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Sunday, February 28,
2010
Fruit Of The Spirit
Yesterday we shared on the bearing of
fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. So today I would like to share Wycliffe’s
commentary on the following verses.
Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23)
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (24) And they that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (25) If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (KJV)
Galatians 5:22-25
Everything here stands in contrast to the
foregoing: fruit instead of works; the Spirit instead of the flesh; and a
list of virtues altogether attractive and desirable in place of the ugly
things just cited. The word fruit, being singular, as usual in Paul's
writings, tends to emphasize the unity and coherence of the life in the
Spirit as opposed to the disorganization and instability of life under the
dictates of the flesh. It is possible, also, that the singular may be intended
to point to the person of Christ, in whom all these things are seen in
their perfection. The Spirit seeks to produce these by reproducing Christ
in the believer (cf. Gal 4:19). Passages like Rom 13:14 suggest that the
moral problems of redeemed men and women can be solved by the adequacy of
Christ when he is appropriated by faith.
In the light of Paul's preference for the
singular form of fruit, it is not necessary to resort to the expedient of
putting a dash after love in order to make all the other items depend on
this one. Love is crucial (1 John 4:8; 1 Cor 13:13; Gal 5:6). Joy is
conferred by Christ upon his own followers (John 15:11) and is mediated by
the Spirit (1 Thess 1:6; Rom 14:17). Peace is the gift of Christ (John
14:27) and includes inward repose (Phil 4:6) and harmonious relations with
others (contrast Gal 5:15,20). Longsuffering relates to one's attitude
toward others and involves a refusal to retaliate or work vengeance for
wrong received. It is literally long-spiritedness. Gentleness is better
rendered kindness. It is benevolence in action, a distinctly social virtue.
Goodness is an uprightness of soul that abhors evil, a clean-cut honesty of
motive and conduct. Faith, in this setting, means faithfulness (if it were
faith, it would stand at the beginning of the list). For a parallel use,
see Titus 2:10 ("fidelity"). Meekness is based on humility and
denotes an attitude toward others in keeping with due denial of self.
Temperance is better rendered self-control (lit., a holding in with a firm
hand), or control of the self life by means of the Spirit. Against such
there is no law. "Law exists for the purpose of restraint, but in the
works of the Spirit there is nothing to restrain" (J. B. Lightfoot,
Galatians, p. 213). The same truth is stated elsewhere, e.g., Rom 8:4. Those
who are truly Christ's must be like him in that they participate in his
cross. They have crucified the flesh. Ideally, this points to their
identification with Christ in his death (Gal 2:20). Practically, it
emphasizes, the need of carrying the cross principle into the redeemed
life, since the flesh, with its affections and desires is still an ever
present reality (cf. 5:16-17). The same tension between divine provision
and human appropriation is found regarding the Spirit. We live in the
Spirit by God's arrangement, by means of the gift of the Spirit at
conversion. But we walk in the Spirit as a matter of personal volition,
taking each step in dependence upon him. (from The Wycliffe Bible
Commentary)
Remember brethren, we are known by our
fruit. So if the Lord walked by you today would He see His fruit and be
well pleased?
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