Sin 7

B. Sin in a Believer’s life will result in:

5. Loss of the fruit of the Spirit

Gal. 5:22,23; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:…”

The world is seeking for these but usually settles for temporary and poor imitations of the real thing. The reason they do not find the genuine article is because they are seeking in the wrong place and in the wrong way. Peace with God comes from being justified by faith (Rom. 5:1). The peace of God which passes all understanding comes from obedience to Him (Phil 4:7 and context). True love as described in God’s Word (I John 4:8-10) is a sought after but unknown concept to much of our world.

What does the believer’s sin or obedience have to do with the fruit of the Spirit? How can we obtain these much-desired graces in our lives? Let us read the context surrounding this verse and see what it says.

The Text

Gal 5:16-23

16. This I say the, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18. But if ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21. Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Comments on the Text

16. This I say the, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Earlier in the book Paul presents a convincing defense of the doctrine of justification by faith without the works of the law (1:6-10; 2:16; 3:1-10). In chapter 5 he launches into a defense of the marvelous liberty that we have in Christ (5:1) and shares how we are to apply this freedom in our Christian lives: “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (5:13). We are not under law nor are we given license to sin. We are given freedom to serve by love.

In this context we are now told to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Bible teachers tend to reverse this doctrine. We are sometimes told to “not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” and then we will be “spiritual.” Trying to be holy without the power of the Holy Spirit can lead to a multitude of problems, both doctrinal and emotional.

Just what does it mean to “Walk in the Spirit?” The word “walk” is the verb form of a word usually used for our manner of living or deportment. We might use terminology of identical meaning when we talk of someone’s “walk with the Lord.” “Spirit” is in the dative case and appears to be what is called the “dative of means.” This means that our daily life or walk should literally be “by means of the Spirit.” We are to be guided by and responsive to Him in everything we do. As this is practiced, the lusts of the flesh will take care of themselves. This is just one of the reasons that it is foolish to try to reform a person so that they can get saved. Reformation will not save, and God’s way of reformation works better than the way of man-made religion.

How does this coincide with other verses concerning our obligation to God’s Holy Spirit? Later in this chapter a similar statement is made, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). The word “walk” here means to “be in line with.” It was used for soldiers marching in rank.

Eph. 5:18, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; The word “filled” here means to be controlled or influenced by.

There are two negative verses:

Eph. 4:30, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye were sealed until the day of redemption.

I Thess. 5:19. Quench not the Spirit.

The summation of these verses seems to be that God wants us to be controlled by, influenced by, obedient to, or yielded to, His Holy Spirit. God’s commands are found in God’s Word. The believer who obeys God’s Holy Spirit is a Spirit-filled or Spirit-controlled person.

17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If we have been born once, of physical parents, (that should include all of us), we have a nature that is composed like that of the ones who begat us. This is a sinful nature which is inherited from Adam (Rom. 5:12). This will die because of sin (Rom. 6:23; I Cor. 15:50).

When we are born again from above we receive a nature that is from God. This is likely somehow connected with the fact that God’s Holy Spirit now lives within us (John 7:39; I Cor. 6:19,20). This birth is from God and cannot sin (I John 3:9). Obviously, this presents a scenario conducive to constant conflict. Paul makes mention of this conflict between his own two natures in Romans 7:7-25.

The Christian world seems to be only vaguely aware of this ongoing battle within the believer. It also seems to be oblivious to the practical outworking of this conflict or how we can become victorious in this day-to-day struggle.

The following three verses depict essentials for growth in the Christian life. They also parallel necessities for physical growth: nutrition, exercise, and rest.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:…” (Ps. 37:7).

This concept is important to our understanding of our two natures. Simply put, whichever one we feed and strengthen the most will usually be the victor in a conflict. If we fill our minds with worldly trash and do not feed on God’s Word, our spiritual senses will be so anemic that they will not have a chance. Is it any wonder that we fail so often in our efforts for Godly living when we allow our habit patterns to become so deeply entrenched in line with the enemy?

