May
4
2009
1. An Introduction to The Fruit of the Spirit
Author: Rick
• Galatians 5:16-25. As the Christian grows and matures, there are some clear and distinct evidences that he or she is becoming close to God and more like Jesus Christ. Gal 5:22 calls these evidences, The ___________ of the Spirit.
According to Gal 5:16, we can have the Fruit of the Spirit if we
W________ in the S_________. It is absolutely critical that the Christian walk in the Spirit because Gal 5:17 tells us the Flesh and the Spirit are C________________ one to another.
The Christian’s life is characterized by an ever-present conflict between the flesh and the Spirit of God. The nature which succeeds in controlling us, is the nature which will produce fruit in our lives. Compare the Fruit of the Flesh (Gal 5:19-21) and the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). The Christian will always face temptations from the flesh, but God has given us the tools to overcome the flesh, and to walk in the Spirit.
To walk in the Spirit means to be __________________ of the Spirit (5:18) and to _________ in the Spirit (5:25). That is, we become sensitive to, and obey His leading, through His Word, through preaching, and through answers to prayer.
• Psalm 1:1-3 compares the Christian to a fruitful tree. In this passage we read 5 conditions for fruit bearing, three are negative and 2 are positive, can you list them?
1._______________________________________________________
2._______________________________________________________
3._______________________________________________________
4._______________________________________________________
5._______________________________________________________
The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that we are living an obedient life to God. His Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance only come to those who are seeking to live their lives for His glory. To reinforce this fact, immediately after the list of fruit found in Galatians 5:22-23, the Apostle Paul says in v24 “And they that are Christ’s have ________________________________________________________
Fruit Vs. Works
Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance are all fruit of the Spirit’s working in our life. Notice that each of these are character qualities. The Bible does not indicate that our social status, income level or popularity are signs of the spirits work, but that godly characteristics forming in us are evidence of his work and our obedience.
Many folks after they get saved, have a desire to stop behaviors which they did before salvation. These initial steps of obedience are wonderful and right, but the new Christian soon finds out that stopping certain behaviors is not enough, we must go on to the fruit of the Spirit.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9 gives a testimony of the believers at Thessalonica and their response to their salvation.
- What did the Thessalonians turn from?
- What did the Thessalonians turn to?
- For what purpose did they turn to God?
Reformation was not enough for these Christians. They turned from their sinful lifestyle, and began to serve God. Like these Thessalonians, we must begin by rejecting our former, sinful lifestyle and then go on to a yielded life toward God. When we do this, we will begin to develop evidence that the Spirit is working in us.
• John 15:4,5. In these verses Jesus tells us how we can bear spiritual fruit.
We are first told to ______________________ in Christ. Because the branch (us) cannot bear fruit by _________________________If we abide in Christ then we will bring forth _________________________fruit. Without Christ we can do ________________________.
To bear fruit, a tree must have life. Christ is this life in us. We do not produce the fruit, we simply bear it when we abide in Him. A great sign of salvation and obedience is that a person is producing spiritual fruit. Meditate on and consider memorizing this verse.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Fruit Vs. Gifts
Much is said today about the “Gifts of the Spirit”. Every Christian has a spiritual gift of some kind, and we should seek to discover it and use it for God’s glory. We must be careful though, never to overemphasize the gifts of the spirit and never to neglect the fruit of the spirit
The Fruit of the Spirit is direct evidence of an obedient and mature Christian, the gifts of the Spirit are not.
• 1 Corinthians 1:7. Paul told the Corinthians that they come behind in no __ __ __ __.
• 1 Cor. 3:1-3. Though this church had many spiritual gifts, Paul couldn’t speak to them like they were ________________, but as unto C_______________. Paul did not say they were mature, but that they were like _______________ in Christ.
The gifts of the Spirit are for our service toward God while the fruit of the Spirit has to do with our personal character, and our becoming like God. The development of Christian character and Christ-like attributes in our lives should always take precedence over our display of some special ability.
The trouble with the Corinthian Church is not that they came short in spiritual gifts, but that they came short in spiritual fruit. While the fruit of the spirit is Love, they were envying. While the spirit gives Temperance, they had strife. Though the spirit gives peace, they had divisions.
All Christians are capable of discovering their spiritual gifts, but the mature and obedient Christians are the ones who will display the spiritual evidence of Christ-likeness (the fruit of the Spirit).
• Romans 6:19-23. In this passage, Paul is exhortiing the Romans to live godly lives. He encourages them to leave “uncleanness” and “iniquity” and to yield to God. Look at verse 22, he says “now that you
are S________________ to God, you have your _______________
unto H___________________.” A holy life and a fruitful life is the direct result of yielding our lives to God. As you go about your day today, consciously consider how you can better yield to his will. Consistently living this way will undoubtedly produce spiritual fruit.
The Fruit of the Spirit
As we end this introductory lesson to the Fruit of the Spirit, let’s take some time to consider each of the evidences briefly. We will study each fruit of the spirit individual and in-depth in upcoming lessons.
• Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is…
- L_____________________: Agape, God-like love.
- J_____________________: A lasting calm delight.
- P_____________________: Quiet and at rest.
- L_____________________: Forbearance, able to endure.
- G_____________________: Good, Kind, not harsh.
- G_____________________: To be good to others.
- F_____________________: Or Faithfulness
- M_____________________: A humble use of power.
- T_____________________: Self-Control
Notice that the first 3 evidences of a spirit-led life reflect our life God-ward, the next 3 reflect our life man-ward (or the way we interact with others), and the last three deal with our life self-ward. We will explore this further as our lessons continue. Consider how the above list is (or is not) evidence in your life.
Review
1.The Fruit of the Spirit can also be called what?
2.What is the Fruit of the Spirit evidence of?
3.The Fruit of the Spirit are all C______________ Q____________.
4.What is the difference between the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit?
5.In what passage do we find a list of the Fruit of the Spirit?
