But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
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This lesson discusses the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In the next lesson we will learn of contrasting qualities called the works of the flesh. In a final lesson we will learn how to develop spiritual fruit.
WHAT IS THE FRUIT? The fruit of the Holy Spirit refers to the nature of the Spirit revealed in the life of the believer. This fruit is spiritual qualities which should be evident in the lives of all Christians. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are for power. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is for character in the life of a believer. The following chart illustrates differences between spiritual gifts and fruit:
Spiritual fruit is evidence of spiritual maturity. Like fruit in the natural world, it is a product which is the result of the process of life. Spiritual fruit is Christian character in both personal and social conduct and is a product of the Holy Spirit at work in your life and your response to this work. Just as fruit takes time to develop in the natural world, spiritual fruit takes time to develop. It is the product of natural growth in the life of the Spirit.
TWO KINDS OF FRUIT The Bible speaks of two kinds of spiritual fruit: 1. The fruit of evangelism. 2. The fruit of Godly spiritual qualities. The Holy Spirit helps believers bear outer fruit by making them a powerful witness of the Gospel message. He also develops the inner fruit of Christ-like spiritual qualities in their lives. |
OUTER FRUIT: EVANGELISM
NATURAL REPRODUCTION:
When Adam and Eve were created by God, the first command He gave them was to be "fruitful" and multiply in the natural world:
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it... (Genesis 1:28)
In the natural world, God set a cycle of continuous reproduction:
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
SPIRITUAL REPRODUCTION:
From the beginning of the world, God called His people to spiritual reproduction as well as natural. Adam and Eve were to reproduce both spiritually and physically. God's original plan was that they were to fill the earth with people created in the image of God who walked in fellowship with God
When God raised up the nation of Israel as a people through whom He could demonstrate His power and plan for the world, He called them to be spiritually reproductive:
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Thou preparedest room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psalms 80:8-10)
The "vine" which God brought out of Egypt was the nation of Israel. He wanted them to bear spiritual fruit by revealing the true God to the heathen nations around them. Instead, Israel became like the heathen. They began to worship idols and wanted a visible human king to reign over them instead of the invisible King of Kings. Finally, God said of Israel:
Israel is an empty vine... (Hosea 10:1)
Because of their spiritual unfruitfulness, Jesus said:
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)
Because of Israel's refusal to bear fruit, the Gospel of the Kingdom was extended to the Gentile nations. From the Gentiles God raised up the church to fulfill His plan of spiritual reproduction throughout the world.
CHOSEN TO BEAR FRUIT:
As believers, Jesus has chosen us to bear fruit through evangelism of the world:
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain... (John 15:16)
His last command to His followers was one of spiritual reproduction:
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
He challenged His disciples with a great vision of spiritual harvest:
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. (John 4:35-36)
Solomon said:
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30)
The power of the Holy Spirit enables believers to be spiritually fruitful through evangelism:
But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The method of spiritual reproduction is given in II Timothy 2:2:
And the thing that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (II Timothy 2:2)
Just as God established a cycle of harvest in the natural world, He established a cycle of reproduction in the spiritual world. Each believer is to teach the Gospel to people who also reproduce by teaching others. Just as the natural cycle of seedtime and harvest is unending, so is the cycle of spiritual harvest.
INNER FRUIT: CHRIST-LIKENESS
In addition to the outer fruit of evangelism the Bible speaks of positive spiritual qualities produced in the life of a believer by the Holy Spirit. We call this fruit the inner fruit of Christ-likeness. This fruit is listed in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
These are inner qualities the Holy Spirit wants to develop in the life of the believer. They are qualities that are like the spiritual qualities which were evident in the life of Jesus Christ. This is why we call them Christ-like qualities.
The word "fruit" is singular. It is not plural [fruits]. Remember that spiritual gifts are many and are divided among believers according to the will of the Holy Spirit. Fruit is singular. It can be understood by the natural example of grapes. A cluster of grapes has several individual grapes on it, but it is one cluster. In the natural world when grapes are picked from the vine they are picked in a cluster. This cluster of several grapes is called the "fruit" [singular] of the vine.
