The Fruit of Freedom

May 29, 2022 Background Scripture: Galatians 5:16 - 26 Lesson Passage: Galatians 5:16 - 26 Many trees look similar during the winter months. Some are still difficult to distinguish from others as they begin to bud and leaf during the spring. However, when harvest time arrives, mature trees are easier to classify because the fruit they bear makes it evident. Prior to the season of harvest, we only judge trees by their exterior characteristics. Many trees have very similar exterior characteristics. Fruit is produced externally from materials that come from within the tree. Put another way, the fruit of a tree is indicative of what is inside the tree. I believe Paul had this in mind when he wrote about the fruit of the Spirit. We cannot look at people's exterior and ascertain what is inside of them. On Sunday, most people dress and look like what we expect Christians to look like on Sunday. Of course, that's just a church environment. If someone comes to church for the first time, it is normally obvious. We know what church people tend to look like, and we assume that church people are Christians. Therein lies the problem. Assumptions are not necessarily based on facts. "True" Christians all have one thing in common, the indwelling Spirit of Christ. No matter what we look like on the outside, this is true of all Christians. The indwelling Spirit of Christ within us brings us freedom from the Law of sin and death. Only through the grace of God are we saved and given the Spirit as the guarantee of eternal life in the presence of Christ. One of the great things about having the Spirit of Christ is the fruit He produces in us. We don't need to wait for a season of harvest because Spiritual fruit is always in season. Neither do we need to wait until Sunday to determine who is who. In this world, Christians can be identified by the fruit they produce. Jesus taught this same principle relative to the vine and the fruit it produce. Paul describes the fruit of the Spirit in our Lesson Passage. Note that Paul did not write about "fruits" but the "fruit". Therefore, what Paul lists is not various fruits but various characteristics of Spiritual fruit. Spiritual fruit is described as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are made evident the more we endeavor to walk in the Spirit. We accomplish this by depending on the Spirit to guide us daily. We pray, deny ourselves, and focus on the needs of others more than ourselves. We surrender our will to the will of God. Otherwise, life is a constant struggle for a Christian. Our flesh rebels against the things of God. Our flesh lusts to satisfy itself with no regards for the needs of others. This struggle is made known to us by the Law. What the Law declares we should do is what our flesh resists doing. What the Law says we should not do is what our flesh desires to do. When we allow our flesh to be satisfied in the things that it wants, it produces its own fruit. That fruit is manifest through adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and others of that ilk. Note that these are the things that become addictive to the flesh. That is because all of these will lead you into spiritual bondage. Only through the Spirit of Christ will those chains be broken, and freedom loosed within the person. When that freedom is allowed to take control, then the fruit of freedom is evident. Robert C. Hudson May 2, 2022