Message 2: ALBA- INTRODUCTION PART 2
Before we start with the first of the nine traits of the fruit of the Spirit from “A LIFE BEYOND AMAZING” (ALBA) ©️ 2017 by Dr. David P. Jeremiah, let’s consider two key aspects of the main scriptures in Galatians 5:22-23 which state:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
1. Why “fruit” not “fruits”.
A tree can produce many fruits but each fruit must have the right qualities to be called a good fruit. Some fruits may fall before harvest time, could not grow to its proper size or may be infested by worms but the maturely developed and healthy ones are the prized possessions of all planters.
Each fruit represent a believer whose goal in his abiding relationship with God is to mature in his character. The fruit of the Spirit is produced as a result of the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of every believer. It requires the believer to:
a) Walk by the Spirit- “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”- Galatians 5:16
b) Abide in Christ- “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”- John 15:4 and
c) Obey His Word- “… But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper.”- Psalm 1
2. Why singular “fruit” but with nine traits?
An apple has its seeds, flesh and skin, different parts but all in a fruit. We do not call them an apple fruit of seed, an apple fruit of flesh nor an apple fruit of skin but altogether they are called an apple.
Similarly, the fruit of the Spirit is singular but within it is made of different parts or ingredients. As long as the believer is willing to fulfil the requirements as mentioned above, the Holy Spirit will continue to help the individual believer to develop these traits, which is basically his character. The development of these traits will determine the quality of the fruit.
We cannot say that: we have the fruit of love but promoting hatred/jealousy, we have the fruit of joy but inflicting pain on others nor could we have the fruit of meekness while allowing others to abuse us. The quality of the fruit must be developed on the whole, not one apart from the other.
So, these are not nine different fruits of the Spirit but a fruit (represents a believer) in his life journey with the Holy Spirit to develop the nine traits (represents character) which will determine the quality of the life he lived.
Each fruit will serve its purpose when the quality meets the standard set by the planter. If each Christian represent a fruit and God represents the planter, do you think that our lives thus far meet the standard of God? We love to eat juicy and tasty fruits. In a way, God does too as far as our character is concern.
This brings us to the main reason why each one of us should developed the fruit of the Spirit- that our lives will please God and will stand upon good grounds when God judges us accordingly. The Bible made it very clear on this with examples like separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:24-30) and fruitful verses unfruitful branch (John 15:1-8)
Nothing beats the organic and natural way of growing healthy and juicy fruits. Therefore, in order to achieve that spiritually, we must develop all the nine traits through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. It is not just a matter of doing good works as non-believers can do that too. We must abide in Christ in order for the Spirit to impart the character of Christ to you and through you.