Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
The apostle Paul was directed by God to address the false teaching of law keeping for salvation. The Galatian saints were yielding to the lies of the Judaizers. Paul was reminding them the law cannot save. The saved person does not live by law keeping. He is not lawless. He is not in a free-for-all. He is under the faith of Christ and living under His righteousness. Those who are truly saved have a hunger for righteousness. They have the love of God in them and that is what motivates them to live right.
Yesterday we looked at the works of the flesh. Most people live by that. Only the few that are saved can produce the fruit of the Spirit. It is important to note that it is called the “fruit” of the Spirit. It is not many fruits. There are many aspects to the fruit of the Spirit.
Paul began with the quality of love. True saints understand what real love is. The apostle Paul loved the saints. That love is motivated by the love of God that is in the true saint. Paul was willing to speak firmly with them because he loved them. He did not want to see them ruining their lives by getting off track and putting themselves back in bondage. Lost people assume they are free, but they are in bondage to the flesh. They cannot find peace and joy in the things of God. They need drugs and alcohol and immorality to try to get a thrill for a short time. True saints can love one another.
True saints know what true joy is as well. They do not need superficial things to bring joy. They have the peace of God in their hearts and that brings joy. They also need to practice longsuffering. God is longsuffering. Every true child of God understands that. How many times did He reach out to us while we were yet sinners. He kept showing us the importance of repentance and true salvation.
The true child of God learns gentleness as well. Gentleness is a genuine kindness for others. It is treating people with a respect. It is not firing back when frustrated. It is seeking to build relationships. Goodness has to do with decency and uprightness. These qualities are all closely related to one another.
Faith is that ability to trust which leads to walking faithfully with God and being faithful to others. A married couple does not consider separation if they are walking in the Spirit. They work out differences. They give room for the other person. They have a genuine care for one another.
True churches are built as individuals come to faith in Christ. They are not perfect, but they have a common bond through faith in Christ. The pastor is not perfect. He will make mistakes at times. His theology may even be off at times. However, if he is a man of faith, he will be corrected. If he has had bad associations, he will get rid of them. True saints will want to grow and they will understand the importance of a true local church. They will understand that the only head of any person or of any true church is the Lord Jesus Christ. If the pastor insists on preaching heresy, then he and it must be rejected.
Meekness is described as “strength under God’s control”. Moses was called a meek man by God. Moses was the leader of the nation of Israel. He had difficult decisions to make at times. He needed to uphold God’s law. He needed to have the strength to do that in a proper manner. We know that he often did that. Jesus Christ was described as being “meek and lowly”. He always demonstrated Godly strength under control. Whether He needed to cleanse the Temple, or walk on water, or heal the sick, or feed the five thousand, etc. He was a meek man who always dealt with every situation in the right way.
Temperance involves discipline. We talk of “self-control”. The true saint does not really operate with self-control. He operates under God’s control. When we try to manage life on our own, we fail. When we submit to God’s will we will respond to each situation in a way that pleases God and is a blessing to others.
Paul pointed out there is no law against any of these qualities. We can never overdo any of these. We can be blessed and we can be a blessing, when the Holy Spirit is leading us and we are yielded to Him.
In verse 24 we are reminded again that those that are Christ’s, those who are truly born again, have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. A Spirit-filled saint is a rare commodity in this wicked world. That is why true saints can build solid relationships. Peter and Paul built a solid relationship between them. Paul needed to publicly rebuke Peter, but Peter did not storm off. He knew he was wrong and he confessed that and got things right with God and they could work together as apostles. They were not against one another.
The true saint can be a help to others because he or she does not have a lustful heart. They have a genuine care for others and they seek to help others to know the peace of God. The peace of God comes to those who submit to Him.
In verse 25 we see that little word “if” again. It is not an automatic thing to have the Spirit. Only those who are saved have the Spirit living in them. However, the saved person needs to live in the Spirit. He or she needs to consciously be submitting to the will of God moment by moment and day by day. Living in the Spirit requires walking in the Spirit. Thus we submit to His control and His leadership. We let Him direct our thoughts and our actions. That is how we produce the fruit of the Spirit.
In verse 26 we see that a true saint is not desirous of vain glory. There was a report out yesterday of Mr. Trump pretending to be laying hands on a sick person and healing him. The suggestion was that he was working under the direction and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people were quite offended by the picture. Others supported him. Kenneth Copeland has become a multimillionaire by pretending to do the work of Jesus. Thousands of gullible people have given to that fraud over the years. People do not seem to get upset with him as some have with Mr. Trump’s suggestions. Mr. Trump is not doing the work of Jesus. He is in his office because God put him there. God is using the U.S. government to throw the Middle East off balance. Mr. Trump is not a genuine peacemaker. He is a deceiver and knows how the secular mind works. He is greedy as are most lost people. He thinks money and flattery are good qualities. He loves vain glory. Apparently Mr. Trump posted that picture as a joke. No born again Christian would post such a picture. The lost will take great liberties, but if they persist in that way, they will have all of eternity to gnash their teeth in torment as they are reminded of their hard-heartedness.
True saints are not interested in vain glory. They do not try to irritate one another. They are not envious of others. Each saint has a talent given to them by God. Each saint needs to develop that talent as much as they can. They understand they were given that talent by God. They understand He enables them to develop that talent. There is no need to be envious of someone else and their abilities.
The true saint needs to continuously learn to walk humbly and serve God with joy and in truth.
Pastor Bartel