In the spiritual world the fruit of the Holy Spirit is similar to a cluster of grapes. It is separate spiritual qualities joined together in one cluster or fruit. This one fruit is spiritual maturity which is revealed in many Christ-like qualities.
One Fruit ___________ ➱ Spiritual Maturity
Many Qualities________ ➱ Meekness-Temperance
Love-Joy-Peace-
Kindness-Goodness
Longsuffering
Faithfulness
God wants all believers to have the fruit of the Spirit. Unlike gifts which are plural [many] and are divided among believers, fruit [singular] is to be possessed by every believer.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is found in every act of goodness, righteousness, and truth done by believers:
For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. (Ephesians 5:9)
The following are the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
NATURAL REPRODUCTION:
When Adam and Eve were created by God, the first command He gave them was to be "fruitful" and multiply in the natural world:
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it... (Genesis 1:28)
In the natural world, God set a cycle of continuous reproduction:
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
SPIRITUAL REPRODUCTION:
From the beginning of the world, God called His people to spiritual reproduction as well as natural. Adam and Eve were to reproduce both spiritually and physically. God's original plan was that they were to fill the earth with people created in the image of God who walked in fellowship with God
When God raised up the nation of Israel as a people through whom He could demonstrate His power and plan for the world, He called them to be spiritually reproductive:
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Thou preparedest room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. (Psalms 80:8-10)
The "vine" which God brought out of Egypt was the nation of Israel. He wanted them to bear spiritual fruit by revealing the true God to the heathen nations around them. Instead, Israel became like the heathen. They began to worship idols and wanted a visible human king to reign over them instead of the invisible King of Kings. Finally, God said of Israel:
Israel is an empty vine... (Hosea 10:1)
Because of their spiritual unfruitfulness, Jesus said:
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)
Because of Israel's refusal to bear fruit, the Gospel of the Kingdom was extended to the Gentile nations. From the Gentiles God raised up the church to fulfill His plan of spiritual reproduction throughout the world.
CHOSEN TO BEAR FRUIT:
As believers, Jesus has chosen us to bear fruit through evangelism of the world:
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain... (John 15:16)
His last command to His followers was one of spiritual reproduction:
Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)
He challenged His disciples with a great vision of spiritual harvest:
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. (John 4:35-36)
Solomon said:
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30)
The power of the Holy Spirit enables believers to be spiritually fruitful through evangelism:
But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The method of spiritual reproduction is given in II Timothy 2:2:
And the thing that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. (II Timothy 2:2)
Just as God established a cycle of harvest in the natural world, He established a cycle of reproduction in the spiritual world. Each believer is to teach the Gospel to people who also reproduce by teaching others. Just as the natural cycle of seedtime and harvest is unending, so is the cycle of spiritual harvest.
INNER FRUIT: CHRIST-LIKENESS
In addition to the outer fruit of evangelism the Bible speaks of positive spiritual qualities produced in the life of a believer by the Holy Spirit. We call this fruit the inner fruit of Christ-likeness. This fruit is listed in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
These are inner qualities the Holy Spirit wants to develop in the life of the believer. They are qualities that are like the spiritual qualities which were evident in the life of Jesus Christ. This is why we call them Christ-like qualities.
The word "fruit" is singular. It is not plural [fruits]. Remember that spiritual gifts are many and are divided among believers according to the will of the Holy Spirit. Fruit is singular. It can be understood by the natural example of grapes. A cluster of grapes has several individual grapes on it, but it is one cluster. In the natural world when grapes are picked from the vine they are picked in a cluster. This cluster of several grapes is called the "fruit" [singular] of the vine.
In the spiritual world the fruit of the Holy Spirit is similar to a cluster of grapes. It is separate spiritual qualities joined together in one cluster or fruit. This one fruit is spiritual maturity which is revealed in many Christ-like qualities.
One Fruit ___________ ➱ Spiritual Maturity
Many Qualities________ ➱ Meekness-Temperance
Love-Joy-Peace-
Kindness-Goodness
Longsuffering
Faithfulness
God wants all believers to have the fruit of the Spirit. Unlike gifts which are plural [many] and are divided among believers, fruit [singular] is to be possessed by every believer.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is found in every act of goodness, righteousness, and truth done by believers:
For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. (Ephesians 5:9)
The following are the fruit of the Holy Spirit:
