Fruit of The Spirit Pt 1
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
LOVE
Text: Galatians 5
GALATIANS 5 -
After Paul discusses the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, he begins to describe the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in a believer’s life.
In Galatians 5:22 and 23, he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.…”
Just as Paul previously described the works of the flesh, now he tells us what the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us — and what a contrast there is between the flesh and the Spirit!
The flesh produces “works” — from the Greek word ergos, which implies hard work or hard labor.
Life dominated by the flesh is filled with excess, imbalance, unhealthy extremes, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect.
The flesh still cries out to be in charge, screaming demanding to have its own way.
A ife dominated by the Holy Spirit is filled with benefits and blessings!
The word “fruit” is from the Greek word karpos, which describes the fruit of plants, the fruit of trees, or the fruit of one’s body, such as a person’s children or offspring.
Regardless of whether it is a plant, an animal, or a human, all fruit is produced from some kind of seed.
If there is no seed, there is no fruit — and the kind of seed that is sown determines the fruit that will be produced (Genesis 1:11,12).
Apples always produce apples; oranges always produce oranges; dogs always produce dogs; cats always produce cats; humans always produce humans.
The seed determines the fruit.
The moment you received Jesus as your Savior by faith, God sowed His Spirit and Word into your heart like a seed, and you were spiritually born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23).
Just like apples always produce apples and oranges always produce oranges, God’s seed inside you immediately began to produce God!
The seed determines the fruit.
Does a vinedresser worry that his grapevines might produce oranges?
No!!
He knows that grapevines only produce grapes.
Does the owner of an orange grove run to the orchard to see if his trees produced watermelons? He knows his trees will produce oranges because orange trees only produce oranges.
If you to grow watermelons, you have to plant watermelon seeds. Once those watermelon seeds are in the ground, you will eventually get watermelons.
The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm.
To get what you want, you have to plant the right seed because seed always produces fruit after its kind.
So if God has sown His Spirit and His Word into your heart, you have every right to expect divine fruit to be produced inside you!
The fruit that the Spirit produces is wonderful, godly fruit, overflowing with blessings and life.
Once they partake of the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance that is evident in your life, people will want to be around you.
When the New Testament was being written, there were four primary Greek words to describe the concept of “love”: 1) eros, 2) stergo, 3) phileo, and 4) agape.
These four words conveyed four very different types of love.
The first word for “love” in the list given above is the Greek word eros, which is the Greek term for sexual love and where we get the word erotic.
In Greek culture, this word referred to sensual, carnal impulses to satisfy or gratify the sexual desires of the flesh.
It shares a common root with the word erao, which means to ask, to beg, or to demand.
Eros is not a giving type of love, but a sexual demand. It is not a love that seeks to give or to please someone else, but a carnal love that seeks the fulfillment of its own desires.
This word never appears once in the New Testament, not even in the context of sex in marriage.
Even in Greek culture, the word eros represented a carnal, raw, base, low-level craving, yearning, ache, or appetite for sexual fulfillment.
This type of “love” is based on the flesh desire and is not close to anything God has for us and is never included in New Testament language.
In the New Testament, regardless of whether the context is friendship, brotherhood, or romance, all believers are urged to continually operate from the perspective of agape love, which is a love more focused on giving than it is on receiving.
Because the word eros primarily describes a self-satisfying, self-gratifying, self-seeking, self-pleasing type of sexual appetite found mainly among unbelievers or those who are focused on themselves, it is not the type of love that believers should aspire to in their marital lives.
The second word for “love” mentioned in the list above is the Greek word stergo. The word stergo primarily pictures the love that exists between parents and children or the love that exists between members of a family. One scholar has noted that on occasion, the word stergo portrayed the love of a nation for its ruler or even the love of a dog for its master. The idea of the word stergo is that of devotion.
Although the word stergo does appear in the New Testament, it is very rarely used.
2 Timothy 3:3, where the King James Version translates it “without natural affection.”
This suggests a time that will develop in the last days when strong family ties and devotion to one’s family will deteriorate.
