...against such things there is no law

For the last few months I've been outlining the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5.22-23. I've taken each one back to the original Greek text and looked at the real meaning of each one.

To start we looked at how this is Fruit, so it is produced, it takes time to grow, and it all comes from God. Then we looked at each one.

Love, agape, the unconditional love of God for us, the love we are to have for God, for others, and also ourselves.

Joy, chara, the source of joy, the reason for rejoicing.

Peace, eirene, contentment, satisfaction with life.

Patience, makrothumia, enduring hardship or trial withoug complaing or retaliating.

Kindness, chrestotes, goodness expressed through action, doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do.

Goodness, agathosune, moral excellence, striving to be like God, and do what God would do.

Faithfulness, pistis, honesty, integrity, uprightness.

Gentleness, prautes, being submissive to God, humble and teachable with people, and being considerate of others.

Self-Control, egkrateia, properly using what God has given us by His help.

These are the things that God calls us to. These are the characteristics that a life immersed in Him will disply. These are the things that as we walk with Him will be produced in our lives. And against these things there is no law.

The law is limiting and condemning. The only thing the law can do is show you how bad you are, how far you fall short, how much you mess up. The law restrains because it only shows us our sin. A life immersed in God, a life that the Spirit is at work in producing the Fruit of the Spirit, that life is free from the law. Why? Becasue that life does not chase after sin, but after God.

Freedom in Christ is a Spirit guided life style. There are still limits and there are still rules, but they are under the Law of Love that Christ gave. The life of Jesus recorded in the Gospels shows us this new law. Christ has set us free to a new life, He has redemeed us and given us a new way to live. He set us free for the best life, a life a freedom that is full of Love, which gives us Joy, which leads to Peace, which gives Patience, which turns into Kindness, which strives for Goodness, which calls for Faithfulness, which helps us have Gentelness, and that helps us have Self-Control.

Freedom comes with obligations, but the obligation is to God, He bought us with a price. We have an obligation to others, to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are not free to do whatever we want, we are free to love, and from a life based upon love comes the best life ever, a life rooted in God.

Take this, and let the Spirit fill you, may He be at work in you cultivating the soil of your Heart so that this incredible Fruit might be produced.

"But the Fruit of the Spirit is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control; against such things there is no law."

Peace be with you