The Fruit of the Spirit

1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Matthew 24:24 - "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."
Jude 1:3-4 - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

There is much talk, even from Jesus Himself, concerning the false prophets and false teachers. Even in the early church, the apostles warned against them and saw the influence that was already creeping into the midst of the body in several different circumstances. In fact, many of the epistles, in one way or another, address either the coming of or the current influence of false teachers. It is imperative that a Christian test the spirits as John forewarns, because not all who claim Christ are of Christ. Many wolves are in the church today in an alarming number and it would be to our peril if we did not test their words against the Word. One very important detail is the fruit of a person. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit, nor a good tree produce bad fruit. So, let's take a look at the fruit we are looking for so that we are not deceived.

In the epistle to the Galatians, Paul was addressing issues of legalism brought in by agitators seeking to supplant the true gospel with one that combined the grace of God and the Law. The Galatians, being uncircumcised Gentiles, were told that they needed to receive circumcision along with believing in Christ in order to be saved. Paul starts out with a greeting and quickly goes into the point of this epistle.

Galatians 1:6-10 - I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Though these words were directed to the Galatians, they have such weight that they should carry through the ages Paul's sentiment. Because of the great many deceivers in the world, especially today, we are not to forsake the gospel of Christ for a substitute gospel that leads to our death. Any gospel that says we must have the belief of Christ plus anything else is FALSE! Our salvation comes through Christ alone, by grace through faith. Period. There are not many ways to the Father, but one, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We did not deserve this, nor did we do anything for it, but it was by the grace of God who has given us faith to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the heart of Paul's epistle to the Galatians.

Jumping forward to chapter five, after Paul has defended his ministry and reinforced what he had already preached about faith, the Law and its intended purpose, and the promise of sonship, he now gives an exhortation to the Galatians to walk by the Spirit. He speaks against the false teachings that were being spread, warning that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough," (Gal. 5:9), imploring that they walk by the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

Galatians 5:16-26 - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
       If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

The description we have of the fruit of the Spirit is very important concerning how we are to identify the good fruit in a teacher, or the bad. I once heard a sermon given on the fruit of the Spirit and the preacher placed some importance on the singularity of the word fruit. It is all encompassing. There are not several different fruits, but one fruit that contains within all the things described in Galatians 5:22-23. Considering this, a false teacher may show joy, peace, and kindness, but has no resemblance of self-control, gentleness, or goodness. The fruit of the Spirit lacks not one of these attributes. If this is how we are to conduct ourselves, then it is all the more important that a teacher of the Word exemplifies these characteristics. If just one is missing, there is cause for suspicion. The fruit of the Spirit is a good indicator of where the teacher's heart may be and any discrepancy between the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the teacher would lead to further examining by the Word. I'm not saying that a teacher needs to be perfect in all regards. We are all flawed and cannot live up to perfection while we remain in the flesh. However, because of this, we cannot forfeit our discernment in light of our fleshly limitations. Not living up to the fruit of the Spirit does not necessarily make a person a false teacher, but remember the words of Jesus:

Matthew 7:15-17 - "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit."

As faithful followers of Christ, we must not suspect all teachers of being false, but we must be able to discern a truth from a lie so as not to be deceived. The most obvious starting point, for the Bible scholar and the new convert alike, is to ask questions, "What is the fruit of this teacher's message? Does it contain all the elements of the fruit of the Spirit? If it is lacking, which characteristic is lacking? Does their message line up with Scripture? Is there anything taught by the teacher that contradicts the gospel message?" Questions are a great ally to the believer. We must learn to ask questions for the purpose of revealing things that casual hearing would not uncover. Do not question only things that you disagree with, but question the things that you believe are correct. Your emotional attatchment to a teacher or a message may prove fatal if you do not examine everything against the Word of God. The lies of the enemy are subtle and are not always evident on the surface. Any great deceiver knows that the best way to subvert the truth in a person's beliefs is to wrap a lie with the truth. Then, it will go past the radar unnoticed, dropping bombs over the unprotected cities of your heart, mind, and beliefs.