As children of God we may have read this passage in Galatians many times on the fruit of the Spirit. When we first saw this list we thought okay this is the check list I must abide by to please God. We wanted to make sure that people saw these fruits operating in our lives so that they would know that we were Christians. Paul uses an interesting line after stating the fruit of the Spirit which is "Against such things there is no law". Laws are rules established to keep certain outcomes from happening. I was at a conference recently when a man stood up to speak and made a point to prove to every parent in the crowd that their beautiful child was inherently evil by asking these questions, did you have to teach your child how to lie? Did you teach them how to be selfish? Did you teach them how to hit their siblings. Did you teach them how to covet their sibling's toys? No. But you did have to teach them how to say thank you. You taught them how to say, please forgive me. You taught them how to share. In other words without teaching a human child anything their nature will always default to the acts of the flesh from our passage below. Here is what is mind blowing, the Fruit of the Spirit is saying that this is the natural acts of the trinity which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No one had to teach them to act out of love, joy, peace, forbearance and the such. Their natural default actions comes from this list!!! These are not just 2 simple check lists of behaviors, these are 2 different natural states of behavior. Be Encouraged!!! Have a wonderful life of experiencing the fruit of the Spirit on purpose!!!!!
Galatians 5
Freedom in Christ
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
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