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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Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
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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,But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,(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.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide 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.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
“In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in 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,Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
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.”A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
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.This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
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.Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
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.For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
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.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
“In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
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How do I fight sin in my life?→Our Walk with Him trail“Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”We haven't written this one yet. Take it to your church or small group: the Word answers it wherever it is asked. If we study it here later, all the better.
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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.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such 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.I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
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