1. LOVE
In the fifth chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians Paul exhorts the Christians to persist in their Christian liberty, and to use that liberty in the proper way. He exhorts them not to give licence to their fleshy corruptions, but to serve one another by love. ‘For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty: only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another’ v. 13. He warns them of the dangers that exist where love does not reign. If they should bite and devour one another they would be in danger of being consumed one of another. The tendency of the ‘flesh’, or unregenerate nature, is opposed to that of the ‘Spirit’ in the soul, which has been brought alive, for ‘the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh’. The apostle names some of the works of the flesh, and then some of the fruits of the Spirit. The works of the flesh show that the power of sin is effective in and from the human heart, while the fruits of the Spirit are evidences of the presence and power of divine grace in the soul. These fruits do not flow from our own nature. The ‘works of the flesh’ do proceed from the heart of man ‘for out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts . . .’ Mark 7:21, but the graces of which he speaks are produced by some power from without. These are the gracious effects of the work of the Spirit of God, and it is to these ‘fruits of the Spirit’ we may now turn our attention.
It is necessary for us to have the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls if we are to have saving knowledge and come to conformity to Christ. God shows us in the Bible that the Holy Spirit has a special work in the scheme of redemption. He had a special work in forming the body for Christ’s humanity, and He is to perform a special work in us if we are to be members of Christ’s mystical body. The Lord Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, ‘He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you’. The work of the Holy Spirit is therefore a work related to Jesus Christ, as the Saviour, and to sinners who are to be saved. How clear it is that if we do not have the work of the Holy Spirit we are yet separate from Christ: ‘Now if any have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His’. (Romans 8:9). There is much forgetfulness, and even denial, of the need of the Holy Spirit in professed Christianity. We are compelled to come to the conclusion, in the light of Bible teaching, that those who deny the person and work of the Holy Spirit cannot have saving knowledge of Christ. We are encouraged to ask God for the Spirit in these words: ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him’. Luke 11:13. A genuine spiritual revival on any scale can only come through the blessing and power of the Spirit of God. Surely one of the most pressing duties, under which we lie, is that we ask God to pour the Holy Spirit upon us. He would be glorified and we would bear the fruits. There may be some variety in the manner of the Spirit’s working and in the depth of that work from person to person, but there are certain absolute principles by which He works and these are common to all saving religious experience. For example, the depth of conviction of sin may differ from one person to another, but one thing is certain that the Holy Spirit will not lead us to love what is sinful. Part of the work of the Divine Spirit is to reprove of sin, and therefore the Spirit will not give us to have ‘wrong feelings’ or ‘lack of love’ toward our fellow-creatures. By the teaching of the Holy Spirit we will hate sin and love what is holy. Another absolute principle to which the Spirit works is to make us like unto Jesus Christ. He does not work with another standard in view, but to turn us ‘Godward’ and ‘to change into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord’ 2 Corinthians 3:18.
The first fruit of the Spirit mentioned by Paul is ‘love’. The attribute of love is clearly ascribed to God in the Scriptures. ‘He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love’. 1 John 4:8. Love, as the fruit of the Spirit in us, must bear some resemblance to love as that is ascribed to God. There are certain qualities true of God’s love which cannot be said to be so of love in believers, such as the everlasting duration of God’s love. His love has known no beginning, whereas the grace of love in the believer is a ‘work which has been begun’ (cf. Philippians 1:6). However, with regard to the nature of love in the believer, it will witness with that love which we see in God, showing that the believer is ‘joined to the Lord and is one spirit’ with Him. Paul shows, in writing to the Corinthians, that of ‘faith, hope and charity, the greatest of these is charity’. Whatever else a person may have, give, or do, if he is void of love, he lacks what is essential to a healthy spiritual life and a proper relationship to Jesus Christ. If we have the fruit of the Spirit which is love, we will love God. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God’. He is worthy of love and adoration for what He is as the Perfect Being. It is, however, as He shows Himself in Christ Jesus that we may come to know Him and consequently to love Him. If any say that they love God, and yet do not love Jesus Christ they deceive themselves, because they cannot know God except as He has revealed Himself in the coming of His Son: ‘We love Him because He first loved us’. We can never have too much love for Jesus. He is worthy of, and should have, the pre-eminence in our hearts and lives. If we have that love, which is the work of God’s Spirit, we will love all that is properly called by the name of God. There will be love to His Word, His house, His day, and His people. Love will seek to obey Jesus, and to serve Him. ‘For me to live is Christ’, said Paul. Can you say it? Does your love seek to obey Jesus, or is it love which is selfish? If we seek our own and not the things of Jesus Christ, we have reason to question whether or not we really love Him. ‘If any man will come after me let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’
Jesus said that the second commandment is like unto the first, namely, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ Mark 12:31. Love, as the fruit of the Spirit, concerns not only our relationship to God, but also that to our fellow-creatures. In order to have the proper exercise of heart and mind toward others we must have the proper exercise toward God. Whatever love we may appear to have, if we are ‘without God’, our love lacks that light of the knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We only see them as related to ourselves, not as related to God, and consequently we do not love them with that love which embraces the whole person, body and soul. If we would love our fellow-creatures, even a husband or wife, parents or children, as we ought to do, we must come to see them as persons needing God’s mercy and grace. Love must be at the basis of a proper relationship between fellow creatures. It is clearly stated in the Bible that, if we love Jesus Christ, we will love those who believe on His name. ‘Every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him’. 1 John 5:1. It is natural to a family that the members of the family love one another, so in God’s family His children are to love one another. Believers may see faults in one another, but love will bring the believer into the proper frame of mind with regard to faults in himself and in others. Love will bring us to prayer. In the exercise of love we will be willing to be corrected, and we will seek to correct in a gracious, loving way. We need grace to give correction and also to receive it. Pride might be offended when correction is given, but pride is not in the same family as love. Such dealings with one another, as we see one another related to Jesus Christ, would strengthen the bond of love in the family of God’s children. As the fruit of the Spirit, love will also be exercised toward those who may appear as enemies. ‘Love your enemies’, said Jesus. In His love we have the supreme example. He was reviled, yet He reviled not again. Loving enemies may appear impossible, but Jesus does not call us to any duty of grace without making the grace available to the performing of what He asks. Ask for grace to love those who may be treating you as an enemy, that you may be a child of the Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:44-45).
This fruit of the Spirit is of the greatest value in our dealings with one another, and also as a witness in our favour, if we have it. To ourselves it can be a witness, for ‘we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren’. In keeping with the words of Jesus, it can be a witness to those around us, because He said, ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another’. How gracious was the prayer of Paul: ‘And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and towards all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even the Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. Let us ask for this for ourselves and for others.