Sermon: June 1, 2008
"The Fruit of the Spirit is...Love"
(scripture references are clickable)
We’re beginning our summer sermon series today on the Fruit of the Spirit, the nine virtues, nine types of behaviors that Paul says a Christian will produce through the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re talking about life here – the abundant life that Jesus came to bring to us. As Ann-Margaret sang in Bye Bye, Birdie, “I’ve got a lot of living to do!” And indeed, we do have a lot of living to do! But while the world thinks living involves sin, thrills and the like, Paul shows us that real living actually consists of righteousness, obedience and virtue. Real living means living God’s way, as He originally intended us to live. Over the next nine weeks, I hope we’ll see that this is indeed real life, abundant life, life in all its fullness. For the only way to really live is to live for the Lord – and to do that, we must produce the fruit of His righteousness.
It’s appropriate that Paul talked about this in the letter to the Galatians, for there was a great controversy raging in these churches. False teachers had infiltrated their ranks and were teaching that one had to obey the law in order to be saved. Paul wrote passionately to them when he heard this controversy, teaching that we are instead saved by grace through faith and not by any works on our own part. And here, at the end of his letter, he defends his ideas against any objections, saying that his teachings do not lead to libertinism. He saw that some might say, “Hey, if we’re saved by grace, if we don’t have to obey the Law in order to be saved, then we can live as we please”. Paul refutes this, saying that because we are saved by grace, we should then shed the acts of the sinful nature, which he says are obvious: “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21, NIV). Notice most of the world’s ideas of “the good life” are included in this list!
But then, of course, when we get rid of these behaviors, of these vices, we leave a void in our lives. What do we fill that void with? Paul says we should replace these acts of the sinful nature with the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV). This is how the Christian should live; this is the fruit he or she should produce when they live in the power of the Holy Spirit. We see a great dichotomy set up here, a great struggle between these two kinds of living. Paul knows that this is a life-long struggle for us, to “keep in step with the Spirit”, to “crucify the sinful nature, with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:25, 24, NIV). Hence, our study of the Spirit’s fruit this summer. Over the next nine weeks, we’ll see the fruit of righteousness that should be ours as we live into our calling as Christians. And hopefully, we’ll grow in faith and righteousness – for we’ve got a lot of living to do!
Now, as Paul tells us what it means to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, as he lifts up these nine virtues, we see that the first is surely the most important: love. But of course, we hear a lot about love – in today’s society, that word is almost meaningless. In one breath, we can say that we love our spouse and that we love chocolate. Do we mean that in the same way? (Our spouse surely hopes not!) You’ve probably heard me speak, however, of the four Greek words for love. First was eros, from which we get our English word “erotic”. Eros was used to denote passion between a man and a woman; interestingly, it’s never used in the New Testament. Next was philia, which was used to describe brotherly love or passionate friendship. That’s why Philadelphia is called the “City of Brotherly Love”. Storge was used to describe familial love, or the love between a parent and child. And lastly, we have agape, which is the word Paul uses here. Agape was rarely used in classical Greek, but is used all the time in the New Testament. It means an unconquerable, unconditional unselfish love. No matter what happens – even in the face of lies, deceit, hurt, pain, wickedness or any manner of trouble and trial – no matter what, agape seeks the highest good for the other person. This kind of love is more than a feeling – it’s a choice, a deliberate effort. Agape involves the will as much as the heart. And it’s the foundational virtue of the Christian life. The two greatest commandments say that we should have this agape love for God and for each other. It’s the #1 fruit of the Spirit, and all the other eight are grounded in it. As Paul says elsewhere in his letters, “And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:14, NIV).
That’s sobering, friends. For we surely know that we do not live this way as we ought. Our love for God and for each other is nowhere near that unconquerable ideal – alas! But there, the apostle John helps us: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7, NIV). Did you hear that? Love comes from God. In other words, it’s not up to us to magically will this love up, to get it just right; rather, it comes from God and from God alone. Therefore, the more we have God in our lives, the more we have love in us, for John tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, NIV). For “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10, NIV). So, friends – how do we live in love? By living in the Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the change and new life that comes from Him alone. That doesn’t mean we live passively, simply receiving love from the Lord. Both Paul and John show that we put some effort into this – but all the while recognizing that what we put into practice comes from God and from Him alone. And that’s a life-long struggle. We won’t reach the end in this world. Nevertheless, we still strive to live in this agape love, both for God and for each other, the agape love He has demonstrated among us through His Son Jesus Christ.
After all, friends, this is life – real, abundant life. And real life means having an intimate fellowship, an agape relationship with our Lord and Savior, with the One who created and redeemed us. Real life means having that same kind of relationship with each other. And most importantly, real life means living God’s way, the way of the One who makes real life, living as He intended, in obedience to His Law. Other kinds of living – living according to the acts of the sinful nature – are really no living at all. They deal with punishment and fear, and John tells us “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18, NIV). These behaviors rob us of life. They promise life, fulfillment and purpose, but those promises are lies. In the end, they do not deliver. Real living, real fulfillment, real purpose, real meaning is all bound up in love – selfless, life-giving agape love. That’s what we strive for, in the power of the Holy Spirit, as we are made perfect, as we are made holy, as we live out the salvation and new life that is ours in Jesus Christ. And therefore, through this, come the other virtues that are listed as fruit of the Spirit: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Notice that Paul lists these nine as the “fruit of the Spirit”, and not as “fruits of the Spirit” – they are all one, my friends, all aspects of God’s way of life. We cannot pick and choose the ones we like; they come as a package deal – God’s way, the good life!
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love” (1 John 4:7-8, NIV). And that, my friends, is how we should live, producing the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of righteousness, the virtues that come when we know the Lord and strive to be like Him. And the greatest of these is love, agape, shown to us perfectly in Jesus Christ. He showed us a love that is strong and rigorous, a love in action, not some insipid, gooey feeling but an action, a choice. So friends, let us rise up and live in that love – for He first loved us, and in the Spirit, we have a desire to live like Him and for Him. And let us keep in step with that Spirit, who leads us and guides us into all Truth. And as we do, and as always, to God alone be the glory!