What is the fruit of the Spirit?
The fruit of the Spirit is Christlike character grown in the believer by the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is not produced by anxious effort but grows as we walk by the Spirit, abide in Christ, and keep in step with Him. It is the character of the kingdom, and the evidence that the Spirit's life is at work in us.
This question arose from studying Is the Holy Spirit God? and Who is the Holy Spirit?.
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What the Scripture says
It is the Spirit's work in our character
Paul names it as one fruit with many graces: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and adds, 'against such things there is no law.' Paul elsewhere calls it 'the fruit of the Spirit' in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. This is not a to-do list of behaviors we manufacture; it is the character Christ produces through His Spirit in those who belong to Him.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
It grows as we abide in Christ
Jesus gave the secret: remain in me, and I in you; 'As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.' Fruit is not forced from a branch; it grows out of a living connection. And Jesus said, 'in this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit': the fruit is real, and it glorifies the Father.
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.
I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
“In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
Its center is love
The fruit list begins with love, and Paul's whole portrait of it is love in action: love is patient and kind, does not envy, does not brag, is not proud. 'But now faith, hope, and love remain... the greatest of these is love.' Jesus made love the mark of His disciples. All the other graces grow in the soil of love: we are patient and kind because we love.
Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
It is cultivated by walking by the Spirit
Paul sets the fruit of the Spirit against the works of the flesh, and then tells us how it grows: 'walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh,' and 'if we live by the Spirit, let's also walk by the Spirit.' He pictures it as putting on Christlike character like clothes, with love as the binding, and letting the peace of Christ rule in the heart. The Spirit does the growing; our part is to keep in step with Him.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
It is the character of the kingdom and the evidence of the Spirit
Paul says the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, but 'righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.' The fruit is the shape of the life to come, already being formed in us. And it is evidence: where the Spirit is truly at work, this character appears, gently and over time. It is not instant and it is not cheap; it is a life grown by repeated dependence on Jesus, and it is the surest evidence that He is alive in us.
for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
“In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
As you read, you may wonder…
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Verses to meditate on
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
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