As the Spirit works in the believers, He fights for them against the flesh. Galatians 5:17 says, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these oppose each other, that you should not do those things which you desire.” This verse indicates that there is a war between the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit oppose each other. The flesh lusts against the Spirit for its own desire, and the Spirit fights against the flesh for God’s purpose. In ourselves we cannot defeat the lustful flesh. We need to trust the indwelling Spirit, who is fighting for us against the flesh.
According to Galatians 5:22 and 23, the Spirit works in the believers to bear the fruit of life in many aspects in their life: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” What the flesh does is “works” without life (v. 19); what the Spirit brings forth is “fruit,” full of life. The fruit of the Spirit, as different expressions of the Spirit who is life within us, is listed here with only nine items as illustrations. It has more items, including lowliness (Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3), compassion (Phil. 2:1), godliness (2 Pet. 1:6), righteousness (Rom. 14:17; Eph. 5:9), holiness (Eph. 4:24; Luke 1:75), purity (Matt. 5:8), and other virtues. Both in Ephesians 4:2 and Colossians 3:12 lowliness is mentioned as a virtue other than meekness, which is listed here. In Romans 14:17 righteousness, peace, and joy are all aspects of the kingdom of God today. But only peace and joy, not righteousness, are listed here. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 godliness and endurance are counted with self-control and love as characteristics of spiritual growth, but they are not listed here. In Matthew 5:5-9 righteousness, mercy, and purity are reckoned with meekness and peace as the condition of the reality of the kingdom today. However, these three virtues are not named here.
As the flesh is the expression of the old Adam, so the Spirit is the realization of Christ. Christ is actually lived out in the Spirit. The nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit listed here are the very characteristics of Christ.
The fruit of the Spirit includes the different expressions of the indwelling Spirit. After listing nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, Paul declares that “against such things there is no law” (v. 23). Notice that Paul says “such things,” not “these things.” Had he said “these things,” the fruit of the Spirit might be limited to the nine items listed in these verses. But the fact that Paul spoke of “such things” indicates that there are many more aspects than the nine he uses as illustrations.
We need to differentiate between our natural virtues and those virtues which are the fruit of the Spirit. The difference between natural virtues and the fruit of the Spirit is that the natural virtues do not have anything of the Spirit, whereas the fruit of the Spirit is full of the substance and element of the Spirit.
The result of walking by the Spirit will be the fruit of the Spirit. There is no need for us to strive to love, to keep the peace, or to be joyful. Actually, there is no need to strive to possess any of the Christian virtues. Instead, we need simply to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit. Then the fruit of the Spirit will be brought forth automatically. As we walk by the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will come forth with many aspects as virtues. These virtues are not works; they are different aspects of the expression of the unique living fruit that is produced by walking by the Spirit.
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