2nd Sunday after Pentecost ’11 – An Introduction to the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-24)
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we are going to begin this “Season after Pentecost” by taking a closer look at what it means to live “after Pentecost,” in light of the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. On Pentecost Sunday I sought to reintroduce the person and to some extent the work of the Holy Spirit. We saw that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, the third person of the Holy Trinity, who proceeds from the Father and the Son to apply the work of Christ to us. I suggested a number of the ways in which the Spirit does this, but when think about the work of the Spirit in the life of the Christian, there are two topics that immediately come to mind: the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to bring forth fruit and the Spirit empowers us for service. Put another way we could say that life after Pentecost involves producing the Spirit’s fruit and employing the Spirit’s gifts. So over the next couple months I want us to take a closer look at these two topics, beginning this morning with the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23, but before looking at each of these over the next several weeks I want us to take a step back to consider the context in which Paul gives us this list. These verses are part of a broader section of Galatians (5:16-24) in which Paul is contrasting life in the Spirit with the desires and deeds of the flesh. And it is this contrast (Spirit vs. flesh) that I want us to explore together this morning. First, in vv. 16-18 we will consider the command to live in or by the Spirit. Second, in vv. 19-23 we will consider the criterion or standard that Paul gives us to determine whether or not we are indeed in living in Spirit (this is where the fruit of the Spirit comes in). Then, third, in v. 24 we will consider how the command to live in the Spirit is based upon the cross of Christ.
So the first thing to consider is the command to live in the Spirit in vv. 16-18. The command itself is given in the first part of v. 16 where Paul writes, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit…” What does Paul mean by the expression “walk in the Spirit”? In the Bible walking is a metaphor for life, for how one lives. So for example throughout the OT we hear about Israel’s calling to keep God’s commands and walk in His ways. The Israelites were to walk, to live, to conduct their lives in a way that corresponded to God’s commands. Well, in the same way Paul says that Christians are to walk, to live, to conduct our lives in or by the power of the Holy Spirit. This means that each and every day and all throughout the day we are called to yield to the Spirit’s influence in our lives. In v. 18 Paul introduces the image of being “led by the Spirit,” which calls to mind the way that Israel was led out of Egypt. Walking by the Spirit involves being led by the Spirit out of bondage to sin into the freedom to love and serve God and one another. It involves trusting God to deliver us, to defend us, to defeat the enemies that pursue us, and to bring us into a place of freedom to love and serve Him. It’s a summons to walk by faith not by sight, trusting in the promises of God.
Now Paul goes on in the rest of v. 16 and vv. 17-18 to state three reasons or motives for this command to live by the Spirit. The first reason to live by the Spirit is to keep you from gratifying the desires of the flesh. Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The word translated lust isn’t necessarily sexual. It has to do with our desires. To “fulfill” these desires is to gratify them by giving in to them. The reason that this is a problem is that these desires arise from what Paul calls the “flesh.” In Paul’s theology the flesh shouldn’t be equated with the body, which is good. He’s not talking about the proper desires that we have for food, drink, or even sex. Life in the Spirit isn’t somehow at odds with life in the body. Rather the “flesh” is a category that Paul uses to describe the perversion of our nature as a result of sin, which greatly complicates life in the body. I say this because our desires for things such as food, drink, and sex, have been disordered by sin, meaning that wrestle with the inclination to satisfy these proper desires in improper ways. Thus we wrestle with sins such as gluttony, drunkenness, and fornication or adultery. What Paul is saying is that if we will live our lives in conscious dependence upon the Spirit we can and will be kept from gratifying our desires in these ways.
He elaborates on this in v. 17, which gives us the second reason to live by the Spirit. He writes, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish.” The second reason why you ought to live by the Spirit is that there is battle raging between the Spirit and the flesh and the site of the battle is your own mind and heart. Paul describes a conflict between the Spirit and the flesh in which there are competing desires within you threatening to thwart the decisions that you make. The disordering of our desires by sin is in conflict with the Spirit’s reordering of your desires in Christ such that at times you fail to do what you set out to do. Now Paul isn’t describing a stalemate between the Spirit and the flesh, but what he is describing is a situation that calls for our active involvement. He is saying the Spirit isn’t the only influence upon you. You can’t simply coast through life and suppose that you will be kept from sin. You may not set out to gratify the desires of the flesh, but unless you are actively pursuing life in the Spirit, more often than not you will fail and you will fall into sin. But it need not be this way.
In v. 18 Paul gives a third reason why you ought to live by the Spirit, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” The third reason to live by the Spirit is so that you will be set from sin. When Paul uses this language of being “under the law” he is referring to life under the old covenant where sin and death reigned. To be under the law was to live apart from the life-giving power to keep the law. Paul’s argument throughout Galatians is that those who have put their faith in Christ and been clothed with Christ in baptism have been given the promise of the Holy Spirit who enables us to fulfill the law through faith working by love. In context, Paul is saying that those who are experiencing the power of the Spirit can resist the desires of the flesh.
