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As an introduction to the fruit of the Spirit, we’ll cover the entire argument of Galatians in one podcast. Understanding the themes of Galatians is the foundation for our study on the Fruit of the Spirit. Knowing the context surrounding the list is the crucial first step.
Key Points
- Paul wrote to churches he established during his first missionary journey in the region of modern-day Turkey.
- His primary purpose in the letter is to correct the teachings of the Judaizers who insisted that Gentile converts must adhere to Jewish law to be saved.
- Paul spends most of the letter defending his apostolic authority and arguing that salvation is through faith in Jesus alone.
- Paul’s argument unfolds in two parts. We human beings have two big problems that the gospel solves. First, we are guilty before God and one day we will face Him in judgment. Second, we are guilty because by nature we are sinners.
- The gospel is incredibly good news because it solves both those problems.
- The Judaizers distorted both parts of the gospel message by claiming Jesus alone does not solve our problems, we must also keep the Law.
- In Galatians 5 where we find the fruit of the Spirit, Paul refutes the idea that freedom from the law promotes sin.
- The Law only changes our external behavior and does not to improve our characters or free us from sin.
- However, God gives His Spirit to those who trust Jesus. The Spirit teaches us truth and changes us from the inside out, which is true moral transformation.
- In Galatians 5, Paul gives both the negative list of the results of legalism and following our own unredeemed moral choices. And, he gives us the positive list of the kinds of things the Spirit produces in us.
Next: 02 Fruit of the Spirit: Love Part 1
Series: Fruit of the Spirit
Introduction
In this series, we’re going to take a deep dive into a list Paul gives which he calls the fruit of the Spirit. This list is found in Galatians 5:22-23. In each podcast in this series, I want to tackle one of the items on the list.
I have a 15 episode podcast series on the book of Galatians, which I invite you to listen to first. Today I’m going to give you an overview of the book to give you some idea of where this list appears in the context of Paul’s letter.
Then next week we’ll start tackling the list itself. If you’ve already listened to my series on Galatians, you can probably skip this podcast and just join us next week. Here’s my quick overview of the book of Galatians.
Overview of Galatians
The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the churches of Galatia. These are churches in what’s now modern Turkey. Paul founded these churches during his first missionary journey.
When Paul entered a new city, he taught the gospel first to the synagogue. Usually some of the Jews responded, but most did not. After a couple of weeks, the Jews typically drove him out of the synagogue. Then he would stay in the city and preach to the Gentiles, who typically responded in larger numbers. He would stay as long as he could in each city. Usually he was driven out by an angry mob.
Paul’s missionary journeys
On his first missionary journey, Paul founded the churches in the region of Galatia. These are the churches he’s writing this letter to. He went as far as a city called Lystra (Acts 16:1-5). At Lystra the crowds stoned him and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. Probably as a result of those injuries, Paul headed toward home. He revisited the Christian communities he had just founded before returning to his home base in Antioch in Syria.
Three crisis events
When he reached Antioch, Paul reported on his journey and stayed for a long time. During this stay three crisis events occurred.
- Jews from Jerusalem arrived teaching that Gentile believers must keep the law in order to be saved. We call this group the Judaizers.
- Paul rebuked Peter for no longer eating with Gentiles.
- Paul received troubling news from the recently formed churches of Galatia that they had also been troubled by the Judaizers. He wrote this letter of Galatians in response.
I think he wrote this letter before the Council of Jerusalem, but probably in the same year as the Council, which would mean he wrote it around 49 A.D.
Who were the Judaizers?
The Judaizers were Jewish believers. They believed in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, but they had a very different perspective on what that meant. They taught that while believing in Jesus was necessary, it wasn’t enough. The Judaizers taught the Galatians that to be fully Christian, they must also keep the law.
This letter is addressed to those churches who’ve heard this message of the Judaizers. Some of the people in the church have been swayed by this teaching, and some have not. There seems to be a battle going on within the churches over who’s keeping the law and who is not. Paul is writing to straighten this all out.
Galatians 1-4
In Galatians, Paul argues that the Judaizers are wrong. Belief in Jesus is enough to save both Gentiles and Jews.
In Galatians 1-2, Paul defends his authority as an apostle. He argues that he is one of a select group of people who were chosen by God to speak for and about Jesus Christ. He says he received this calling by an encounter with the resurrected Lord and that he learned the gospel directly from Jesus. Because he learned the gospel directly from Jesus, you can have complete confidence that he is right.
