“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25
The term fruit (karpos), according to Strong’s Concordance, means fruit, result, gain.[1] Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines fruit (karpos) as work, act or deed.[2] According to Morris, the “fruit” is one nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, not separate fruits.[3] All are inseparable as characteristics of a perfect walk with Christ in the Holy Spirit. This perfect walk is unattainable for humans as a perpetual state, but as we grow in our relationship with Christ and delve deeper in our study of the Bible we can gradually work toward attaining the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, the fruit of the Spirit doesn’t miraculously appear at the time we are saved. It’s something we have to work on, willingly and with strong desire.
Paul says those that belong to Christ must crucify their flesh. In other words we are to constantly realize that our thoughts, deeds and lusts must be recognized and dealt with daily. That’s why Paul went on to say that, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” It’s a daily walk – a daily struggle to walk in the Spirit. It takes practice and enough love and respect for our Lord and Savior to willingly work on it daily. Never out of obligation or adherence to rules, but out of love and respect.
So let’s examine this one, nine-fold “Fruit of the Spirit” a piece at a time.
Love – this is agape love – selfless, charitable, generously giving
love
Joy – gladness with a sense of complete satisfaction in what God
has provided
Peace – peace between individuals, harmony or accord
Longsuffering – patience, tolerance, perseverance or forbearance
Gentleness – kindness or uprightness toward others
Goodness – beneficence or benevolence towards others
Faith – belief, trust, confidence, faithfulness
Meekness – mildness or gentleness
Temperance - self-restraint or self-control
It takes dedicated work to master all of these and demonstrate them as much as humanly possible on a daily basis. We, as Christians, do this willingly out of deep love and respect for our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Again, never out of obligation, but always out of love.
References
[1] “Strong’s Concordance. 2590. καρπός (karpos) -- Fruit.". Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. Accessed December 15, 2017, http://biblehub.com/greek/2590.htm
[2] "Thayer's Greek: 2590. καρπός (karpos) -- Fruit." Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages. Accessed December 15, 2017. http://biblehub.com/thayers/2590.htm.
[3] Morris, Henry M., J. Gordon Henry, and Henry M. Morris. The Henry Morris Study Bible: King James Version. 2012.