The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) The fifth indicator of the presence of the Holy Spirit in someone's life and soul is kindness. Those whose heart and affections have been truly taken hold of by the love and kindness of God will in turn display love and kindness toward others. But what does it mean to be kind? In particular, how is kindness different from goodness or gentleness? The underlying Greek word is chrestotes and carries the meaning of “uprightness in one’s relations with others or the quality of being helpful or beneficial.” In other words, people who possess and display kindness toward others are those who seek to make the lives of others a little easier. They are considerate of others, of their time, their lives, their thoughts, emotions, and wellbeing. People who possess and display kindness as a fruit of the Holy Spirit are the sort of people others look forward to being around and working with. They are the sort of people who do not leave a wake of destruction in their past, of whom others would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could speak an unkind word about them. It is difficult to say unkind things about people who are always kind and considerate. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit because Jesus is kind. Regarding himself Jesus says, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Matt. 12:20). Unfortunately, our culture views kindness as weakness. Television and movies glorify the cowboy-John-Wayne-Clint-Eastwood characters who do things their way and ‘to hell with the rest,’ who speak their mind and ‘let the chips fall where they may.’ Those who think this way or behave this way likely do not have the Holy Spirit living in them and are likely not saved. If I am truly saved and have been crucified with Christ, then “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20), and if Christ lives in me and through me, then I ought to display the kindness of Christ.
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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) The fourth evidence of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life is patience. What does it mean to be patient? The Greek word for patience is makrothumia and, according to BDAG Greek Lexicon, it carries the meaning of a “state of remaining tranquil while awaiting an outcome” or a “state of being able to bear up under provocation.” For this reason, the old King James Version often translated the Greek word as “longsuffering.” In other words, patience is about being willing and able to endure or suffer difficult situations or difficult people for extended periods of time without losing it, without snapping or losing your cool. But why is this a fruit of the Holy Spirit? Because the same Spirit who indwells believers is the Spirt of God (1 Cor. 2:11-12). It is God’s spirit which indwells believers and transforms them from the inside out. And scripture says of God in Psalm 86:15, “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Thus, if one truly possesses the indwelling presence and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, then that same spirit will enable them to be far more patient than they previously were and far more patient than the world around them who do not have the Holy Spirit of God. Although none of this is probably new, we all know God is amazingly patient and Christians should strive to be patient people. The real struggle most of us have is how patient should we be, particularly with people? How patient should we be with people whose behavior grates on us and rubs us the wrong way? Well…how patient is God with you?
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) As we continue to work through the fruits of the Spirit, there in Galatians 5:22-23, Paul says the third fruit, the third indicator that someone has been born of the Spirit, that a person is truly saved is peace—love, joy, peace. What does that mean? What does it mean to have peace, to experience the peace that comes from God? Jesus says to his disciples in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Thus, the peace that comes from knowing Christ is unlike anything we can derive from the world. If we think about that for a moment, how does the world give peace? How does the world give anything? The world never gives anything consistently nor permanently. Anything that comes from the world and brings peace, will not last forever because the world is constantly changing. If you derive peace from knowing you have good health, someday that may change. If you derive your peace from having a secure job and steady income, someday that may change. If you derive your peace from being a part of a healthy church, someday that too may change. If you derive your peace from enjoying life in this world, someday that will change. But scripture tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” and that in Christ “all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in him” (Heb. 13:8; 2 Cor. 1:20). Peace, true peace, everlasting peace, is a fruit--an evidence—of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit because those who are in union with Christ derive their peace from him, from being dependent on him, leaning on him, loving him, trusting him, and knowing that Christ will always be there for them--leading them, loving them, caring for them. Christ is where true and consistent peace comes from.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) What does it mean to have joy? Jesus said to the disciples in John 15:11 that “these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Then later when warning them about his death on the cross, he says “you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn. 16:22). Why does he say “no one will take your joy from you”? Are Christians always to be joyful? How is that possible when we live in a world plagued with so much conflict and misery? Christians often confuse happiness with joy. However, the word happiness or happy is derived from the word hap, which comes from Middle English meaning happen or happenings. Thus, happiness is tied to our circumstances or what is happening around us or to us. When things are going well, we are happy. When things are not going well, we are unhappy or sad. This is normal human behavior. To display sorrow when a loved one passes or we are diagnosed with a debilitating disease is normal. However, joy is very different from happiness. Joy that the believer experiences is not tied to this world or anything that is happening in our surroundings. Joy comes from knowing God and from being in covenant relationship with him. David says of God in Psalm 16 that “in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore are found in and derived from God. Thus, for the believer, consistent joy comes from knowing that no matter what happens in this life, this world is not our home and death is when real life begins.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) The first evidence of saving faith, of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22, is love. But what does that mean? Does that mean people who appear loving, who seem to do loving things, are very likely saved? Does it mean a couple who is living together, who are not married to each other, who claim to be Christian, but seem very much to love each other are probably saved? This is where it is important to understand the meaning of words based on the meaning scripture gives them. Regarding love, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment in the Bible is, he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). And then in John 14:15 Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Thus, when the apostle Paul lists love as the first evidence of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life, he means there will be a desire to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, to know God on a deeper level and to be like Christ, and a desire to love our neighbors as ourselves, to genuinely care about the needs and wellbeing of others, and that this love will manifest itself in a life of obedience to God’s word. It’s not enough to just say we love God and people. Saving faith will manifest itself in a desire to please and glorify God and to care for our fellow human beings.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23) In Galatians 5, scripture tells us that the evidence of those who live in the flesh and are not led by the Holy Spirit are things like “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” and “that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (vv.19-21). This does not mean that if we have ever engaged in such activities before or if we occasionally lose our temper or experience jealousy, then we are not saved. Rather, the scripture is describing those who regularly engage in such behavior. But then we are told that the evidence of someone possessing the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the evidence of someone who is truly saved and born-again, is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control.” Again, does this mean that saved people will perfectly display these attributes all the time? Not at all. Sanctification is a process. The life-long process of the Holy Spirit transforming us into the image and character of Christ is two steps forward and one step back. Nevertheless, the believer—by the power of the Holy Spirit—will make steady progress toward becoming more like Christ throughout his or her life. So then, what do these attributes look like in the life of the believer? What is the evidence of saving faith? Over the next nine days I hope to take a closer look at each of these.
Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. (Psalm 10:13-14) After this last presidential election, it can be easy to feel powerless or inconsequential. I have heard many Christians wonder if there is even any point to voting. Even Democrats are dismayed, as one prominent liberal author recently penned, “If I’d known Biden was open to ‘lockdowns’ as he now states, … I would never have voted for him.” People on both sides of the aisle can sometimes feel like we vote, but politicians only listen to the rich and powerful. This is when passages like Psalm 10 can be immensely comforting: “The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (vv.16-18). Ultimately, God sees how the poor and oppressed are afflicted. He sees how the rich and powerful take advantage of the masses. He hears our pleas and will someday render justice for “the fatherless and the oppressed.” In the preceding verses the psalmist writes: “Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, ‘You will not call to account’? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.” God sees what the wicked do, and they will not get away with it. For our part, we simply need to trust God, continue to pray, do our part as good citizens, and continue to live out the purpose for which we were created and redeemed.
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