Galatians 5:22-26 (WEL) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also conform to the Spirit. 26 Let us not be longing for empty praise, irritating one another, and envying one another.
V22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Now the contrast from the natural, innate evil soul and spirit to the God-changed heart, the new innate soul and spirit. Love instead of hate; love instead of causing hurt, joy instead of misery, peace instead of restless guilt, longsuffering instead of impulsiveness, gentleness instead of abuse, goodness instead of selfishness, and faith instead of disbelief.
Love is an action of choice to be harmless instead of harmful, listening instead of ignoring, companionship instead of distance, helpfulness instead of difficulty.
Joy is an attitude of knowing God’s blessings.
Peace is a condition of rest especially spiritual rest, that is, knowing that we are right with God.
Longsuffering is a choice and action to bear with difficulties over a long period of time, not being restless, not being quick-tempered, etc.
Gentleness is a trait of love, is free from abuse of words, actions, looks, etc.
Goodness is a spiritual trait of wanting to do God’s will and align ourselves with God’s ways and laws (Law of Christ).
Faith is believing God, that is, the Bible, its promises, its history, its prophecy, etc.
V23 Humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
Humility instead of arrogance; self-control instead of instability and rashness. God’s law and human law do not consider these 9 things as harmful to society.
V24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
This is the summary. Those of us who believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh, its desires (Galatians 5:19-21), and lusts. There is a death of the old sinful soul and spirit. Both soul and spirit are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are to live by those new desires, not the desires of the still-remaining old flesh (the physical body).
V25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also conform to the Spirit.
If we have truly been born again, then let us be consistent with those new desires. We need food and water to grow. Spiritual food is reading and studying the Bible in its plain, normal sense (Matthew 4:4, Psalm 119:130, and Psalm 119:160). People believed Jesus’s words (John 8:30, John 17:8, Psalm 106:12, and Genesis 15:6).
Living by the Spirit is living the words of Galatians 5:22-23.
Spurgeon (Morning and Evening): “The two most important things in our holy religion are the life of faith and the walk of faith. He who shall rightly understand these is not far from being a master in experimental theology, for they are vital points to a Christian. You will never find true faith unattended by true godliness; on the other hand, you will never discover a truly holy life which has not for its root a living faith upon the righteousness of Christ. Woe unto those who seek after the one without the other! There are some who cultivate faith and forget holiness; these may be very high in orthodoxy, but they shall be very deep in condemnation, for they hold the truth in unrighteousness; and there are others who have strained after holiness of life, but have denied the faith, like the Pharisees of old, of whom the Master said, they were “whitewashed sepulchers.”
V26 Let us not be longing for empty praise, irritating one another, and envying one another.
Empty praise is worthless praise; it is not the praise from God. Empty praise dies; God’s praise never ends. We do not want to irritate others, so we must be careful what we say and rely on God to speak wisely. God help us all. We must not be envious of what God gives or how God uses any individual believers.
We learn:
- The difference between the new life following Christ’s law and our fleshly life.
- The command to live by the Law of Christ.
Questions:
- What are the characteristics of your life?
- Be kind to other believers.