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Fruit

Fruit

Words of Faith 6-24-19

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2019

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Galatians 5

[21b] I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. [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.

 

     Paul warned that the acts of the sinful nature are apparent and named 15 signs and symptoms that mark a life in rebellion against the Spirit of God.  He added that those who habitually practice such things will never inherit God's kingdom. That is certainly strong. So let us not misunderstand.

     This doesn't mean that if a Christian falls into sin, he or she loses salvation. The tense of the verb indicates a habitual continuation in fleshly sins rather than an isolated lapse. The point here is that those who continually practice such sins give evidence of having never received God's Spirit.

     So what are the marks of a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit?  The fruit which grows from the Spirit of God in a person is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  This fruit is singular, one fruit, but it is diverse like a bunch of grapes.  It is the same fruit, but it is expressed in varied ways.  In a sense, all of the named qualities are aspects of God's love manifested within a believer.

     This fruit is not something to work on or aspire to; it is something to surrender to.  The fruit of the Spirit is always developed and lived out in relationships.  These qualities are all relational as the love of God is made manifest.

      Love, joy, and peace are habits of the mind that the Spirit develops in us through situations, but they are more God-ward in nature.  The second set of three-- patience, kindness, and goodness-- are expressions of love more directly concerned with relationships with other people.  The final three aspects-- faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control-- are an expression of love more inwardly focused.

       Against such things, there is no law.  These are the qualities of a life that has been claimed by Jesus Christ and is Spirit led.  The law, as Paul has said, was given to restrain evil, but these qualities do not need to be restrained. No law opposes them. The law cannot be against one who lives in this manner.  By being so led by the Spirit, one is fulfilling all that the law requires.

      Are you ready to surrender to the Spirit?  Perhaps you respond by saying that you already did that.  That is good; however, this surrender is daily.  This surrender is moment by moment.  There is nothing old-hat or "past accomplished" when we talk about the fruit of the Spirit.  There are always new situations and more challenging relationships that God is calling us into.  The fruit of the Spirit is always an ever deeper calling and manifestation of His love and presence in us.

 

      Father God, make Your Spirit manifest in me.  I surrender to Your Holy Spirit.  Give me the fruit of Your Spirit in every relationship-- my habits and attitude about life, my relationships with people, and in my inner life of integrity.  In Jesus' Name.

      

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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