Sabbath: The Holy Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit
Read for This Week’s Study: John 15:1-11, Gal. 5:22, 1 Corinthians 13, Rom. 14:17, Eph. 5:9, Matt. 5:5.
Memory Text: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB).
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The fruit of the Spirit is the true essence of the Christian life. While the apostle Paul lists nine different aspects of this fruit, it is nevertheless one fruit and has to be seen in its entirety. The fruit of the Spirit does not tell us what a person might be able to do for God through spiritual gifts and talents. Rather, it shows how the person lives for God. It tells who the person is. All the virtues that are listed inx are present in Jesus Christ. Hence the fruit of the Spirit is the life of Jesus Christ in us, made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is not something we achieve by purely human effort. It is possible to produce and display some of the same virtues through the exercise of our willpower. But that is not the same as what the Holy Spirit does in us. What we produce ourselves is like a wax fruit compared to the real. Wax fruits are artificial. From a distance they look just as beautiful, but the taste is immeasurably inferior to the real. Real fruit is not manufactured. It grows out of a relationship. When the Holy Spirit connects us with Jesus, through His Written Word, His characteristics begin to be revealed in our own lives.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 18.
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Galatians says the fruit of the Spirit is ...self control. It leads us away from being controlled and ruled by our sinful self but living in the Spirit of God. As a result, our sinful nature is replaced by God's nature. Enabling us to be happy obedient Christians who delight in doing his will.
Kelvin, Please give the text in Gal. saying the fruit of the Spirit is self control.
Hi Evie, I am not Kelvin, but the verse is Galatians 5:23. Here it is in the context of Galatians 5:22-23.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
Thanx William
As the writer said, these fruits of spirit are present in Jesus Christ, therefore, we have to live in them that we can be as the one who give them.
Another way to look at it is that when we allow Jesus to live in us, the fruit of the Spirit will appear in our lives. See John 15:4, 16
I like the point 'The fruit of the Spirit does not tell us what a person might be able to do for God through spiritual gifts and talents. Rather, it shows how the person lives for God.'
Galatians 5:16 - So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
I read Galatians 5:22 and it mentions that the fruit of the Spirit involves 'self-control'. How interesting the wording is- opposite the real meaning, 'being controlled by the Spirit other than self'!
This is one attribute that most Christians fall short of. We try to control ourselves by will-power from falling into sin, other than seeking the Divine Help from the Spirit through prayer and meditation. God be with us all as we crave to be controlled by Him other than what our sinful nature wants us to be.
You wrote "We try to control ourselves by will-power from falling into sin, other than seeking the Divine Help from the Spirit through prayer and meditation." Is this legalism?
Jaslyn, it sure sounds like legalism to me, this sounds quite confusing to me.
Perhaps if you think of "self-control" as "control of self," the meaning will become clearer. Jesus asked His disciples to "deny self," and that would certainly mean to "control self." See Luke 9:23
we need to thank God for the gift of the holy spirit which helps us to serve others
in Galatians 5:22, 23 the Apostle Paul mentions 9 characteristics of THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. This is much like how EGW mentions 8 principles of health. Yet there are more health principles that are not mentioned in the list of EGW, for example: personal cleanliness, and cleanliness of personal living surroundings etc. And likewise, there are more characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit than the 9 mentioned in the list in Galatians 5:22,23, for example the list does not mention "honesty," or "Purity," or "integrity," or "dependability," or "loyalty," which as far as I am concerned are also characteristics of THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
All that we do that's transformative spiritually is done by faith and the Spirit of God working in us. I believe according to scripture and as this lesson points out clearly doing what is right by sheer willpower doesn't produce genuine Christlike character no matter how much effort we put into it. Because real spiritual change involves heart and mind changes legalism isn't the kind of change that is acceptable with God even if we think we are keeping every law and inspired instruction we understand .
who is God and who is the holy spirit?
That is essentially what these lessons are about Cyrus.
God, the Father, is the eternal and everlasting being who created the entire universe. He is the I Am, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, mentioned in the Bible and in the book of Isaiah the prophet. Jesus is His Son who also has all the characteristics of Tthe Father. And the Holy Spirit who also has all the characteristics of the Father, is the one that the Father uses to bring salvation to every human being that repents from a life of sin to learning to live a life of full righteousness by faith in his son Jesus and via His Word, the Bible.
Hi, the abiding in Jesus phenomenon is quite outstanding. The fruits of the Spirit is great, but I tell you if we don't abide in Jesus as He is in the Father then then our striving will be in vain.
