Radical Holy Spirit Fruit

As discussed in the previous two posts, Jesus and His disciples turned the world upside down by challenging the political, religious, and cultural norms of their time. Their teachings and way of life were so radical to the world around them that the world around them sentenced them to imprisonment, exile, and even death.  This was no surprise, as Jesus prepared His disciples with these words, "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-25).

The world will always hate the radically different ways of a child of God, and the ways of God's children will always be radically different than the ways of the world.

This tension between God's people and the outside world continues even today; for the Holy Spirit sent to believers by God dwells with us and inside of us forever, sealing us until the day of redemption at Christ's second coming. And this Spirit of God, the "world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him" (John 14:16-18). And while there is no room for unrighteous judgement of things that only God can see inside of a person, Scripture does instruct us that at times we may righteously judge a person according to fruits that are visibly produced.

The fruits of the world in the flesh look radically different than the fruit that flows from the Spirit of God in a believer, for the "desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other..." (Galatians 5:17).

Fruits of the World

The works of the flesh found in the world produce the following: "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these" (Galatians 5: 19-21). The world often boasts in these ways of life, wearing them as their primary identity while celebrating when others more deeply lose themselves in these things. 

Fruit of the Spirit

On the contrary, the "fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

You might see these two lists and think to yourself, "Well, I know plenty of proclaimed Christians who bear the fruits of the world and I know plenty of non Christians who seem to bear the fruit of the Spirit". Jesus taught that "no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit..." (Luke 6:43-45).  In other words, just because a person claims to be a child of God, if their life produces rotten fruit, that claim falls empty. On the other hand, just because a person of the world is capable of expressing similar fruit of the Spirit, without the Spirit, their love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is conditional, circumstantial, short fused, and fickle at best. 

While there is much more that could be said about the indwelling of and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it's important to mention that Jesus Himself credited everything that He taught, and every work that flowed out from Him, to the indwelling Spirit of God (John 14:10). In the same manner, Scripture declares about us that, "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." (Romans 8:9). 

To belong to God means to be indwelled by His Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that indwelled and overflowed from Jesus and His earliest disciples. To be indwelled by His Holy Spirit means to bear the radical fruit of the Spirit. For the remainder of this year, each month will be devoted to a deeper look at the biblical context of this fruit. 

2026, the year of radical living.