"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
Have you noticed that the word fruit is singular, while works is plural? This suggests that the individual works of the flesh are varied and not necessarily related. The fruit of the Spirit, though possessing various characteristics, is in reality one, made possible by the combination of all nine characteristics in these verses.
A person may be guilty of the works of the flesh when only committing one of the works. But a person cannot be said to be producing the fruit of the Spirit unless all nine qualities are demonstrated together in his or her life.
Similar to the graces as listed in 2 Peter 1:5-8, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
“Supply” or “add” implies the graces are intricately connected to each other and are all necessary to growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
So, while a person may possess one or more of these graces listed in Galatians 5:22-23, that alone does not constitute the fruit of the Spirit. One who is led by the Spirit will produce them all! As we begin our examination of the fruit of the Spirit, it is only natural that the virtue of love should head the list…
The Bible says in 1John 4:8 that God is love; 1 Corinthians 13:13, says Love is the greatest virtue of all.
I have a few questions, what is love? What place does it have in the life of the Christian? How can we best demonstrate our love toward God and man?
Let us start with the definition of love. The Greeks have four words which we translate “love”. EROS – is carnal, sexual love; PHILEO– the love of close friendship; STORGE– the love of family relationships; AGAPE– that love which seeks only the highest good of others.
It is this love that Paul mentions in our text and defines in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. Jesus uses the same word in Matthew 5:43-48.
Let us take a closer look at “agape”. Barclay says, “Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rise unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live.
Agape has supremely to do with the will. It is not an uncontrolled reaction of the heart, but a concentrated exercise of the will. It is a caring love, one which becomes involved with the need of others. It does not depend upon the one being loved having to earn such love.
It is not an exclusive love…expressed only to select few, but an all-embracing benevolence, shown toward all. The perfect illustration of “agape”, begins with the God of love.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:11, “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” Indeed, His love is a great love willing to save sinners! As we see in Ephesians 2:4-7, it finds its complete fulfillment in Christ.
Therefore, we come to know what love really is when we look at Jesus Christ. Walk with me over to 1 John 3:16; “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”.
Lastly, let us look at demonstrating our love toward God. Some think we prove our love by shouting from the roof top. Others, by putting it on a bumper sticker and honking if they love Jesus. And others think that whatever they do “in the name of the Lord” will be pleasing to His.
I would ask you to consider Matthew 7:21-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”.
Do we really love God? What is our attitude toward keeping His commandments and loving the brethren? Love for one another is fundamental to the doctrine of Christ, 1 John 3:11, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”. Even if we already excel in the matter of love… There is always room for growth as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more."
May God continue to bless and keep you; may we continue to love.
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