In the book of Galatians 5:22, Paul affirms his apostolic character and the doctrines that he teaches, to testify in the faith of Christ, especially in relation to the elementary point of testimony by faith alone. Galatians was not written as an essay in contemporary history. It was a protest against the corruption of the gospel of Christ. The essential truth of justification by faith rather than works of the law had been obscured by the Judaizers’ insistence that believers in Christ must keep the law if they hoped to be perfect before God. When Paul learned that this teaching had begun to permeate the Galatian churches and led them away from their heritage of freedom, he wrote the impassioned protest contained in this epistle.
The result of justification by grace through faith is spiritual freedom. Paul calls the Galatians to persist steadfast in their freedom, and not again be “subject to the yoke of slavery. Christian freedom is not an excuse to indulge one’s own carnal nature; rather, it is an opportunity to love one another. Such freedom does not exclude us from the struggles of life. In fact, it can intensify the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. However, the flesh has already been crucified with Christ and as an effect, the Spirit will produce its fruit, things such as love, joy and peace in the life of the believer, that is, Galatians 5:22 ..…
The letter to Galatians 5:22, was written in a spirit of inspired stirring. For Paul, the issue was not whether the person was circumcised, but whether he had become “a new creation.” If Paul had not succeeded in his argument for justification by faith alone, Christianity would have remained a sect within Judaism, instead of becoming the universal form of salvation. Therefore, Galatians 5:22it is not only the epistle of Luther, it is the epistle of every believer who confesses with Paul, the faith of the Son of God.
The Apostle Paul reveals in: Galatians 5:22.
Paul made it very clear what are the works of sinful human nature and its desires. He gave us a list of sensual sins; of religious sins; of social sins; and personal sins. And it’s not a very attractive list. If you review this list you will be able to have a real vision of the way in which human passions are manifested. And you will be able to identify with situations in your own life, those around you and the conflicts that affect society in general. You can know if you are living under the control of the Spirit, if you are walking in the Spirit, or if you are living under the control of a vice, of a certain tendency that inclines you to act in a certain negative way, or under impulses that, once Once overcome, they leave you with a feeling of sadness and impotence for not having been able to avoid them.
What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Walking in the Spirit is the norm. The Christian life is not just about having one great shocking experience and by which one can reach incredible heights. It is a daily walk, continuous and facing the practice of each day. We would say that it includes the regularity of living with the activities, problems and decisions of each day. It is important that the believer learn to walk in the Spirit.
Now, having presented the list of the works of sinful human nature, Paul would speak of the fruit of the Spirit. Notice the contrast: works of sinful human nature and the fruit of the Spirit. The works of human nature are what you do. The Ten Commandments were given at the time to control that old nature. But afterwards, the Christian life would consist of producing the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians: 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” It is with this verse that the true walk of a believer is manifested….
The Lord Jesus Christ spoke about the fruit of the Spirit in John 15. He said that without Him, we could do nothing. And the fruit is what He wants in our lives. He wants fruit, more fruit and much fruit. In Matthew 13, the Lord spoke of the seed giving a harvest that yielded thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown. That is why He wants us to bear much fruit. Now, the fruit is produced by the Lord Jesus using the Spirit of God in our lives. He wants to live his life through us. For this reason I insist that we are never asked to live the Christian life, we are asked to allow Him to live it through us. No believer can live the Christian life by himself. The old sinful nature cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Paul made it clear in Romans 7:18 that the new nature has no power to produce the fruit of the Spirit. He said in that passage: “18 And I know that in me, that is, in my sinful nature, good does not dwell, because willing what is good is in me, but not doing it.” That is the problem we have. And how to fix it? This is not an operation that one can do by oneself. But how are we going to allow the Spirit of God to produce its fruit in our lives?
The issue of fruit production is interesting. The fruit is produced by the tree itself and not by personal effort. The branches are limited to open to the sun and rain. First a flower appears, then colored fruit forms grow to maturity. Another obvious detail, but worth noting is that the branches never separate from the trunk of the tree. The Lord said in John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
Our problem is that we do offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, but when the altar (figuratively speaking) gets hot, we crawl away. If we want to produce fruit, we must remain united to Him. Galatians 5:22.