He also argues that even though he learned the gospel independently from the other apostles, when he had the chance to compare notes with them, they agreed with him. Paul and the other apostles teach the exact same gospel. Therefore you can trust it. He is one of the select few to whom Jesus revealed the gospel. The gospel he preaches is true and it is the authentic gospel of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3-4 form the main body of the letter. In these chapters, Paul makes a series of five arguments for the fact that everyone is saved by faith alone. No one will receive eternal life because they kept the law. Only those who have faith in Jesus will receive eternal life.
In Galatians 5-6, where find this list of the fruit of the Spirit, Paul gives a series of exhortations concerning how they are to live. The first is freedom from the law is not an excuse to pursue a lifestyle of sin. Then he exhorts them to be humble and love others. He exhorts them to invest in the truth. Finally, he exhorts them to pursue doing what is good.
The Gospel Solves our Two Biggest Problems
Paul’s argument unfolds in two parts. We human beings have two big problems that the gospel solves.
- We are guilty before God and one day we will face him in judgment. The results are not going to be pretty. When judgment comes, we will be found guilty and the penalty for our guilt is death.
- We are guilty because by nature we are sinners. Not only did we break God’s laws, we have a built-in tendency toward evil.
We can’t solve either of these problems by ourselves. We can do nothing to change the fact that we’re guilty. We can do nothing to change the fact that we are sinful creatures.
The gospel is incredibly good news because it solves both of those problems. Jesus solves the problem of our guilt by dying in our place on the cross. Jesus solves the problem of our sinfulness by reconciling us with God so that God can pour out His Spirit on us and free us from sin.
What is the Gospel
The first part of Paul’s argument against the Judaizers is that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ solves these two big problems. The way we overcome our guilt is through the cross, not through law keeping.
The Law was never meant to atone for our sins or remove our guilt. The Law teaches us we have a problem with sin, but it can’t solve the problem. The Law is like a thermometer that tells us we are sick. The cross of Christ is like the medicine that makes us well. Jesus took the punishment we deserve on the cross such that God can forgive us on judgment day. That solves the problem of our guilt but we still need God to save us from our own sinful selves.
Because Jesus solves the problem of our guilt on the cross, we are reconciled to God. God can now give us His Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out. Not only does the Spirit teach us right from wrong and what is true and what is wise, the Spirit makes us the kind of people who want to choose what is good and right and wise.
This concept is hugely important in the New Testament. The cross of Christ itself contains the solutions to our two biggest problems. God has reconciled us to Himself through the cross, in order that He might bless us with life, goodness and holiness.
Where the Judaizers went wrong
Paul argues the Judaizers distorted both parts of the gospel message. The idea that we must keep the law in order to find forgiveness is such a perversion that it is another gospel. The major part of Galatians explains why is it such a serious error to think that we can be acceptable by keeping the Law.
The second issue Galatians addresses is how we gain freedom from our sin. Paul argues those blessings do not come from keeping the Law, but from the Holy Spirit. The solution to our corruption is the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit, not the gift of the law.
Fake vs Genuine Transformation
Paul’s opponents charge that without the Law, evil will run rampant. Paul counters that the cross of Christ does something new. The cross of Christ makes it possible for God to give us His Spirit and the Spirit teaches us to hate sin. Only the Spirit can cause that true moral transformation because the Spirit can teach us what is right, what is wrong, and how to live wisely.
The gospel does not say, ’here’s a free pass. Go sin as much as you want.’ The gospel says, ‘God has forgiven you in order that He might restore you. And, He is restoring you through the work of the Spirit.’
We find the list of the fruit of the Spirit in this section where Paul argues against the idea that freedom from the law promotes sin. But Paul has led up to this argument throughout his letter. For instance, in Galatians 2:20, he says,
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
What he’s saying there is ‘I have agreed that all sin deserves God’s wrath and that the judgment and penalty for sin is death on the cross. I have accepted that Christ died on the cross in my place. And therefore, I no longer try to please God by keeping the law. Having been justified by his death, I count on the fact that he will give me his Spirit to make me righteous by his life.
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. – Galatians 3:14
Paul sees the promise of the Spirit as the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that a blessing would come to all the nations through him. God has promised the blessing of the Spirit of God. Now we know He pours it out because of the cross of Christ.
That’s the positive part of his answer. There’s also a negative part. The Judaizers claim that the Law promotes this moral transformation by giving us rules to follow. Paul asks, what fruit do we see in those under the law? We see strife and envy and jealousy and rivalries and divisions and anger and people fighting over who is keeping the law properly and who isn’t. We see human evil running riot in self-righteousness. That’s not moral transformation.