By using this word in a negative sense, the apostle Paul warns that one of the principal signs of the last times will be the deterioration of the family and of traditional family values.
The third word for “love” is the Greek word phileo, which describes affection — such as the affection felt between a boyfriend and girlfriend or the affection shared between two friends.
It carries the idea of two or more people who feel compatible, well-matched, well-suited, and complementary to each other.
Although this word describes the attributes of friendship, it is not representative of the highest form of love, which is agape.
Other words derived from the word phileo are numerous. Here are a few of them:
philadelphia: a compound of phileo and adelphos, the Greek word for a brother. When these two words are compounded together, it means brotherly love.
philodonos: a compound of phileo and edone, the Greek word for pleasure. When compounded together, it means one who is a lover of pleasure.
philoxenos: a compound of phileo and xenos, the Greek word for strangers or foreigners. When compounded together in this form, it carries the idea of one who loves to be hospitable.
philoxenia: similar to the word above, which means one who loves strangers. However, the word philoxenia places more emphasis on love for the person in need of hospitality.
philanthropia: a compound of phileo and anthropos, the Greek word for mankind. Compounded together, it means one who loves or who is kind to mankind.
philarguros: a compound of phileo and arguros, which is the Greek word for silver. Compounded together, it means one who is covetous or one who loves money.
philosophia: a compound of phileo and sophos, which is the famous Greek word for wisdom. When these two words are compounded together into one, it becomes the word philosophy, which is a love of wisdom.
The fourth word for “love” is the word chiefly used in the New Testament to depict the love of God.
This is the Greek word agape — and it is this word that Paul uses in Galatians 5:22 when he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.…”
This is what I call high-level love, for there is no higher, finer, or more excellent love than agape love.
In fact, the word agape is so filled with deep emotion and meaning that it is one of the most difficult words to translate in the New Testament.
Trying to explain this word has baffled translators for centuries.
Agape occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, and appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object or person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation.
This respect is awakened in the heart of the observer for the object or person he is beholding that he is compelled to love it.
In fact, his love for that person or object is so strong that it is irresistible.
The best example of agape is found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In the phrase, “For God so loved the world,” the word “love” is the word agape.
This means when God looked upon the human race, He stood in awe of mankind, even though man was lost in sin.
God admired man; He wondered at man; He held mankind in the highest appreciation.
Even though we were held captive by Satan at that moment, God looked upon the world and saw His own image in man.
The human race was so precious to God and He loved us so deeply that His heart was stirred to reach out and do something to save him. In other words, God’s love drove Him to action.
Agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient.
If necessary, agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes.
Agape is the highest form of love — a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action.
Eros is a self-seeking love.
Stergo is limited only to one’s family.
Phileo is based on mutual satisfaction and can feel disappointed.
Agape is a love that has no strings attached.
It isn’t looking for what it can get, but for what it can give.
Its awe of the one who is loved is so deep that it is compelled to shower love upon that object or person regardless of the response.
This is the profound love God has for us.
He loved us while we were still lost in sin with no ability to love Him back.
God simply loved us without any thought or expectation of receiving love in return.
When you love with such a pure love that you expect nothing back in return, it is impossible for you to feel hurt or be let down by the response of the you love.
You don’t love them for the purpose of getting something in return; you shower them with love simply because you love them.
1 John 3:16
This plainly means that we are to love and appreciate each other just as fully and freely as God loves us.
The Father loved us to the point of self-sacrifice.
Jesus’ agape drove Him to lay down His life for us.
In the same way, we are to agape our brothers and sisters to such a high extent that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them.
If we are truly operating in agape and they don’t respond, it won’t offend or hurt us. We are not looking for what others can do for us; we are simply focused on how to love others with no strings attached.
The way other people respond to us has no effect on our desire to show them agape love.
1 John 3:18
The word “love” is again the word agape, which tells us that when agape is at work, it is a force so strong that it demonstrates itself with deeds and actions.
It is a love that does something, just as God loved us and then did something to save us from our lost and sinful condition.
1 Cor. 13
Matthew 5:43-48
Romans 2:4
GALATIANS 5 -
After Paul discusses the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21, he begins to describe the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in a believer’s life.
