I'm preaching at church on Sunday morning. We're part way through a series on "Equipping for Life" and I've been asked to talk on the Fruit of the Spirit.
What has struck me for the first time is what we have in Galatians 5 in one fruit not nine! Paul does not write, "the fruits of the Spirit are", no he says, "the fruit of the Spirit is". Now am I being pedantic with this? I think not - the reason that I think it's important to recognise that the fruit is one is the it stops us from examining each aspect of the fruit in some reductionist way.
The nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are deeply interconnected and inter-related. To like this with 1 Cor 12, if I say I've love but have no self-control then I delude myself. Likewise patience needs to have indwelling it, love, peace, kindness etc. We need to think of the fruit, or our growing in Christ-likeness holistically.
Key also in this is that this is not something we work at. It's the Spirits fruit. This said the link between us and the Spirit is so intimate that the fruit is also ours by being the fruit of the Spirit who indwells us. The fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives as we "remain in him" (John 15), as we draw our life from the true vine Jesus. "Fruit is neither made nor squeezed out of a plant; it grows on its own" Volf.
Yet we do have our part to play in this as "since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:23). This verse from Paul made me immediately think of that great passage in the 12th chapter of Hebrews, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith". The part we have to play int he growing of the fruit is to fix our eyes on Jesus, to seek his help in disentangling us from the stuff that hinders.
anyway these are some preliminary thoughts that I thought I'd share here.
I think I might end with this picture that I found...
Great pic- the wonderful thing is that God puts up with so many of us religious nuts waiting patiently for the spiritual fruit to appear.
Posted by: The Hippo Critic | Friday, April 07, 2006 at 12:33 AM
I learnt something from reading your post. I have always read "fruit" as plural, but what you said makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Mark Ingram | Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 11:34 AM
I learnt something from reading your post. I have always read "fruit" as plural, but what you said makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Mark Ingram | Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 11:35 AM
Thanks for sharing these thoughts. Having recently co-taught a series on the fruit of the Spirit, this gave me an 'ulp' moment, a concern that I may have perhaps been too reductionist. Shame this post wasn't around for me to read earlier.
Posted by: hopefulamphibian | Sunday, April 09, 2006 at 12:38 PM