THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”(Gal 5:22-23 ESV).

“They refer to character, and set forth the kind of man the Spirit produces rather than the things He inspires him to do.  The nine elements have been divided into three sections of three each. (1) In relation to God: love, joy, peace. (2) In relation to our fellows: longsuffering, gentleness, goodness. (3) In relation to ourselves: faithfulness,…meekness, self-control” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p138).

“In newspaper English, the passage would read something like this: The Fruit of the Spirit is an affectionate, lovable disposition, a radiant spirit and a cheerful temper, a tranquil mind and a quiet manner, a forbearing patience in provoking circumstances and with trying people, a sympathetic insight and tactful helpfulness, generous judgment and a big-souled charity, loyalty and reliableness under all circumstances, humility that forgets self in the joy of others, in all things self-mastered and self-controlled, which is the final mark of perfecting” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p139).

“…fruit…grows by abiding and is perfected without noise or fuss, without anxiety or care.  God glories in fruit” Samuel Chadwick (ref#195, p138). “…Paul… says that they are to be regarded as the proper result of the Spirit’s operations on the soul” Barnes’ Notes (ref#16, [Gal 5:22]).

“Spiritual gifts are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit. Spiritual fruit is produced from within; spiritual gifts are imparted from without.  Fruit relates to Christlike character; gifts relate to Christian service….Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 13 that spiritual gifts without spiritual fruit are worthless….” (Kenneth Boa, The Gifts of the Spirit,http://bible.org/article/gifts-spirit).