We find the list of the fruit of the Spirit in this section where Paul explains how real moral transformation comes about. He gives the negative list, the results of legalism. Then he gives us the positive list that the Spirit of God produces in us.
Galatians 5:13-14
Now let me quickly walk you through the immediate context of the list of the fruit of the Spirit.
13For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” -Galatians 5:12-14
Let me remind you what he means by flesh. The word flesh literally means ‘meat,’ but Paul tends to use it one of three ways:
- The literal human body. For example, in Romans 2:28 he speaks of physical circumcision in the flesh. There he’s talking about the physical mark on the physical body.
- From a human point of view. For example, in Romans, he says Jesus is a descendant of David according to the flesh. Or from a human standpoint, he’s a descendant of David.
- Everything we are apart from God. Most often Paul uses this word flesh in this moral or ethical sense.
I think that’s the meaning we see here in Galatians. Most often when Paul speaks of the flesh, he means everything we are apart from God. The flesh is the moral condition of fallen people apart from any intervention or action of God. It’s the natural state of all humanity. Flesh is the entire fallen human being, everything we are body, soul, spirit, mind, apart from God.
‘To walk by the flesh’ is to pursue life based on my own resources, my own self-effort, to pursue holiness or justification through self-reliance, legalism without grace, without divine intervention. And that will always fail. Legalism being under the law is to pursue God through self-reliance, apart from grace.
The person who ‘walks by the Spirit’ realizes there’s no divine spark inside to dredge up. There are no resources of holiness inside. Instead, we seek God, counting on His Spirit to change us.
Paul’s first exhortation is, don’t use freedom from the law as an excuse to pursue evil. Freedom in Christ is not the kind of freedom that says, “Okay, you aren’t going to face the penalties of the law, so go sin as much as you want.” Part of the gift of saving faith is not wanting to sin anymore.
The Judaizers said that Paul’s gospel is not complete. They thought he only way to receive the blessings of God is to keep the Law. Jesus secured your forgiveness, but he has not made you righteous. They said, to make yourself righteous, you must keep the law.
Paul argues the Law does not bring that kind of moral transformation and it was never intended to. Only the Spirit of God at work in you brings that about. Paul says, don’t use your freedom as an excuse for pursuing sin. Instead, serve one another through love. That’s what I should do instead.
I don’t love my neighbor because I have to, because I’m under the law and I don’t want the consequence of the law. I love my neighbor because it’s the right thing to do.
Paul’s making a contrast in attitude. I could take my freedom from the Law as an opportunity to be a selfish jerk, and live my life putting myself first in every situation, indulging my sinful, selfish nature. That would be wrong. That’s not the kind of person God wants me to be. I would not be honoring God. That is not what the Spirit is producing in me. Or I could take my freedom from the Law and seek to treat my neighbor as I would want to be treated because now I know the value of goodness and holiness.
Galatians 5:15-16
15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:15-16
In the Galatians’ zeal to be right about law keeping, they are treating each other badly. They are fighting over who keeps the law properly and who doesn’t. Jews thought that living under the Old Testament law would keep you from indulging in selfish behavior. Paul claims only the Spirit curbs your natural selfish inclinations.
Now when we see a phrase like “walk by the Spirit,” we’re inclined to start thinking that we need to channel the Spirit in some way. We need to use the Spirit the way Luke Skywalker used the Force. We just have to figure out how and learn the secret of tapping into that inner force or power. I would argue that is not how it works.
Who is the Holy Spirit
John 3:7-8
7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. – John 3:7-8
Think about your experience with the wind. You can’t see the wind, but you can see the branches swaying. You can’t see what’s making the sound, but you can hear it. You can’t control it. You can’t stop it. And you can’t make it go where you want. But we experience the changes it makes and we see the results.
The Spirit of God works like the wind. You can’t control the activity of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will do what he wishes to do. You can’t see the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, by his very nature, is invisible. But you can see the changes he brings about. As you observe the life of a person who is born in the Spirit, you can see those metaphorical tree branches moving in a new direction. That is, you can see the effects of the spiritual rebirth through the changes in the person’s life.
To walk by the Spirit is simply to live my life trusting that God is in control. I count on God and His Spirit, not my own resources. I trust in the blood of Christ, not my own self-effort. It’s not a technique I learn. It’s a fundamental heart attitude or worldview.
Galatians 5:17-18
17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. – Galatians 5:17-18
The natural inclination of our sinful selves and the direction the Spirit takes us are opposites. If the Spirit is truly at work in you, then your life will look different. You won’t continue to pursue selfishness, sinfulness and all the things he’s about to list.
