publishing, 1985, pgs. 66,70.
[4] Bartlett , C. Norman: Galatians and You: Studies in the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, 1948.
[5] Adams, Jay E. The Christian Counselor’s Manual: The Practice of Nouthetic Counseling, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1973, pg. 172.
[6] Hurt, Bruce. https://www.preceptaustin.org/galatians_522
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