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Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.”
Paul was formulating the principle of producing fruit in such a way that we could understand it. Fruit is produced by yielding to the sweet influences that are upon us. It’s not about the world’s system, we have to yield to the Spirit that dwells in us. He wants to produce fruit, let’s not forget that it is called the fruit of the Spirit.
Paul said in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.” While the list that characterized the expressions of human nature was expressed in the plural, as a plurality and diversity of works, let us note that the “fruit” is expressed in the singular. One can argue about the grammar used here, but it turns out that in the Greek it is in the singular, which tells us that love is the main fruit and from which all other fruits come or result.
The apostle Paul, in First Corinthians 13:1 said that without love we are a metal that resonates or a cymbal that makes noise. This chapter of First Corinthians 13, belongs to the subject of the gifts of the Spirit, and the gifts must never be practiced unless they are by the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. You cannot exercise a gift without doing it through the fruit of the Spirit. Love is extremely important. Paul went on to say in First Corinthians 13 that if one gave his body to be burned and gave away everything he had, but did not have love, it would be of no use to him. We have to recognize the importance of what the apostle was saying.
Paul expressed in First Corinthians 13, that love does not seek its own. Love is always doing something for others. A gift always has to be practiced in the church. It is a manifestation of the Spirit for all believers. All believers have a gift that is to be exercised for the benefit of the entire body of Christians. For example they operate for the benefit of the rest of the body. They guide the body in the right direction and are essential; I can’t imagine them withdrawing from their function because another organ is tired or doesn’t work. That is why we have said that no gift should be practiced apart from the fruit of the Spirit, and that fruit is love. It was that kind of fruit that the Lord was talking about in John 15. So the fruit is the fruit of the Spirit.
There is no law against the evidences of the fruit and there is no law that can produce the consequences of this fruit of the Spirit. No one can produce them by their own effort. It would be like trying to be humble and believing that one has achieved it, when in reality one would be so satisfied that one had achieved humility, that one would lose it completely. Let’s say that the list of works of human nature expressed what people can do and everything they can achieve. And the list of the fruit of the Spirit includes everything that God through his Spirit can achieve in those who have been rescued from the domain of evil.
Love: is the translation of the Greek: “AGAPE”. It means: caring, goodwill, love, generosity, caring spirit, “the ability, power, and determination to love people we don’t want.” Paul begins the list of the fruit of the Spirit with “AGAPE,” love that really makes the rest of the manifestations are a consequence, without love there can be no other characteristics but with everything they are a natural and logical consequence, because love extends and manifests itself to the other characteristics of the Spirit. Love it is a gift from God, it is an attribute of God because God is love. (1Jn.4:8).
Love it is the fundamental basis for the manifestation of ministerial gifts. (1Cor.13:1-13). According to Colossians, love is the virtue that unites all the characteristics in perfection or as other versions translate: Love is the bond of perfection; Perfect link. Love is the fulfillment of the law” So the fulfillment of the law is love. (Rom.13:10). Love has the virtue of vitalizing and putting faith into action.
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Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is joy”
Joy, joy, is a fruit that God wants you to have in your life. He came for us to enjoy true joy. The world system cannot produce that true joy. It can only entertain and stun outwardly, momentarily, but not permanently implant it in people’s lives. Let us remember that the apostle John in his first letter 1: 4 told his readers that he wrote these things to them so that their joy would be complete.
The gospel is proclaimed with joy, like the birth of Jesus, his triumphal entry and his Resurrection They are highlighted in a frame of joy. (Lc.2:10- Mr.11:9). The joy of the Christian is so inclusive and permanent that it can be felt, discovering the will of God. (Mt.2:10). By sacrificing himself for the cause of Christ. (Mt.13:44) By Testifying of Christ.(Lc.10:17) Or by having a personal encounter.(Lc.24:52). In essence Christ himself is the source of joy above the circumstances of life. For example Paul and Silas. They were…