Let's turn to Galatians 5 in our Bibles. Many of us are familiar with this passage as we continue following Paul's letter to the Galatians on Sunday mornings. It's the well-known 'Fruit of the Spirit' passage.
Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV)
"But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
Some of you may have a little tune in your heads right now. The Fruit of the Spirit is one of the passages, a memory verse if you have been around church for a while, that we learn at a young age. We know it, we read it, we got it, right? So we can close our Bibles and be done for the morning.
Before we do, let's back up in Paul's letter and see if we can understand what is going on in the context of his letter.
Freedom In Christ
In our last lesson, Paul talked about the freedom we experience in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:1 (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."
In Christ, you and I are set free from the yoke of slavery. Paul has been reinforcing the good news of the Gospel of Christ against Christian teachers who are trying to persuade followers of Jesus to keep and be subject to the law of Moses, specifically circumcision. Paul has passionately demonstrated that if we rely on the law for our justification and righteousness, Christ is of no effect. In doing so, we have alienated ourselves from Christ and fallen away from grace (Gal. 5:4). In Christ Jesus, we have been freed from the yoke of the law. We are free to experience life as Christ intended.
In Paul's final thoughts, as he begins to conclude his letter, he will move us to focus on being new creation. "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation" (Gal. 6:15).
However, before we get there, Paul will talk about the importance of not abusing our freedom in Christ.
Galatians 5:13–14 (NIV)
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This thought leads Paul to discuss the "Acts of the Flesh" and the "Fruit of the Spirit."
The Struggle
Some of us may have become a bit nervous as we read the Fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I may be kind, but loving my enemies? I think I'm pretty good, but peace? You get the point. Why am I struggling if this is the fruit produced in my life through the Spirit?
Notice that the Fruit of the Spirit is singular. I don't believe Paul intends for us to make a "checklist" here. I think Paul is describing our character, which should reflect outward in our lifestyle. As the Spirit shapes and forms our lives, our character is transformed to reflect the character of Jesus. Why do we struggle to reflect the character of Jesus?
If the Spirit guides me, why do I still struggle with some of the same decisions, reactions, fears, or attitudes I struggled with before becoming a Christian or even five years ago? It's not simple, is it? I don't just wake up one morning and suddenly become a new me. Why?
The Garden
Many of you enjoy backyard gardens, whether flower or vegetable gardens. I know many of us enjoy the beauty of our gardens. Through the years, I have enjoyed vegetable gardens. However, this is the current state of my backyard garden: One very bad tomato plant is not surviving and definitely not producing fruit. You know the effort it takes to maintain a flower or vegetable garden. If you leave it alone, it gets attacked by all types of weeds, grass, and predators. They just come in from everywhere! Maintaining a garden takes effort, and it takes being intentional.
In the early years of our life together, Bren and I started a backyard garden. It was a modest garden with just a few tomato plants and some squash, not big at all. However, we had done our best in preparing the soil and growing this little garden. We had worked so hard on our little garden that one day, when a storm was coming, we grabbed trash bags and tape and ran out into the backyard. We didn't want the beating rain or hail to destroy all our hard work, but this storm was coming up fast. As Brenda and I worked to get the bags over the plants and secure them with tape, the wind started whipping Brenda's hair in her face, and it was so loud we had to shout to hear each other. Rain was already pelting us and soaking our backs as we worked. We recently watched the movie Places In the Heart with Sally Field and Danny Glover. If you've seen that movie, you may remember a storm scene where a tornado is approaching as Danny Glover's and Sally Field's characters are out in the field plowing. Suddenly, it struck us as so funny that we were out here trying to save this garden, as if it were crops we depended on for the next year--we lived across the street from an HEB at the time!
All types of events, predators, and weeds can attack your gardens.
Let's go back to another garden, the Garden of Eden. God created this lush, beautiful garden and placed man and woman in its midst. As God looked over this garden and the man and woman, He said it was "very good" (Gen. 1:31). However, as we know, a predator, a snake, came in on page three. From this point, as we continue to read the story, we see this frustration and tension between creation. We see the tensions of power, abuse, control; sin played out on the pages moving forward. This tension and frustration have affected everything we see, hear, touch, and even our understanding of how the world we live in is to be. The garden is constantly attacked from every side and in all ways. This tension often plays out in our lives.
Paul uses the fruit metaphor to explain how the Spirit is active in our lives. He teaches us to "walk by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16) and "keep in step with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25).
Keeping In Step
I want us to know that as we enter this relationship with Christ, we receive the Spirit. In another one of Paul's letters, he explains this very succinctly.
Ephesians 1:13 (NIV)
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit"
Other translations say you were "sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise" (NASB95). As the apostle Peter proclaims, those in Christ have received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). As a Christian, if you have been a Christian for a few hours or years, we have all received the gift of the Spirit. We have the gift of the Spirit!
However, we have a choice. Paul says we are to walk by or keep in step with the Spirit. We have a choice regarding how much we allow the Spirit to direct and transform our lives. How much influence will we allow the Spirit to have in our lives? We are called to walk by the Spirit because we can choose not to do so. If we want the Spirit to produce fruit in our lives, we need to become gardeners. We are going to need to tend the garden.
Can I produce a tomato? No, God makes the tomato. But I need to tend the garden, which will be subject to all types of compromise. Weeds, predators, and other events will attack the garden every day. If I don't tend to the garden, the garden will be overrun.
Paul explores this reality. We live in a world affected by tension and frustration. He discusses it in terms of the "flesh" (Gal. 5:16, 17). However, as Christians, we also live in Christ, the world of new creation, life by the Spirit. We exist amid these two realities, which are in conflict with one another. Which reality are we allowing to direct and influence our lives? Which garden are we working in?
Understanding Our Reality
Notice how Paul concludes this section of the letter.
Galatians 5:24–26 (NIV)
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
For those in Christ, we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Our world still lives in frustration; we experience the frustration, but in Christ, we have put this frustration away—we have crucified it. We see the frustration daily; by faith, we live and walk in the Spirit. The hope we long for as Christians is the return of our Lord and Savior, Messiah Jesus. On that day, He will fully and completely reconcile our world, ending the frustration. However, until that day, you and I are to walk in the Spirit.
Crossing The Context
Our lives are constantly pulled between the two worlds we live in. The Spirit is pulling us to be like Christ and to have Christ's character. We choose which garden we will work in and spend time in.
Paul tells the Galatians not to abuse their freedom but to use it to develop Christ's character. His teaching applies to our lives today. We have been set free in Christ. However, in our freedom, we should pursue the character of Christ through the Spirit.
Notes:
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from: ”Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Recommended Resources:
BibleProject, Galatians Overview Video
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