Spiritus Sanctus (Fruit)

I sat across the coffee table from my friend Mike as we had one of our discussions that produced many theoretical and theological epiphanies.  But this time we felt like something was different, something seemed to make so much sense in the conclusion that we had come to, the truth we felt we had really stumbled upon this time.

Mike and I had been discussing the fruit of the spirit.  We had never really noticed before, but this time as we talked about them we discovered a fact that we were curious about.  See, the list may be put in the order that it is for a reason!  First, let’s look at the passage so you can see what Mike and I were getting at…

Galatians 5:22-24

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Does anyone notice anything about the order that the fruit are listed in?  I see it so much more clearly now than I even did then and I think it plays an important role in the active Holy Spirit that we have in our lives today.  We will get to the point I am making here and what Mike and I discovered just a little bit later.

But first, as I conclude a three week section on Spiritus Sanctus, a couple things seem to be very clear.  One, the Holy Spirit is for us and our lives today.  Two, the Holy Spirit’s power has not diminished and is a rich deposit for us of things to come when we dwell with Jesus for eternity.

Knowing these things, it is very important for us to seek further and deeper the ways in which the Holy Spirit works within our lives today – the fruit that is grown from its activity in our lives. See, Wesley thought this way too and I would agree with him – he believed that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives could be seen and actively applied through the fruit of the spirit that is talked about in Galatians.  Makes sense, doesn’t it?  I mean, it is the fruit of the SPIRIT!  Seems logical!

BASIC FRUIT

Fruit of the Spirit or the Spirit filled life is the present day manifestation

The Spirit helps us possess each of them at once as a whole fruit

Take for example an Orange.  It has many sections that come apart but when put together it still makes up the whole.

Now, when we speak of the basic fruit or the sections that make up the whole fruit, we think of the body of believers and the many members that make up the one body.  Each of us has God given spiritual gifts that we can use to make up the whole fruit!  Read with me what Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

All of these gifts that can make up the whole – and I love the way Paul reaffirms this in verse 11 when he says, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit…”  These gifts become an active way in which we show the spirit that dwells inside of us.  John MacArthur makes a great observation regarding our spiritual gifts:

“Spiritual gifts are divine enablements for ministry, characteristics of Jesus Christ that are to be manifested through the body corporate just as they were manifested through the body incarnate.”

These gifts and the fruit should be actively used and seen by us and those around us.

ORGANIC FRUIT

Organic is supposed to be the untouched or “pure” form of something, right?  Then when it comes to the organic within the fruit that we bear or what is manifested in us by the spirit should be crystal clear.  Hear me loud and clear on this one – this is our major point to be made – this goes back to my story about Mike and I at the beginning of this message – what we discovered in regards to the fruit of the spirit:

Law of first reference: LOVE covers them all 

The most important manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not our Spiritual Gift, although that is important in functioning of God’s Church, but the most important manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives ought to be LOVE.

1 Corinthians 13:13

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

This point from Paul seems to back this idea with a firm word of foundation!

That is what was so clear to Mike and I as we sat there and looked at this list of fruit that the spirit creates within us as we grow and mature…

That fact is that LOVE is listed first and foremost above everything else.  With a true application and action of the spirit around the fruit of LOVE, all other fruit is brought to, forgive me, FRUITION! HA!

This is the ultimate point and ultimate challenge of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation in our lives today:

Love should be at the core of all we say and do as Christ followers

When we seek to say things in love…when we seek to do all things in love…when we strive to make our lives lived out in the interest of LOVE, we encompass not only the Spirit’s manifestation as a whole fruit combination, but we function in a manner that brings glory and praise to Jesus, the one who showed us the example of LOVE as the greatest of these things!