Fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5: 1, 13-25

(Bible quotes are from the New Revised  Standard Version, unless otherwise noted)  

1.   For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

NEB:  Christ has set us free to be free men.  Stand firm, then, and refuse to be tied to the yoke of slavery again.

NIV:  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.

NLT:  So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.

The Galatian Christian community was under fire from people who were trying to insist that it was necessary for gentile Christians to first become Jews by being circumcised – well, at least for the males – and to keep the Jewish laws.  Paul was convinced that these things were not necessary for gentile Christians, because Jesus, through his death and resurrection, had made it possible for people to become God’s children and heirs to all that God had promised to his people simply by faith in Christ. Through faith, Paul insisted, we are ‘purchased’ out of ‘slavery’ to the Mosaic law.  The law no longer has control over our lives.  God, through Christ, has made a new covenant with his new people, which brings them into a right relationship with God without needing to keep all the Jewish laws.  This is the freedom Christ died to give us.  Paul asks the Galatian Christians to stand firm against those people who were trying to convince them to follow the Jewish laws.  For those of us who are not Jewish, this is good news indeed.   

13.   For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.  

There were people who heard what Paul said about no longer being subject to the Law and said ‘Beauty!  Now we can do what we like!”  There will always be people who ‘run riot’ when restraints are eased.  Look what happened in Bagdad when Saddam Hussein fell and there were no longer any police keeping things in order.  Many of those who looted probably would have previously been seen, and thought of themselves, as good and law-abiding citizens.  But they kept the laws because they had to, or else!  I wonder how many Australians do the same thing.  How many people feel aggrieved when they are caught speeding and have to pay a fine, or lose their driving licence?  Listen to the complaints when more speed cameras are installed.  Extra speed cameras only raise revenue for the government when people break the speed limits.  If everyone drove within the legal limits, those speed cameras would be a complete waste of money. It seems that, for many people, it’s OK to break the laws, as long as you don’t get caught.  That is not freedom: it’s licence – taking liberties we’re not entitled to take.

Paul gives this notion a resounding ‘No!’  The freedom Christ brings us is not so we can indulge ourselves at the expense of others.  And when we take self indulgent liberties, someone else always loses out.  The freedom Christ brings is freedom from being enslaved by laws that are difficult, if not impossible, to keep.  It is freedom from worrying about whether we’ll get caught or be punished for not keeping up to the mark.  It’s freedom from anxiety about whether we’re good enough to please God. It’s freedom from feeling guilty every time we slip up and do the wrong thing.  When we sin, we can go to God, confess it and receive God’s forgiveness.  If we are truly repentant, that means we will try very hard not to make the same mistake again.  We will keep a firm watch on ourselves.  We will ask our Christian brothers and sisters to help us stay on track – that’s what the church is there for.  What we won’t do is waste valuable time and energies worrying about it.

When we are freed from all these things, we are then free to concentrate on serving God through serving others.  

14.   For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself."

Paul now follows Jesus’ example in quoting Leviticus 19:18, which says: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.”  Just as Jesus did, Paul picks out what he sees as the most important part – loving our neighbour as much as loving ourselves.  Jesus placed this above everything except loving God. [see Matthew 22: 37 – 40]  Paul also quotes this as the most important commandment in Romans 13:9.

For me there are two issues here.  One, in our culture, is understanding what ‘love’ is.  In the Greek, there are many words for the different kinds of love, but we have only the one.  We can think of it as sexual love.  We’re pretty sure Jesus wasn’t talking about that kind when he commanded us to love our neighbour.  In our culture many people think of ‘love’ as a kind of ‘warm, fuzzy’ feeling about someone or something.  Sometimes love does come with that kind of feeling attached.  I definitely have that kind of love for my family and my dogs.  But the love that Jesus and Paul were talking about goes further than that.  It is the kind of caring about another person that hurts when they hurt, rejoices when they rejoice and always wants only the best for them.  That’s the kind of love God has for us and for all of the creation.  We can have that kind of love even when we don’t really like someone much or approve of their actions or lifestyle.

