The Fruit of the Spirit 4 (The fruit of Grace)

 By Ayoola Fakeye

To reiterate what I’d shared in the previous articles, The fruit of the Spirit is nothing the flesh can produce! It is only what the Father does through the Holy Spirit as He has connected us to Christ, the good Vine. The fruit of the Spirit is the operation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and soul which consequently brings a transformation in our actions and reactions. Thus, when the Holy Spirit transforms our heart, our mind is renewed, and our will and emotion align with God's, our body will respond to those changes. The essence of what I am saying is that the fruit of the Spirit is not what you can mechanically produce but only what the Holy Spirit supernaturally produces in us.

 Therefore, so far, God has endowed you with the Holy Spirit, then you can go on to bear fruit. Let it be known; God expects every believer to bear fruit. Every believer can bear fruit! Every believer must bear fruit! That is how you glorify the Father when you bear fruit (John 15:8).
 In today's article, I will share another important thing we need to know about the fruit of the Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is the manifold grace of God that would enable us to live the God-type of life.”

 In Galatians chapter 5 vs. 19, the Bible says of the “works of the flesh” with Emphasis on ‘works’ (plural), which informs us that they are numerous. But when you move further to vs. 22, the bible says the ‘fruit of the spirit’ (singular).

 The fruit of the spirit is just one, yet manifold. The individual constituent of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) are not isolated graces, but they are all connected and spring forth from the same vine that constitute an organic whole. In essence, the fruit of the Spirit is wholistic! For instance, you cannot say, “The Holy Spirit is taking me through love and not patience. Or The Holy Spirit is taking me through long-suffering and not gentleness.” You cannot likewise say, “I don't have joy, and I have faith.” You cannot simply pick and choose. The fruit of the Spirit is for you to make you whole!

 As this series build-up, you shall see that the individual constituent in this fruit (love, joy, peace, and others) is the complete and wholistic mind of Christ. God has given us such a blessing in the fruit of the Spirit that everything about Christ, God has fused into one fruit called the fruit of the Spirit for believers to eat, enjoy and emit. What a fantastic diet!

 The point is that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is a single whole that God wants us to enjoy all the constituents wholly. The fruit is the manifold grace of God. That means the Holy Spirit wants to express Himself in different ways and at the same time. The same fruit that contains love is Joy, peace, patience, and others. Such that as you experience and exhibit love, you are faithful, patient, and joyful at the same time. The fruit is to make your life colorful with the colors of grace.

 In Colossians 1:5-6, Apostle Paul also links this fruit with God's grace.

 One of the fundamental differences between the Christian faith and all other religions is that all other religions demand fruit from an unchanged man. That is never possible! That has been the highlight of man's problem. And this is what is making society's head worse on a daily. Religion is playing a significant role in the crisis our community is facing. However, when you consider what happened to us in the Christian faith, just as the above verse has stated, when you come to Christ, a believer has become a fruit unto God. Just as a fruit is the product of a fruitful tree, we (believers) also are the product of the gospel. 

 We became the product of the gospel foremost before the manifestation of what we have become begins to show forth. Just as the gospel is holistic, the Holy Spirit has also brought us as a “holistic fruit” unto the Lord. He didn't bring us in stages, in part, or process. But instead, He brought us wholly unto God. Is the gospel not beautiful?!

 Paul wrote to the people of Colosse that they‘d been bringing forth fruit since the day they heard and knew the grace of God in truth. That informs us also that the Fruit of the Spirit is linked to God's grace. By implication, it means the moment you forget God's grace and then think you can love by your self-effort or you can have joy by material possession then we will halt the flow of the manifestation of the fruit Spirit (God's grace) in our lives. It is our remembrance and acknowledgment of God's grace that en-graces us. 

 All the constituents of this fruit are divine graces in us to enable us to live the “very” life of Christ. For instance, to love is grace bestowed upon you. You cannot ordinarily or naturally do it.