Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Romans 5:5b The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
I Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.
II Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. (Also Titus 3:2 and I Thessalonians 2:7.)
Ephesians 5:9 For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. (Also Philippians 1:11.)
Acts 6:5b And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost….
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.
I Corinthians 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
MEMORY VERSE: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. —John 15:5
CENTRAL THOUGHT: By the Holy Spirit’s abiding in us, and our abiding, or being connected to Christ the Vine, we manifest His life within us by the fruit that we bear in attitudes, words and actions.
WORD DEFINITIONS
Galatians 5:22 “Love”: Affection; good will; benevolence. “An intense desire to please God, and to do good to mankind; the very soul and spirit of all true religion; the fulfilling of the law, and what gives energy to faith itself.”—Adam Clarke. “Joy”: delight; gladness; rejoicing because of an awareness of God’s grace. — HELPS Word Studies. “Peace”: from a word that means “to join; tie together into a whole”; wholeness; oneness; quietness; rest. “Longsuffering”: divinely regulated patience; forbearance; it denotes steadfastness or staying power; the quality of being long-tempered, opposite to short-tempered. “Gentleness”: goodness; moral excellence; kindness that is serviceable, meets the need and avoids human harshness. “Goodness”: uprightness; beneficence; virtue that comes from God; spiritual and moral excellence; it is strictly a biblical term and does not appear in secular Greek writings. “Faith”: belief; trust; confidence; fidelity; faithfulness. It is “God’s persuasion,” is always born of God and is a gift from God.
23 “Meekness”: mildness; gentleness; humility; “properly, temperance, displaying the right blend of force and reserve and avoids unnecessary harshness, yet without compromising.” —HELPS Word Studies. “Temperance”: self-mastery; self -restraint; self-control; continence. “Properly, dominion within, proceeding out from within oneself, but not by oneself.” —HELPS Word Studies.
LESSON BACKGROUND
Fruit-bearing is a familiar theme throughout the Bible. God referred to Israel as being a beloved and well-cared-for vineyard, from which He earnestly desired ripe and luscious fruit. So often the fruit was non-existent or wild and bitter (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:6; 17:6; 19:10; Hosea 10:1).
David and Jeremiah both describe a man who trusts and delights in the Lord as being a fruitful tree (Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17:7-8). Solomon speaks of a fair garden which yielded sweet fruit and spices (Song of Solomon 4:12-16) (Could the nine which were mentioned point forward to the nine fruit of the Spirit in Galatians? Just a thought!) The prophets pointed forward to the coming of Christ’s kingdom as a time when the barren deserts—the hearts of mankind—would blossom and be fruitful (Isaiah 32:15; 35:1-2).
Jesus spoke often about fruit. He described the ground of men’s hearts in terms of the degrees of fruitfulness (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8). He also referred to Israel as being a vineyard, and revealed much about His love for souls in the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 21:33, Mark 12:1, and Luke 20:9; Luke 13:6). His vivid portrayal of His life in us as being like a Vine which gives fruit-bearing life to its branches, gives the secret to lasting victory and joy (John 15).
The apostles’ writings carry on the theme, with Paul’s letter to the Galatians contrasting the life of bondage to the flesh, and the failure of the Law to provide deliverance; to the rich, victorious life of the Spirit. An in-depth study of the fruit mentioned here is always challenging and beneficial.
The Bible begins and ends with the picture of the tree of life, loaded with fruit. Genesis tells the story of sin, which separated mankind from this wonderful tree; Revelation tells the blessed story of redeemed man, who now has the right to the tree of life.
—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck
DISCUSSION:
- Who: The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by _______________.
- Where: The joy of God is found in __________________.
- How: The fruit of righteousness is sown __________________.
- What: The “glorious power” of the indwelling Holy Spirit produces _______________.
- Why: Paul kept under his body ____________________.
COMMENTS AND APPLICATION
Fruit is the result of a union. In plants, in animals, in people—and in our union with Christ, when His Spirit dwells in us. We could never bear real fruit on our own, no matter how hard we try.
Fruit is the test of our lives. You can’t judge a man according to his appearance, Jesus says, but you can—you must—judge his fruit.
Fruit-bearing is also the result of a process. Christ is the Vine; His Father is the Husbandman. He cultivates, fertilizes, and prunes the vines, so the harvest may be optimal. His care over us, His vineyard, is exceedingly tender! “I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day” (Isaiah 27:3). However, many times the pruning process is painful and scarring. We wonder if we will survive. We hardly recognize ourselves when He is finished. We “lay in dust, life’s glory dead.” We are called to fall into the ground and die. But soon, out of that death, blossoms life that is endless, and fruit that is eternal.
May our prayer be always, “Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits” (Song of Solomon 4:16).
—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck
REFLECTIONS
The high school I attended was situated at the top of a long hill. I recall many mornings driving up the hill only to see a car on the side of the road which had run out of gas. Why did this happen – what was the cause? The driver, for whatever reason, had not kept his gas tank full. All of our actions produce an effect (or fruit) whether good or bad.
Just as Acts records that Stephen, the first martyr, was full of the Holy Ghost, so also must James, the Son of Zebedee, have been. Fox’s Book of Martyrs records the following: “…as James was led to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by the apostle’s extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian, and resolving that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone.” What an awe-inspiring “cause-and-effect” account!
Is it possible for us to also live extraordinary lives—lives that are loaded with spiritual fruit by an indwelling of the Holy Spirit? When we consider the lives of Stephen and James, we see the beauty of the end-result. But I wonder—what trials of faith did they endure, what failures did they get back up from, and what deaths to self did they previously die to finally produce such inspiring courage, love, and faith? Imperfect beings though we are, God loves us enough to prune and refine us. It gives us hope that, as we yield ourselves to the Lord, we too can live extraordinary lives through the Spirit. As we decidedly find a quiet place of prayer and make contact with Lord, we can maintain a “full tank.” We don’t have to end up a spiritual casualty on the side of the road, but can be full of the Holy Ghost, bearing much fruit.
—Sis. Julie Elwell
Thank you. God bless.