Now thus far we have simply been considering the command to live by the Spirit in relationship to the desires of the flesh. And perhaps you’ve been thinking that all of this is a little abstract. Perhaps you’re wondering how to know whether you have been living by the Spirit or perhaps gratifying the desires of the flesh. Well, in vv. 19-23 Paul gives us a criterion or standard to determine whether or not we have been living by the Spirit. And it’s important to note a couple things preliminarily. First, Paul says that these characteristics are “evident” or “manifest.” This is the same term that Paul uses to describe the incarnation and return of Christ. The word has to do with visibility. In other words whether or not you and I are walking in the Spirit and/or gratifying the desires of the flesh isn’t a mystery. There are certain clear manifestations of the one and the other. Second, Paul uses two different terms to describe the two different lists. He refers to the list related to the flesh as “deeds” and those related to the Spirit as “fruit.” Deeds are done by us, fruit is produced in us. The difference isn’t necessarily that we active in one and passive in the other, rather the difference is one of origin. The fruit of the Spirit aren’t the result of human effort, but rather the divine effort of the Spirit in us.
Now as we look at the two lists several observations can be made. First, concerning the deeds of the flesh we can see several different categories of sins. Paul begins with sexual sins (adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness), moves on to sins related to God/worship (idolatry and sorcery), then to social sins (hatred, contentions, jealousies, etc.), and finally to sins of indulgence (drunkenness and revelries). So we could say that if you are struggling with sexual sin, refusing to worship God rightly, constantly fighting with one another, and/or being unrestrained in food and drink, then it’s safe to say that you aren’t walking by the Spirit, at least not consistently. These are inevitable indicators of how the battle is being waged.
Second, here’s why this is important. If nothing major were at stake in whether or not you are living by the power of Spirit, then perhaps it wouldn’t be such a big deal; you could keep on coasting, attending church, checking the boxes. But note what Paul says at the conclusion of the first list: “…those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. Those who have given themselves over to sexual sin as a way of life, who consistently refuse to worship God rightly, who constantly cause divisions in the church, and who are consistently given over to excess in food and drink, will not inhabit the new heavens and new earth, regardless of whether or not they’re baptized, attend church, are officers in a church, etc. Now don’t go away from this sermon thinking that if you’ve ever committed any of the sins, you won’t go to heaven. That’s not Paul’s point, nor is it mine. But likewise don’t away from this sermon thinking that it’s alright to commit any of these sins, even occasionally. It’s not. That’s how practices are formed. Repent, trust Christ, and live by the power of the Spirit.
Third, I’ll have much more to say about the fruit of the Spirit in coming weeks, but for now I want you to recall something that Paul said earlier. The flesh and the Spirit are opposed to one another. The deeds of the flesh are in opposition to the fruit of the Spirit. This means that the cultivation of the one entails the elimination of the other. If your life is the garden in which this fruit is to be produced, then the deeds of the flesh are like the weeds, pests, and diseases that threaten the crop. Thus as we make our way through this list, I will be drawing our attention to specific sins that are incompatible with the fruit of the Spirit. One of the things that the Spirit empowers us to do is to tend the soil of our hearts and pull the weeds that take root therein. Paul describes this process in Romans 8:13 as putting these deeds to death by the Spirit. So again, there’s no cruise control in the Christian life and the fact the fruit of the Spirit are produced in us doesn’t render us passive in the process. Rather we must be active in cultivating this fruit by the power of the Spirit through repentance and faith and through the Word, Sacraments, and Prayer.
Now Paul concludes this section in v. 24 by noting how this life in the Spirit and battle with the flesh are based upon the cross of Christ. He says, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” This is the firm basis for your battle against sin. If you belong to Christ through faith and baptism, then in a sense the battle has already been waged on your behalf and the victory has been secured. Paul has already used this language once back in 2:20 where he declared, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” So in a very real sense the fallen aspect of your nature that Paul refers to as “the flesh” was put to death on the cross with the result that you now live in the Spirit. Now of course this doesn’t mean that you and I are no longer subject to the desires of the flesh, for that is a reality that we will live with until death. It’s analogous to the way that Satan had his head crushed on the cross, but still roams the earth seeking whom he may devour until he has been cast into the lake of fire at the last day. The fact that he still roams doesn’t mean that nothing has changed. Everything has changed. When we resist the devil, he must flee from us because he has been conquered. And in the same way, as you and I are faithful to live by the power of Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will experience victory over sin and produce a fruitful harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. This is the harvest has been secured by the death and resurrection of Jesus for us and for our salvation. Let us pray.
