The Holy Spirit Bringing Forth In The Believer Christ- Like Graces Of Character

True Christ-like character, described as the "fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5:22-23, is produced not by human effort but by the Holy Spirit when He is given full control of the believer's life. The works of the flesh naturally produce sin, but the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, and other Christ-like qualities.

Believers must surrender self-effort and depend entirely on the Holy Spirit to cultivate these graces.

There is a singular charm that one can scarcely explain, in the words of Paul in Galatians 5:22- 23, “The f ruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law.” What a catalogue we have here of lovely moral characteristics. Paul tells us that they are the fruit of the Spirit; that is, if the Holy Spirit is given control of our lives, this is the fruit that He will bear. All real beauty of character, all real Christlikeness in us, is the Holy Spirit's work; it is His fruit; He produces it; He bears it, not us.

It is well to notice that these graces are not said to be the fruits of the Spirit but the fruit, i.e. , if the Spirit is given control of our life, He will not bear one of these as fruit in one person and another as fruit in another person, but this will be the one fruit of many flavours that He produces in each one. There is also a unity of origin running throughout the multiplicity of manifestation. It is a beautiful life that is outlined in these verses. Every word is worthy of earnest study and profound meditat ion. Think of these words one by one: “joy”, “peace”, “longsuffering”, “kindness”, “goodness,” or “faithfulness.” Faith is the better translation if properly understood. The word is deeper than faithfulness.

It is a real faith that results in faithfulness. “meekness,” “temperance” (or a life under perfect control by the power of the Holy Spirit). We have here a perfect picture of the life of Jesus Christ Himself. Isn't this the life that we all long for, the Christ-like life? But this life is not natural to us and is not attainable by us by any effort of what we are in ourselves.

The life that is natural to us is outlined in the three preceding verses: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, conflicts, jealousies, angers, divisions, heresies, envying, drunkenness, revellings and such like” (Galatians 5:21). All these works of the flesh will not manifest themselves in each individual; some will manifest themselves in one, others in others, but they have one common source, the flesh, and if we live in the flesh, this is the kind of a life that we will live.

It is the life that is natural to us, but when the indwelling Spirit is given full control in the one He inhabits, when we are brought to realize the utter badness of the flesh and give up in hopeless despair of ever attaining to anything in its power, when, in other words, we come to the end of ourselves, and just give over the whole work of making us what we ought to be to the indwelling Holy Spirit, then these holy graces of character, which are outlined in Galatians 5:22-23, are His fruit in our lives. Do you wish these graces in your character and life? Then renounce self utterly and all its strivings after holiness, give up any thought that you can ever attain to anything morally beautiful in your strength, and let the Holy Spirit, who already dwells in you (if you are a child of God), take full control and bear His glorious fruit in your daily life.

We get the sam e thought from a different point of view in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself f or me.” We hear a great deal these days about “Ethical Culture,” which usually means the cultivation of the flesh until it bears the fruit of the Spirit. It cannot be done; no more than thorns can be made to bear figs and the bramble bush grapes (Luke 6:44, Matthew 12:33).

We also hear a great deal about “character building.” That if you bear in mind that the Holy Spirit must do the building, and even then, it is not so much building as fruit-bearing. (See, however, 2 Peter 1:5-7) We also hear a great deal about “cultivating graces of character,” but we must always bear it clearly in mind that the way to cultivate true graces of character is by submitting ourselves utterly to the Spirit to do His work and bear His fruit. This is “sanctification of the Spirit ” (1 Peter 1:2-2, 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

There is a sense, however, in which cultivating graces of character is right., we look at Jesus Christ to see what He is and what we therefore ought to be; then we look to the Holy Spirit to make us this tha t we ought to be and thus, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Settle it, ho wever, clearly and forever that the flesh can never bear this fruit, that you can never attain to these things by your effort that they are “ the fruit of the Spirit .”