The Fruit of the Spirit: Incarnational Displays of the Divine

At our church, we are in the process of studying the Fruit of the Spirit, recorded by the Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5.

²³"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (vs. 22-23)

Over the past several weeks our Pastor has led us through a study of each of these fruit, defining them, discussing their respective qualities, as well as their practical application, relating them to various biblical stories and/or passages where they are clearly visible.

This series has been interesting, challenging, and above all, thought provoking. It has led my wife and I to re-examine our lives in light of these fruit, honestly appraising the extent to which we exhibit them in our lives as a whole. I'd be less than honest if I said that I've not suffered some deep conviction through this process, realizing that in many areas of my life, as it relates to these virtues, there's just so much room for improvement.



During this study, I have spent allot of time in the fifth chapter of Galatians seeking to better apprehend what Paul is saying. Therein, Paul brilliantly constructs two poles, diametric opposites forever locked in enmity against one another. On the one side, there is what I do--works of the flesh; on the other side there is what God does--fruit of the Spirit. There's no ambiguity in his language. The works of the flesh are those things that are inherent to unredeemed humanity with its total lack of capacity to please God. Here, I am reminded of what Paul said in Romans 7:18 as he reflects upon his understanding of this enmity present in his very own humanity, admitting that in his flesh there was nothing good, absolutely no redeemable qualities.

I think this leads us to the most fundamental consideration that we must observe when reflecting upon the Fruit of the Spirit; that is, it is the Fruit of the Spirit. These are characteristics that are not native to our unregenerate nature. We do not arrive at these dispositional ideals simply by means of spiritual maturity. Now, I certainly do not want to discredit the importance of spiritual development, but there is a supernatural quality inherent to this Fruit that must not be overlooked. Take patience, for instance. It may logically follow that the more we practice patience, the more patient we will become. And, there is a great a great deal of truth to this. However, this correlation is only one side of the equation. Another side, and one that I think is often overlooked, is that regardless of how long we've been a Christian, the kind of patience that Paul is talking about is not a natural part of our human composition. In contrast, it is a part of God's divine nature. And this leads us to a conclusion that is extremely important for us to understand: that is, the only way we can truly experience these virtues is through the act of surrender.

To qualify this, Paul frames his discussion of the Spirit's Fruit by commending to us the sovereignty of God (be led by the Spirit) on one side, and the virtues of crucifixion on the other. Both are analogous of surrender. The reason why this is so important is that the Fruit of the Spirit are incarnational in nature. The idea is that through God's grace we can reflect these virtues, inherently divine, and this can only occur as we surrender ourselves to God. In other words, these Fruit are His, and their occurrence within us, their quality and durability, is in direct proportion to the depth of and consistency of our willingness to surrender.

The God kind of patience, joy, peace, etc, is beyond us. But, in surrender, the potentiality of these Fruit being incarnated within our lives is equally as great at any point along the trajectory of our spiritual development, subject only to the act of surrender. And, this surrender is not a one time event. We must daily make this decision to lay aside our fleshy inclinations and allow God's spirit to vivify, to animate our faith and declare these virtues to the world around us.

As previously stated, I do not want to discredit the correlation between spiritual maturity and these Fruit, because naturally, the more we surrender, the more normal it will become. Hopefully, the longer we stay on the Cross, the more we will be willing to remain there. There is truth in this humanistic approach, but it is not the entire truth. There is a dynamic dimension in which God inserts Himself into our human existence, proportionate to human acquiescence, wherein His nature becomes ours.


Fundamentally, the Fruit are His and in so much as they occur within us, they are incarnational: visible evidences of God's Spirit animating our spirit and doing in us what we can not do for ourselves, which is in essence, the very heart of incarnation. Once again, we are speaking of what God does. His kind of faithfulness, His kind of peace, displayed within the context of our humanness; something occurring within us which is not natural, nor a normal part of our native human constitution. It is, as Paul states in Colossians, God in us... (1:27)

The presence of these ambrosial characteristics in our lives are visual evidences of our participation in God's divine nature. Just as Jesus, in the language of the author of Hebrews, was “the reflection of God's glory and exact imprint of God's very being” (He. 1:3), in like manner, we have the potential through the Spirit to reflect God's character in the world. Through this, the world experiences the love of the God, the patience of God, the peace of God, et al., through us. The Fruit of the Spirit are reflections of God in tangible reality. Just as the Logos (Word) of John's gospel became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14), we are incarnational extensions of Christ, verified by the work of God's Spirit accomplishing through us that which we, alone, are incapable of doing.

Since these fruit are incarnational, it is imperative that we take a top down approach toward the fruit of the Spirit. A humanistic bottom up approach will not suffice (it is not what we do, but what he does through us). Sure, we see these qualities modeled everyday through people who make no particular confession of faith, but this is solely a product of the divine spark, the image of God from which all humanity has its origin. Anything good or perfect is from above, according to James (James 1:17). However, without being in proper relationship to the originator of these qualities, they can be experienced only in a small way and their effects upon the world will be minimal. To have these qualities in their fullest capacity is to have Christ in all of his fullness, which is possible only through the work of the Holy Spirit who takes that which is of God and applies it within us and through us.

This revelation allows us to understand that cultivating the fruit of the Spirit within our lives is not simply practicing some external characteristics or trying to measure up to a particular standard, but it is rather the experience of allowing God to live in us and through us. Having been created in the image of God, the potentiality of being like God exist within us in embryonic form prior to our conversion, but our conversion begins the limitless metamorphosis wherein we are becoming more like God in every aspect of our being. Therefore, it is the reality of this treasure that we have in our earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7), for the purpose of more than our own personal enrichment, but ultimately affording for the enrichment of all those who come into our sphere of influence.

To further illustrate, the divine Christ was not displayed to the world for the sole benefit of God himself. Those who beheld him were moved so far beyond the simple awe of having seen God in the flesh. On the contrary, the beauty of it all was that they were touched by and through his qualities; those needing joy were touched by joy unspeakable; those needing peace were touched by peace that passes understanding, and so on. We, through the power of the Spirit, pregnant with these qualities, become Christ to those in our spheres of influence. These fruit enable us to bring God into the world around us.

Consenquently, they are not just measurements whereby we gauge our personal spiritual development. As previously stated, our capacity to bear these fruit is not solely the product of practice and spiritual maturity, but it is only through the vehicle of spiritual surrender. The shadow of the cross in the only environment for the development of these fruit. The "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing" (Lk 23:34) is compelled by the surrender of the cross. It is the casting aside of our own inadequacies and the taking upon ourselves the very divine nature of God. It is not abstract, not simply spiritual language, but it is the exhibition of these divine attributes that encompasses all that the world longs for and needs.

In conclusion, it really is true that we are the only Jesus that many in the world will ever know. And, what they need, is a genuine encounter with the fruit of Christ, his genuine character. We, through the power of God's spirit can become that for them, as we surrender ourselves to God and allow his character to become ours. Rather than measurements for maturity, these fruit will become the incarnational realities through which the very needs of those around us are met. May God help us to surrender and take upon ourselves His nature through which we can be ministers of God's grace to those in our world.