The contrary is also true. If we feed and exercise on things God wants for us, we will have more strength to overcome the clever onslaught of Satan. The place of the most difficulty seems to be the believer who wants the best of both worlds. He strengthens both natures. This person is in for a lengthy series of major internal conflict. These are among the most unhappy Christians. They fit into the “lukewarm” status of Rev. 3:16. Man cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24).

18. But if ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

I Tim. 1:8, tells us that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. The purpose of the Law of Moses never was to save us. Its purpose is to show us that are sinners and to bring us to Christ (Rom. 3:19, 20; Gal. 3:19-26). Believers are not under the law. We are under grace (Rom. 6:14; I Cor. 6:12; 10:23).

19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

This grim list is a sampling of the natural results of our human sinful natures. A disobedient Christian can become involved in any of these sins because we still have our sinful nature that we inherited from Adam.

Does the last phase, “they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God” mean that if you commit any of these sins that you cannot be saved? If that is the correct interpretation, then we all have struck out. All of us are guilty of some of these things.

I recently heard a TV preacher quote a similar passage, I Cor. 6:9,10, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

This was quoted in the context of the importance of the Ten Commandments to us today. He was concentrating on the sin of covetousness. In summation he stated, based on this verse, that those who were covetous could not be saved.

The tragic omission was that he did not read the next verse to the millions of unsaved in his TV audience. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God” (I Cor 6:11). The Corinthian believers were not leading very holy lives but they were saved by the blood of Christ.

A similar concept is found in the verse in Galatians. The theme of the book is clear that we are saved by faith alone (1:6-9; 2:16; 3:3, 8, 11, 13, 22). The contrast presented here is between our sinful nature and that which is produced by the Holy Spirit. All of us have sinned and our sinful nature will never be saved (I Cor. 15:50 and context). That is why we need the new birth from God. These Galatians were sinners who did not deserve to go to Heaven (just as we), but were saved by faith.

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law

The fruit of the Spirit is not to be confused with the fruit that the believer produces (Matt. 13:23; John 15:8). This fruit apparently has to do with winning others to Christ. It is related to the fruit of the Spirit in that it has to do with obedience to God’s commands, but it is not identical. The fruit of the Spirit is something that the Holy Spirit produces, not the Christian.

Note that “fruit” is singular. It has been suggested that these qualities constitute a unity, all of which will be found in a believer whose life is controlled by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is saying, “If you have divine love, you have the whole package.”

The love it is speaking of is divine love (agape - ). This is the love that sacrifices for the good of the one loved (John 3:16; I John 4:8-10). It is also the same as the love that Christ showed us and that men are to show their wives. This is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I Corinthians 13:1-8 describes this love. It is not a feeling, though feelings may be involved. It is action. All of these descriptions of love are verbs; action words.

Joy should be distinguished from happiness or fun. Happiness is dependent upon happenings. Joy is produced within, regardless of external circumstances.

The theme of the Epistle to the Philippian Church is joy or rejoicing. Paul’s environment at the time of writing this letter was lacking in niceties. He was in jail. He did not even have TV like jails of today. His surroundings were horrid but he had the joy of Christ in the midst of his trials. That joy comes only from obedience to God.

Peace is another commodity which the world is desperately seeking. Paul experienced God’s peace while writing Philippians and tells us how to enjoy the same blessing in Phil. 4:7. We must obey Him. In other words, walk in the Spirit.

Longsuffering or patience is rare today. It is the quality of forbearance under provocation (II Cor. 6:6). Gentleness or kindness is benevolence in action (Col. 3:12). An example of goodness is being good to others even when they are not deserving, kind of like what God is to us.

Faith is probably referring to fidelity, the quality of being trustworthy or reliable. I Cor. 4:2 makes this a requirement of the faithful steward. Meekness or gentleness marks a person who is submissive to God’s Word (James 1:21) and who is considerate of others. Temperance or self control denotes self mastery and probably relates to curbing the fleshly desires listed in previous verses. There is no law prohibiting any of these qualities.

The context implies that these qualities are produced in the Christians’ life as he “walks in the Spirit” (v16). “Walking in the Spirit” is no more than being obedient to Him. As the believer sins, he is being disobedient and missing out on so much of the abundant life that God for every obedient Christian (John 10:10).