In Galatians 5:22 and 23, he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.…”
Just as Paul previously described the works of the flesh, now he tells us what the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us — and what a contrast there is between the flesh and the Spirit!
The flesh produces “works” — from the Greek word ergos, which implies hard work or hard labor.
Life dominated by the flesh is filled with excess, imbalance, unhealthy extremes, laziness, self-abuse, hatred, strife, bitterness, irresponsibility, and neglect.
The flesh still cries out to be in charge, screaming demanding to have its own way.
A ife dominated by the Holy Spirit is filled with benefits and blessings!
The word “fruit” is from the Greek word karpos, which describes the fruit of plants, the fruit of trees, or the fruit of one’s body, such as a person’s children or offspring.
Regardless of whether it is a plant, an animal, or a human, all fruit is produced from some kind of seed.
If there is no seed, there is no fruit — and the kind of seed that is sown determines the fruit that will be produced (Genesis 1:11,12).
Apples always produce apples; oranges always produce oranges; dogs always produce dogs; cats always produce cats; humans always produce humans.
The seed determines the fruit.
The moment you received Jesus as your Savior by faith, God sowed His Spirit and Word into your heart like a seed, and you were spiritually born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23).
Just like apples always produce apples and oranges always produce oranges, God’s seed inside you immediately began to produce God!
The seed determines the fruit.
Does a vinedresser worry that his grapevines might produce oranges?
No!!
He knows that grapevines only produce grapes.
Does the owner of an orange grove run to the orchard to see if his trees produced watermelons? He knows his trees will produce oranges because orange trees only produce oranges.
If you to grow watermelons, you have to plant watermelon seeds. Once those watermelon seeds are in the ground, you will eventually get watermelons.
The same principle holds true in the spiritual realm.
To get what you want, you have to plant the right seed because seed always produces fruit after its kind.
So if God has sown His Spirit and His Word into your heart, you have every right to expect divine fruit to be produced inside you!
The fruit that the Spirit produces is wonderful, godly fruit, overflowing with blessings and life.
Once they partake of the love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance that is evident in your life, people will want to be around you.
When the New Testament was being written, there were four primary Greek words to describe the concept of “love”: 1) eros, 2) stergo, 3) phileo, and 4) agape.
These four words conveyed four very different types of love.
The first word for “love” in the list given above is the Greek word eros, which is the Greek term for sexual love and where we get the word erotic.
In Greek culture, this word referred to sensual, carnal impulses to satisfy or gratify the sexual desires of the flesh.
It shares a common root with the word erao, which means to ask, to beg, or to demand.
Eros is not a giving type of love, but a sexual demand. It is not a love that seeks to give or to please someone else, but a carnal love that seeks the fulfillment of its own desires.
This word never appears once in the New Testament, not even in the context of sex in marriage.
Even in Greek culture, the word eros represented a carnal, raw, base, low-level craving, yearning, ache, or appetite for sexual fulfillment.
This type of “love” is based on the flesh desire and is not close to anything God has for us and is never included in New Testament language.
In the New Testament, regardless of whether the context is friendship, brotherhood, or romance, all believers are urged to continually operate from the perspective of agape love, which is a love more focused on giving than it is on receiving.
Because the word eros primarily describes a self-satisfying, self-gratifying, self-seeking, self-pleasing type of sexual appetite found mainly among unbelievers or those who are focused on themselves, it is not the type of love that believers should aspire to in their marital lives.
The second word for “love” mentioned in the list above is the Greek word stergo. The word stergo primarily pictures the love that exists between parents and children or the love that exists between members of a family. One scholar has noted that on occasion, the word stergo portrayed the love of a nation for its ruler or even the love of a dog for its master. The idea of the word stergo is that of devotion.
Although the word stergo does appear in the New Testament, it is very rarely used.
2 Timothy 3:3, where the King James Version translates it “without natural affection.”
This suggests a time that will develop in the last days when strong family ties and devotion to one’s family will deteriorate.