The second issue for me is that I could read this commandment as loving my neighbour instead of loving myself.  I really don’t think that was what Jesus was saying either.  In my experience, it seems that it is very difficult, if not impossible, for human beings to love anyone if we don’t first love ourselves.  But we are not to love ourselves more than other people.  I believe God wants us to respect and care for ourselves as much as he respects and cares about us. Then he wants us to respect and care about others in the same way.  We are to love other people, not because we find them loveable, but because God loves us all.   

15.   If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

What a picture.  It brings images of fighting dogs, taking pieces out on each other as they fight.  In such fights, no-one wins until one is dead.  This is certainly not the way Christians should deal with each other or with anyone else.  It gets no-where and gives the church and our God a bad name.  The church’s past record is not good in this respect.  It is no wonder there are people who say they are interested in spiritual things, but do not want to have anything to do with the church.  Paul felt strongly about unity within the body of Christ.  Many of his instructions to the churches he wrote to were about getting along together in peace.  

16, 17.  Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.

Paul knew human beings rather well.  He knew that even in the best of families, children squabble and the church family is no different.  He also knew that squabbling and in-fighting is usually caused by people wanting their own way, thinking they are right and everyone else is wrong, and being unwilling to stop and listen to others.  His answer to that problem was allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and to direct our actions.  When we act in accordance with the Spirit, we are in accordance with God and not worrying about our own self-image and desires.   When we act in accordance with our own wants and desires, we are unlikely to be thinking about what God wants us to be doing.  

18.   But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

When Paul talked about the law, it’s not always clear exactly which ‘law’ he was talking about.  It might have been the Jewish law that kept them as a separate race of God’s chosen people.  Those were the laws which told them what they could eat and how food must be prepared, laws about who they could spend their time with and bring into their families through marriage, that their males must be circumcised, and how, when and where they must worship God.  Then there were general moral laws.  Sometimes Paul talked about ‘law’ when he was describing things that rule our lives – the law of the flesh or the law of the Spirit.  I wonder if here he was not referring to a bit of both here.  He has been talking about not gratifying the desires of the ‘flesh’, by which he means not giving in to our selfish and self-centred desires and not allowing these to rule our actions and attitudes.  If we follow the guidance and leading of the Spirit of God we will desire to please God and not ourselves.  

19 - 21.   Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Here Paul lists the results of giving in to our own selfish wants all the time.  He says we will become people who resort to these kinds of behaviours. Which are not behaviours pleasing to God or that enhance any relationship with God or with other people.  These kinds of behaviours will not bring in God’s kingdom on earth.  They are destructive.

New Bible Commentary p 1218-1219.  These acts seem to be viewed as falling into four groups: sexual impurity, idolatry, dissension and intemperance.  Most of the sins listed by Paul belong in the third category, and that suggests that the Galatians were particularly susceptible to sins involving personal relationships.  That suggestion is confirmed by the emphasis that the apostle gives to this problem.  …  It was truly ironic that these Christians, who were seduced by a message of law-keeping, should fall into behaviour that blatantly contradicted their faith.  

22, 23.   By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, p 274 –275.  The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence and working in the lives of maturing believers …  In the context of these verses, the singular fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with the plural works of the flesh.  Neither listing is exhaustive … This fruit is the evidence of the Spirit-filled, sanctified life.  The evidence is not, as some claim, the gits of the Spirit called charismata.

The fruit is one, but the gifts are various.  The fruit is shared by and expected from all Christians alike, while the gifts are parcelled out to various members of the body of Christ as the Holy Spirit wills.

The fruit of the Spirit are not qualities we are able to develop by ourselves.  They are developed through our relationship with God through the Spirit.  We do need to be open to God and seek in every way we can to strengthen our relationship with God through prayer, study, worship and fellowship with other Christians.  In this way we co-operate with the Holy Spirit and allow the fruits to be developed in us.  When we put into use the gifts that the Spirit gives us to build up the church together with the fruits bringing us closer to God’s likeness that we see in Jesus Christ, we are able to be a mighty force towards the  bringing in of God’s kingdom.  

24.   And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Paul reminds us that, just as Christ was crucified and resurrected, so are our old selfish selves made into new selves like Jesus.  

25.   If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Paul calls us to let the Holy Spirit guide and lead us in all that we do.  God has given us choice and does not force us to live according to the guidance of the Spirit.  That is a choice we have to make for ourselves.