When you do fall into those things, you’ll regret it. You’ll repent eventually, because the Spirit, like the wind blowing through your life, is teaching you and instructing you, making you the kind of person who wants to pursue the things of God.
But that list doesn’t come naturally. It comes from the Spirit. What comes naturally is the first list. If we seek to follow God, we’ll go 180 degrees opposite of where we would go if we were following our own sinful selves.
Galatians 5:19-21
19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:19-21
At its root, I think each of these items on the list comes from putting ourselves at the center of the universe, either making our needs more important than our neighbors, or making what we want more important than what God wants.
For context, I want to focus on the last half of the verse. “I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul says this list is a deal breaker in some sense. If those things characterize your life, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Again, we want to keep this in the context of the argument Paul has been making throughout this letter. The question on the table is, if I am free from the law, won’t that give me a license to pursue all the sin I want?
Paul has been arguing that being free from keeping the law is not an excuse to sin because now we have a different motivation to avoid sin. We have the teaching and guidance of the Spirit who is giving us a heart that loves God.
In this list, he’s giving us examples of the kind of thing that the Spirit teaches us to leave behind and to flee from. Why are those behaviors on the list? Because they make us guilty before God.
These are the kinds of behaviors we would gleefully pursue apart from the work of the Spirit of God in our lives. And if we are pursuing these kinds of behaviors, we are guilty before holy God and we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
He is not saying, one strike and you’re out. He’s not saying if you ever once got angry or jealous, you’re out of the kingdom. He’s not saying that these things put you beyond the mercy of God.
What he is saying is these are the kinds of behaviors that define our sinful, selfish selves. You want to know what kinds of things you would choose normally left to yourself? This is it. The items on this list are symptoms of our total depravity. If this is the trend of your life, wake up and smell the coffee. You need to repent.
All of us are guilty of the things on this list. What should I do when I realize I’m guilty? I should repent, throw myself on the mercy of God, and accept the blood of Jesus as payment for my sins. These behaviors do not put you beyond the reach of God’s mercy, but they ought to make you seriously evaluate the direction you’re heading. Stop, turn around, and repent.
Galatians 5:22-24
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. – Galatians 5:22-24
What kinds of changes will I see when I repent and begin listening to the teaching of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The point he’s making in context is this person is entirely different from the person described above. These two people are heading in entirely different directions.
For our purposes, I want to focus on what he says next: “against such things there is no law.” What does he mean by that? I think the idea here is, with regard to such things, there is no law. No law can produce this kind of fruit.
We can find laws that tell us how to treat our neighbors. We can find laws that teach us what justice requires and so forth. But following those laws is not going to make us joyful, peaceful, patient, or self-controlled. Following those laws on the outside does nothing to change who we are on the inside.
When you become a disciple of Jesus, you metaphorically crucify your sinful selves and all the things your sinful self desired. Part of repentance is crying out to God, ‘I don’t want to be this kind of person anymore. I recognize I can never fix that problem by myself. I recognize you don’t owe me anything. I’m asking for your mercy and your grace because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Please, Lord, let it cover me.’
To be crucified with Christ is a metaphor for repenting and making that kind of about face.
Of course, those who belong to Jesus will not use their freedom as an excuse to sin. They have metaphorically crucified those desires. They have abandoned that lifestyle.
Before you panic and think, ‘oh, no, this list doesn’t describe me.’ Wait, listen to the series. We’ll deal with that doubt.
Galatians 5:25-26
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. – Galatians 5:25-26
This is an important part of his argument. The work of the Spirit, as we’re going to see as we go through this series, is not instantaneous. It’s not that we come to faith in Jesus and the Spirit zaps all these qualities into us. The work of the Spirit is a process that unfolds and works itself out over lifetime.
True moral transformation is the result of the Spirit of God working in our lives. We should be able to really see love, joy, peace, patience, etc. in ourselves and others.
This list is both a promise and a challenge. It’s a promise of where God is taking us and the kind of people He is making us into. It’s a challenge because it makes us ask the question, are these the things I want? Do I want to be this kind of person? Am I really seeking the things of God or am I just fooling myself?
We’re going to talk a lot about that as we go through that list. We’re going to be asking the question, what did Paul mean by these concepts? How did he know these were fruits of the Spirit and why are they on the list? And I hope you’re as excited about this series as I am.
Copyright © 2024 · Krisan Marotta, WednesdayintheWord
Photo by Bill Williams on Unsplash
Season 24, episode 01