Pastor Luther Walker continues his series in Galatians by shifting from the works of the flesh to the fruit of the Spirit. He first reviews the doctrine of victory over the sin nature from Romans 6:4-6, explaining that believers have been buried with Christ through baptism (immersion) into His death and raised to walk in newness of life. The “old man” (who we were in Adam) was crucified with Christ, rendering the body of sin ineffective so that it no longer has controlling power over us. This position in Christ, accomplished by the Holy Spirit immersing us into one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), frees us from bondage to the sin nature, which resides in the flesh and produces unwanted desires and actions.
Believers must reckon this truth as true (Romans 6:11) and walk by the Spirit to avoid fulfilling the lusts (strong desires) of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The response to sinful desires is not legalistic denial but yielding members to righteousness, allowing the Spirit to produce stronger desires that counteract the flesh. The works of the flesh are categorized into sexual sins (adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness), religious sins (idolatry, sorcery, heresies), and self-centered attitudes (enmity, contention, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, envy, murders/senseless slaughter, drunkenness, revelry).
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is singular—one fruit with interconnected aspects produced by the Holy Spirit, not by human effort. It requires continual yielding and being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), resulting in speaking to oneself in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in the heart, and giving thanks in all things. The first aspect examined is love (agape), which belongs to God and seeks the best for others rather than personal gain. Human love is self-seeking sacrifice; God’s love is a rational, mature bond that desires the highest good for fellow saints, even involving correction when needed.
Love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4 as long-suffering (holding out anger against unreasonable people), kind (a friendly, useful disposition that makes others feel at ease and leads to repentance per Romans 2:4), not jealous (not desiring what belongs to another, unlike envy which resents others’ success), not parading or boasting about itself, and not puffed up (not inflating one’s importance or accomplishments). Love operates with objectivity of mind (often mistranslated as meekness or gentleness), bearing with one another, and grace toward self and others. It rejects self-centered puffing up, false humility, or permitting sin in the assembly, as true love corrects for the benefit of the other while maintaining a bond of maturity (Colossians 3:14).
The teaching emphasizes that the fruit cannot be produced independently; it flows from yielding to the Spirit’s desires, which overpower the flesh. Believers grow in utilizing the fruit through practice but never reach a point of self-sufficiency apart from the Spirit.
