The eighth item in Galatians 5, for example, is meekness, which in the Greek text is prautes. Ephesians 4:2 speaks of “all lowliness and meekness.” Here meekness is the same Greek word as in Galatians 5:23. In addition to meekness, however, there is lowliness, which in Greek means “humility of mind.” This is the same Greek word used in Philippians 2:3 and Colossians 3:12, which also mentions meekness. According to the text of these verses, lowliness and meekness are two different items. Galatians 5 speaks of meekness, but it does not mention lowliness or humility. Since lowliness is omitted from Galatians 5, the nine items mentioned there are not all the items of the fruit of the Spirit.
Second Peter 1:5-6 says, “And for this very reason also, adding all diligence, supply bountifully in your faith virtue; and in virtue, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, endurance; and in endurance, godliness.” Galatians 5 speaks of self-control, but it does not speak of godliness. Godliness is in addition to the nine items there.
Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 5:9 also mentions righteousness and truth. Galatians 5, however, speaks of joy and peace but not of righteousness and truth. Moreover, in Ephesians 4:24 there is righteousness and holiness, but Galatians 5 does not mention holiness. In addition, Matthew 5:5 and 9 speak of meekness and peace, while verse 6 speaks of righteousness, and verse 8 speaks of purity. Galatians 5, however, mentions peace and meekness but not righteousness and purity.
According to the above verses, at least lowliness, godliness, righteousness, truth, holiness, and purity are not mentioned in Galatians 5. There is no reason to doubt that these also are items of the fruit of the Spirit. This proves that the nine items mentioned in this chapter are not all the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. We should not believe that there are only nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as life within us. There are many more than nine. To think that there are only nine is to be careless. We must be careful in studying and understanding the Word. If we understand it carelessly, we will hinder ourselves and damage others.
Galatians 5 tells us that the Holy Spirit within us is the Spirit of life who brings forth spiritual fruit with many aspects, including the nine aspects mentioned here and others. The apostle’s intention is not to tell us how many aspects of the fruit of the Spirit there are. There is no need to do this. His intention is to tell us the difference between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit as life within us. In order to do this, he illustrates by listing a certain number of the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, we should not say that the items of the fruit of the Spirit are only nine. Rather, we can clearly prove that there are more than nine.
All the foregoing prove how careless some people are in understanding the Scriptures. In some places, people list the nine items in Galatians 5 on a chart and call them the nine fruits. They say that all the fruits are nine in number; love is one fruit, joy is another fruit, peace is another fruit, long-suffering is another fruit, and so on. If we read carefully, however, we can see that these are not nine fruits but nine of the aspects of the one fruit. Moreover, there are other aspects not included here.
First Corinthians 12:4-6 says, “But there are distinctions of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are distinctions of ministries, yet the same Lord; and there are distinctions of operations, but the same God, who operates all things in all.” Gifts are of the Spirit, ministries are of the Lord, and operations are of God. This refers to the Triune God.
Verse 7 says, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable.” Gifts in verse 4 is plural, while manifestation in verse 7 is singular. The gifts are many, but the manifestation is one. Just as the fruit of the Holy Spirit as life within us is one fruit with many aspects, in the same principle the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as power upon us is one manifestation with many aspects, which are the gifts mentioned in verses 8-10. These verses say, “For to one through the Spirit a word of wisdom is given, and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to a different one faith in the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing in the one Spirit, and to another operations of works of power, and to another prophecy, and to another discerning of spirits; to a different one various kinds of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.” The word of wisdom, for example, is not the manifestation of the Spirit but only one item of the manifestation.
It is remarkable that here again there are nine aspects. Galatians 5 mentions nine aspects of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as life within us, while this chapter speaks of nine aspects of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as power upon us. The Spirit as life brings forth fruit, while the Holy Spirit as power has a manifestation. The fruit of life has many aspects, and the manifestation of power also has many aspects.
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