- Negative goodness is not the Spirit filled life. The legalist boasts that he does not commit adultery, drink or murder, but there is no beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit in his life.
- Human goodness is not the Spirit filled life. Many people do good things – they share, help in trouble, sympathize and even sacrifice – but there is no beauty and touch of God in their lives. Illus: The Greeks stressed the 4 cardinals of virtue: justice, fortitude, courage, and loyalty. These are noble human qualities but they lack the warmth, the heart, the joy, the life, the beauty, of the fruit. That is, they lack the touch of God. In a word, negative goodness and human goodness, are the works of man (the flesh), whereas fruit is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
The contrast between “works” and “fruit” is important. A machine in a factory “works”, and turns out a product, but it could never manufacture fruit. Fruit must grow out of life, and, in the case of the believer, it is the life of the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). When you think of “works” you think of effort, labor, strain, and toil; when you think of “fruit” you think of beauty, quietness, the unfolding of life. The flesh produces “dead works” (Heb. 9:14), but the Spirit produces living fruit. And this fruit has in it the seed for still more fruit (Gen. 1:11). Love begets more love! Joy helps to produce more Joy! Jesus is concerned that we produce “fruit… more fruit… much fruit” (John 15:2, 5), because this is the way we glorify Him. The old nature cannot produce fruit; only the new nature can do that. It is unfortunate that an overemphasis on gifts has led some Christians to neglect the graces of the Spirit.
Fruit grows in a climate blessed with an abundance of the Spirit and the Word. “Walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25) means “keep in step with the Spirit” – not run ahead and not to lag behind. This involves the Word, prayer, worship, praise, and fellowship with God’s people. It also means “pulling out the weeds” so that the seed of the Word can take root and bear fruit.
We must remember that this fruit is produced to be eaten, not to be admired and put on display. People around us are starving for love, joy, peace, and all the other graces of the Spirit. When they find them in our lives, they know we have something they lack. We do not bear fruit for our own consumption; we bear fruit that others might be fed and helped, and that Christ might be glorified. The flesh may manufacture “results” that bring praise to us, but the flesh cannot bear fruit that brings glory to God. It takes patience, an atmosphere of the Spirit, walking in the light, the seed of the Word of God, and a sincere desire to honor Christ. In short, the secret is the Holy Spirit. He alone can give us that wonderful fruit.
Don’t let the works (“the weeds”) of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-20) choke out the fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) of the Holy Spirit.
But how do you “pull out” the weeds? Remember: the flesh produces the weeds, and the flesh must be dealt with. How? The flesh cannot be improved or controlled. It must be crucified and crucifixion is one death a man cannot inflict on himself. God tells us the flesh has already been crucified at the cross. When one accepts Christ, he is identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. Christ not only died for me, I died with Christ. Christ died for me to remove the penalty of sin, but I died with Christ to break the power of sin. It’s our responsibility to believe this and act upon it (Rom. 6:11, Col. 3:5).
But only through the Holy Spirit can we “put to death” the works that the flesh produces through our body (Rom. 8:13). Thus the Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of life but also the Spirit of death. He enables us to reckon ourselves dead to sin (the flesh) and empowers us to pull out the ugly weeds of the flesh and make way for the beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit.