What about moal excellence today?

We don’t hear much about virtue, character, or moral excellence in the church today. There might be many reasons for this omission, but let me suggest a couple. The first is that calling people to a high standard of moral excellence is to place a demand on them. These demands are challenging to align with our typical mindset of making the church consumer-friendly and keeping our own business.

Additionally, our culture does not value what is good for its own sake. Many people look for ways to improve their lives immediately, in tangible ways that they can measure. With this mindset, truth and goodness are only relevant if they help maximise production. Virtue, though, should be valued, not because it is pragmatically effective, but because it reflects God’s holiness, beauty, and goodness. Therefore, we should value moral excellency, character, and virtue because they all showcase the excellencies of our Lord.

However, this message of moral excellence only resonates with those who believe. People who are involved in the church or who profess Christianity for some temporal, pragmatic reason are not likely to feel drawn to the concept of virtue as good in and of itself. The idea of doing something simply because it reflects Christ is a foreign concept to pragmatists. So, tragically, the idea of pursuing virtue and cultivating character is neglected, forgotten, and lost.

Because of this massive gap in many people’s understanding of biblical virtue, I want to spend the next ten posts considering the character of God’s children. What should a Christian look like, and what virtues should we cultivate in our lives? 

We need to begin with a general understanding of incorporating this fruit into our lives. Before we delve into each specific virtue, we must understand three fundamental truths about the fruit of the Spirit. 

First, we must appreciate the significance of the Fruit of the Spirit.

True Christianity presents an interesting dilemma that was a point of great confusion and controversy in the early church: if the gospel is salvation by grace through faith, what is the place of holiness, obedience, and law? 

There were two responses, which were both in error. The first is the antinomians. The word antinomian described those who rejected the law outright. They believed that since we are saved by grace, our behaviour doesn’t matter. In some cases, they even encouraged Christians to sin because more sin meant more grace for the transgressions. 

The second response came from the Judaizers. The Judaizers taught the Mosaic Law as the standard for Christians. They believed that the gospel was great for getting saved, but that the Law was necessary for staying saved. 

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul declares that the message of the Judaizers is a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-7). The Judaizers preached Christ crucified and resurrected, but they added Law to the gospel and thus, lost their way. The addition of works to the gospel brings condemnation.

Paul comes to the crux of the issue in Galatians 5: If antinomianism is wrong, and if living under the Law is wrong, then how should we live? That is the dilemma, but what’s the answer?

The answer is that Christians do not live under the Law by the flesh. Still, by faith through the strength of the Spirit (Galatians 5:18). That’s good, because being under the Law (serving God in the power of the flesh under a list of divine commandments), arouses sinful passions and desires. Yet, the Spirit desires God’s will and motivates us to obedience.

At this point, Paul gets intensely practical, beginning a list of vices and virtues to provide the template for self-evaluation. He first lists the works of the flesh, which will define our lives if we live under the Law. Then, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, which will define the lives of those who have a saving belief in the Gospel.

The fruit of the Spirit is included here in this letter, then, for three reasons. The first is to provide believers with a basis for examining their professions of faith. The second is to exhort us to live by the Spirit, not under the Law. The third is to resolve the problem of Christian obedience. 

Second, we must understand the solidarity of the Fruit of the Spirit.

This understanding begins with the distinction between 'fruit' and 'fruits'. The word in Galatians is singular, indicating there is only one fruit of the Spirit, which points to a unity among the things the Spirit produces in our lives. For example, a Christian cannot say, “Well, I’m gentle but I have no self-control– but I’m still a spiritual person.” No! The fruit is interrelated and interconnected organically as these are manifestations of the one Spirit.

This truth, however, does not mean all aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are equal in size. The point is not equal maturity but the presence of all the virtues. 

There is also a contrast between fruit vs. works. The desire of the flesh (sin) is singular, but its manifestations are many and not uniform in everyone. The works of the flesh might not all magnify themselves in an unbeliever’s life to the fullest extent – and thank God they do not. 

The fruit of the Spirit, though, is a unity. It is never disorderly, disjointed, or disconnected. While the works of the flesh are not all present in every unbeliever, the fruit of the Spirit is present in its fullness in every believer, at least in measure. Be warned, though, that the works of the flesh can sometimes be disguised as fruit. We should examine ourselves to see if all the fruit of the Spirit is present in our lives to ensure that we are not demonstrating pseudo-righteousness, as in the case of the Pharisees.

Ultimately, we need to understand the origin of the Fruit of the Spirit.

The first thing to remember is that this is called fruit, not works. Works signify what man can do in his own power. The fruit of the Spirit, though, is not works. This fruit grows in our lives, but it is not something we accomplish.

The phrase of the Spirit is vital. Jesus explained this principle, saying, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). The only way this fruit comes is by abiding in our Savior. 

How do I practically live this out? We will discuss applications for each of the nine virtues, but here are a few general ideas to consider.

Believers must first recognise that we can’t live out this fruit on our own apart from Christ. This truth is where many people fail, because they think they can do something. It is the fruit of the Spirit, not of our own willpower. 

Christians should then turn our trust to the One who can produce this fruit in us. Set our minds on the things of the Spirit in Scripture. Spend time asking the Lord to grow each item on the list of the fruit of the Spirit. Watch as God transforms our lives.

Finally, we must not let go of God until His fruit is abundant in us. Every aspect of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians is commanded of believers elsewhere in the New Testament. We should set our minds, attentions, and prayers on these truths, which are God’s will for believers. As a helpless child looks to his father for provision, look to our Father in heaven to supply us with this fruit through the Spirit. 

By Robb Brunansky