So often people want to portrait moral standards but they forget to give Jesus a piece of the pie, and that's exactly what Satan want hence he and self get the glory
Let us commit ourselves to Christ so the Holy Spirit can work in us and bring more souls to Jesus.
Sharon, I suspect the problem is that people often only want "to give Jesus a piece of the pie," rather than ALL of themselves. Jesus does not want "a piece of the pie." He wants ALL of us. Only then will we experience the fruit of the Spirit - i.e His life in us.
Can someone explain to mi what the writter means by saying that what we produce is a WAx fruit not a REAL fruit please. In confusion.
Hello Jane, good question!
Real fruit is not manufactured. It grows out of a relationship. When the Holy Spirit connects us with Jesus, through His Written Word, His characteristics begin to reveal themselves in our own lives.. The fruit of the Spirit is not imposed upon us from outside; it is the result of the life of Christ within us. We must trust Jesus ns believe in Him whole heartedly and has His faith in us. The process becomes a reality immediately we start to abide in Him as the source of all our spiritual needs. John 15 is very clear: Christ is the Vine and we are the branches and this is the first secret to genuine Christian fruit bearing is to abide in Christ always.
I would like to give Pastor Doug Batchelor credit for this "Amazing Facts he posted in his Sabbath School study guide as to help to all teachers. "Largest and oldest grapevine in the world is found in Hampton Court near London… there is a grapevine under a greenhouse; it is about 250 years old and has but one root, which is at least four feet thick. Some of the braches are 150 feet long. Because of skillful cutting and pruning, the vine produces as much as 800 lbs. of grapes in a year. Even though some of the smaller branches are 150 feet from the main stem, they bear much fruit because they are joined to the vine and allow the life of the vine to flow through them. He is the vine, and we are the branches. And when we need pruning, the goal is always more fruit." I hope this helps!!!!!!!!!! May God Bless us as we study the function of the Holy Spirit and Spirituality this quarter.
Think of real fruit ...guava, plums etc they are nutritious and tasty and when you consume these your skin glows, your body functions well. Then think of Wax fruit as those artificial or plastic fruits we normally use as décor on our tables, they are beautiful but do not do anything to our bodies as they are unpalatable.
Now the former...that is the real fruit is what we get when the holy spirit works in us our actions our testimony of The lord is good , but the latter is through works without the holy spirit , it will not manifest itself ,it will be empty.
when wax melts it ceases to be wax in the sense that when we come into contact with the pleasures of this world we easily forget our relationship with our saviour. But the real fruit is the one that stands firmly with the vine even if pleasures of this world.
Galatians 5:22-23. Its interesting to note that Paul talks about "The fruit of the Spirit," says Paul, not the fruits, and proceed to mention a number of them. Clearly, the various components mentioned together make up the fruit of the Spirit. In a practical sense they are intertwined and cannot function without each other as they are all connected and make up one whole, provided by one Source.
God promises, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you [the new birth].And I will put My Spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26, 27). He created man's heart for His habitation. However, Gods original purpose for man was temporarily frustrated. This remained so until Christ's life, death, and resurrection was accomplished when it was said, "The kingdom of God is within you"(Luke 17:21). 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 re-inforces this point when it states: "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods." As the Holy Spirit is welcomed and begins His work in us, the fruit will begin to manifest itself in a Christian's life and produce the character of Jesus Christ.(Galatians 5:22, 23). This list is, of course not exhaustive as there are other qualities in 1 Timothy 6:11, Romans 5:3-5, 2 Timothy 3:10, and 2 Peter 1:5-7 that are equally important. Jesus stated that those who claim to be His followers but fail to produce fruit will be plucked out and taken away (John 15:2). We know that those who receive the seal of God will be those who have not only been swept and cleaned but who have been the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and as a result have manifested His fruit in their lives.
Another important thing to note is that a person can't have just one and not the others. The various components of the fruit of the Spirit can be viewed as petals on a flower unfolding together.
Real fruits provide nutrients that benefits the body. Wax fruits look and taste similar but without the same beneficial properties. Do you want true love or pretentious love from people?
Another example, there are 2 types of kindness. One which comes from the heart and one which has an ulterior motive.
God wants us to have the true fruits of the Spirit, not one that is manufactured for our selfish purposes. Genuine love for men.
I am habitually fault finding and critical of my fellow man...a real negative Nancy. If I interact with God thru thought and prayer,my personality changes,my character is far more tolerable and low and behold,sometimes pleasant to be around. That is the fruit of the spirit to me. It's hard to find fault in your fellow man while dwelling on Christs' forgiveness and love towards oneself.