The Fruit Of The Spirit

To walk in the Spirit means to live the whole Christian life under the Holy Spirit's leading and power, step by step. Paul writes, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16, NKJV). It is not a single decision but a continual habit of dependence. Dr. Holt stresses that the Christian life is a Spirit-empowered walk, not self-improvement. The promise is that this walk genuinely restrains the flesh's desires.

The works of the flesh are the visible deeds our sinful nature produces on its own: "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred..." (Galatians 5:19-20, NKJV). The fruit of the Spirit is what the Holy Spirit grows in believers: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV). Paul calls one "works" and the other "fruit" deliberately. Works are manufactured by the flesh; fruit is cultivated by the Spirit in those united to Christ.

Paul writes "the fruit of the Spirit is," not "the fruits are." The nine qualities form one unified harvest, not a menu from which believers select favorites. John Calvin observed that those who truly belong to Christ bear all of this fruit, to one degree or another, because the same Spirit produces every part. Love stands first because the rest are expressions of it. The grammar teaches that genuine sanctification is whole, never partial or selective.

No. Galatians as a whole defends justification by faith alone, apart from works of the law. The fruit of the Spirit is the result of salvation, never its ground. The Westminster Confession (11.2) teaches that faith alone justifies, yet that faith is never alone but always works by love. Holiness flows from those already declared righteous in Christ. To make the fruit the cause of justification would overturn the entire argument of the letter.

Paul describes an ongoing conflict inside every believer: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another" (Galatians 5:17, NKJV). The Christian still carries indwelling sin, and the Spirit opposes it. Dr. Holt calls sanctification the real fight, in which believers must actively strive against the flesh. This war does not prove someone is unsaved; rather, the very presence of the struggle shows the Spirit is at work.

Paul writes, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24, NKJV). This is mortification: the deliberate putting to death of sin. Reformed theology distinguishes the decisive break with sin's reign at conversion from the ongoing daily killing of remaining sin. The Westminster Confession (13.1) teaches that sanctification puts to death the lusts of the body. It is real and definitive, yet still pursued throughout the believer's life.

Sanctification is the Spirit's work, but it is never passive. Dr. Holt emphasizes that putting the flesh to death is intentional, not automatic. Paul commands, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25, NKJV). The Westminster Confession (13.3) teaches that the regenerate part prevails through the continual supply of strength from the Spirit. Believers labor, yet every gain is grace. God works in us, and therefore we work.

Because the flesh and the world remain real enemies. Paul closes, "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another" (Galatians 5:26, NKJV). Dr. Holt describes this as refusing to rest in enemy territory: the believer stays watchful because sin is not yet eradicated. Spiritual complacency invites defeat. The fruit grows in those who keep walking, keep watching, and keep depending on the Spirit rather than assuming the battle is over.

Natural virtue can look similar outwardly, but Galatians 5 grounds true fruit in the indwelling Holy Spirit and union with Christ. Paul says, "Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:23, NKJV), because the Spirit produces what the law commanded but could never create. The hook of this sermon is that the Spirit does not merely restrain sin; He bears fruit the law could never produce. The source, not just the appearance, defines genuine Christian character.

It offers a gentle test. The growing presence of the Spirit's fruit gives evidence that someone belongs to Christ, while a settled, unrepentant pattern of the works of the flesh is a sobering warning (Galatians 5:21, NKJV). Assurance rests on Christ's finished work, yet fruit confirms it. Calvin noted that all who are Christ's bear this fruit in some measure. Believers should look for the Spirit's harvest as a sign of genuine, saving faith.