By using this word in a negative sense, the apostle Paul warns that one of the principal signs of the last times will be the deterioration of the family and of traditional family values.
The third word for “love” is the Greek word phileo, which describes affection — such as the affection felt between a boyfriend and girlfriend or the affection shared between two friends.
It carries the idea of two or more people who feel compatible, well-matched, well-suited, and complementary to each other.
Although this word describes the attributes of friendship, it is not representative of the highest form of love, which is agape.
Other words derived from the word phileo are numerous. Here are a few of them:
philadelphia: a compound of phileo and adelphos, the Greek word for a brother. When these two words are compounded together, it means brotherly love.
philodonos: a compound of phileo and edone, the Greek word for pleasure. When compounded together, it means one who is a lover of pleasure.
philoxenos: a compound of phileo and xenos, the Greek word for strangers or foreigners. When compounded together in this form, it carries the idea of one who loves to be hospitable.
philoxenia: similar to the word above, which means one who loves strangers. However, the word philoxenia places more emphasis on love for the person in need of hospitality.
philanthropia: a compound of phileo and anthropos, the Greek word for mankind. Compounded together, it means one who loves or who is kind to mankind.
philarguros: a compound of phileo and arguros, which is the Greek word for silver. Compounded together, it means one who is covetous or one who loves money.
philosophia: a compound of phileo and sophos, which is the famous Greek word for wisdom. When these two words are compounded together into one, it becomes the word philosophy, which is a love of wisdom.
The fourth word for “love” is the word chiefly used in the New Testament to depict the love of God.
This is the Greek word agape — and it is this word that Paul uses in Galatians 5:22 when he writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.…”
This is what I call high-level love, for there is no higher, finer, or more excellent love than agape love.
In fact, the word agape is so filled with deep emotion and meaning that it is one of the most difficult words to translate in the New Testament.
Trying to explain this word has baffled translators for centuries.
Agape occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, and appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object or person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation.
This respect is awakened in the heart of the observer for the object or person he is beholding that he is compelled to love it.
In fact, his love for that person or object is so strong that it is irresistible.
The best example of agape is found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
In the phrase, “For God so loved the world,” the word “love” is the word agape.
This means when God looked upon the human race, He stood in awe of mankind, even though man was lost in sin.
God admired man; He wondered at man; He held mankind in the highest appreciation.
Even though we were held captive by Satan at that moment, God looked upon the world and saw His own image in man.
The human race was so precious to God and He loved us so deeply that His heart was stirred to reach out and do something to save him. In other words, God’s love drove Him to action.
Agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient.
If necessary, agape love will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes.
Agape is the highest form of love — a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action.
Eros is a self-seeking love.
Stergo is limited only to one’s family.
Phileo is based on mutual satisfaction and can feel disappointed.
Agape is a love that has no strings attached.
It isn’t looking for what it can get, but for what it can give.
Its awe of the one who is loved is so deep that it is compelled to shower love upon that object or person regardless of the response.
This is the profound love God has for us.
He loved us while we were still lost in sin with no ability to love Him back.
God simply loved us without any thought or expectation of receiving love in return.
When you love with such a pure love that you expect nothing back in return, it is impossible for you to feel hurt or be let down by the response of the you love.
You don’t love them for the purpose of getting something in return; you shower them with love simply because you love them.
1 John 3:16
This plainly means that we are to love and appreciate each other just as fully and freely as God loves us.
The Father loved us to the point of self-sacrifice.
Jesus’ agape drove Him to lay down His life for us.
In the same way, we are to agape our brothers and sisters to such a high extent that we would be willing to lay down our lives for them.
If we are truly operating in agape and they don’t respond, it won’t offend or hurt us. We are not looking for what others can do for us; we are simply focused on how to love others with no strings attached.
The way other people respond to us has no effect on our desire to show them agape love.
1 John 3:18
The word “love” is again the word agape, which tells us that when agape is at work, it is a force so strong that it demonstrates itself with deeds and actions.
It is a love that does something, just as God loved us and then did something to save us from our lost and sinful condition.
1 Cor. 13
Matthew 5:43-48
Romans 2:4
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