The lesson study the week before last dealt with the "Gifts of the Holy Spirit." Last week, we dealt with the "Fruit of the Holy Spirit." What is the difference between these two effects of the Holy Spirit? We noticed the week before last that the former included special manifestations and powers such as the gift of prophecy, healing, miracles, and tongues. These are external, easily recognized powers.

What is significant about these—and in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit—is that they do not necessarily imply moral or ethical character. In fact, Paul clearly states that you can have these gifts—tongues, prophecy, knowledge, faith—without love (1 Cor 13:1–2). And in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul speaks against those who were not using the gift of tongues in a proper way. In contrast, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is mainly internal, moral, and ethical in character, and thus Paul indicates its superiority to having merely the gifts of the Spirit.

While discussing the fruit of the Spirit, Paul clearly contrasts it to the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:16–21), which he had just mentioned.. Notice the distinction that Paul makes between these two: one is described as "works," the other as "fruit." The former emphasizes a "do-it-yourself" quality—"fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing" (Gal 5:19–21). The latter emphasizes the natural result of one’s connection with the Spirit. Being connected with the Spirit will naturally result in a Spirit-kind of fruit.

The singular "fruit" rather than the plural "fruits" seem to point to the fact that the Spirit’s result is unified, similar, and one. Some have pointed to the fact that the fruit is love and all the other qualities are aspects of the one fruit. Although that may be true, it seems that Paul would have used different wording had that been the case.

At any rate, it is still true that these qualities seem more like simple aspects of one jewel. It is difficult to think that if a person has one of these qualities he/she would not have the others. For example, if someone has love, we would presume that such a person would also have joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, generosity, gentleness, and self-control.

Paul describes love in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 the following way: "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things." Love is inextricably connected to patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control.

In contrasting the fruit of the Spirit to the works of the flesh, Paul stresses the transformation that takes place in the character of the follower of Christ. Paul admonishes followers to use their freedom, "only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another" (Gal. 5:13–14). The qualities that issue from followers’ relationship to Christ are primarily directed to their relationship to others.

Thus, the first of these qualities, love, is not so much love for God but love for others. It is not a question of whether one possesses love for God, but where the emphasis is . The same is true for the word translated here as "faithfulness." It is the same word translated as "faith" elsewhere, but here the emphasis is one’s relationship to others, and thus "faithfulness" is the better translation.

As mentioned above, Paul could easily have intended to say that love is the summation of all the qualities that follow, and 1 Corinthians 13 indicates that it actually provides that basis. What is love, then, but all the qualities that follow? Christ showed how we ought to love by his life and teachings. He taught in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parable of the Good Samaritan that love cannot be circumscribed by boundaries of ethnicity or hostility. Love must reach across racial and neighbor barriers. It must include the hated Samaritan and our worst enemies. If that is the case, how much more our neighbor, our fellow church member, our family member? That is what agape means.

The next two parts of the fruit—joy and peace—are probably more internal-oriented than the others. Neither of these should be viewed as qualities that Christians possess because their lives are free from tensions and troubles. They possess joy and peace even though life may have its problems. According to Paul in Romans 15:13, both joy and peace are indisputably linked with the Christian hope. In Romans 12:12, Paul says, "Rejoice in hope," or as the New English Bible translates it, "Let hope keep you joyful."

We can be joyful not because life is tranquil now, but because it is only temporary. "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 4:17–18; 5:1).

Therefore, Paul could rejoice in his suffering (Col 1:24). This is a deeper kind of joy than the bubbly good feeling we get when things are going our way.

Peace is placed here between joy and patience. Joy is internal, whereas patience is external. Peace seems to be a bridge between the internal and external traits of the fruit of the Spirit. It has an internal dimension in the sense of well-being that results from God’s grace and forgiveness. But it also has an external dimension. Paul writes, "If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Rom. 12:18). The Christian should make "every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3). He should not be only a peaceful person, but also a peacemaker ( Matt. 5:9).

There are two words for patience in Greek, hypomone and makrothymia. The word used here is the latter. The former is steadfast endurance, the ability to continue in spite of tough situations. Makrothymia has the idea of long-suffering, that is, enduring afflictions from other people without retaliating, as Christ did. "When he was abused, he did not return abuse, when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly" (1 Pet. 2:23).

Kindness is used in Romans 2:4 in opposition to severity. Paul speaks of the "riches of his kindness," that is to say, God’s multitudinous acts of grace—his forbearance, his forgiveness, his blessings, all the undeserving good things he has done for us that would lead us to repentance. Kindness can be seen in God’s gracious acts, his undeserving mercies, his good blessings upon us. The Spirit acts upon us to show this same kindness to others. Paul says, "and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32).

Goodness is very similar to kindness. Ronald Fung, referring to Romans 5:7, where the good man is pitted against the righteous man, thinks that goodness is kindness that goes beyond doing what is just, what the righteous man would do. But it seems to me that this is what kindness is. In that case, kindness and goodness are the same.

It seems to me, rather, that kindness emphasizes the recipient to whom acts of grace, the granting of undeserving goodness, is given, but goodness emphasizes the more naturalness of these kindnesses. That is, goodness points out not the undeserving recipient so much as the natural goodness of the giver. Either way, the other person benefits.

Faith here is a fruit, not a spiritual gift. It is the ethical result, not the necessary relationship with God or the special faith that is a gift. It deals with our relationship with others—our faithfulness, our trustworthiness, our loyalty.

Jesus is described in Matthew 12:21 as one who "will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick." In Eugene Peterson’s translation of the New Testament, The Message, this passage is rendered, "He won’t walk over anyone’s feelings, won’t push you into a corner." Today’s English Version says"He will be gentle to those who are weak, and kind to those who are helpless." To be gentle is to be considerate, tactful, mildful, and forbearing, especially to the weak, the hurt and bruised, and the sensitive.

Self-control refers to mastery over one’s sinful desires and impulses. This is not a personal accomplishment, but the fruit of the Spirit. Such a fruit keeps us from producing works of the flesh such as fornication, impurity, licentiousness, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, drunkenness, and carousing.. These include most of the works of the flesh, so self-control is an important part of the fruit. In combination with the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit previously mentioned, the Christian should live a life that is just the opposite from that produced by the flesh.

What is important is not so much that we concentrate on producing the fruit of the Spirit, but that we possess the Spirit and let it produce the fruit in our lives. "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:24–25).

Bibliography

Ernest De Witt Burton. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1921.

Ronald Y. K. Fung. The Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988.

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