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Context Matters: The Fruit of the Spirit

October 7, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Perhaps you’ve heard about the fruit of the Spirit. You may have learned about them or taught them at Vacation Bible School, and you might even know a catchy song that helps you remember what comes after love, joy, and peace.

Many people know that the famous fruit of the Spirit come from the book of Galatians. But we rarely connect these Christian qualities to the message of Paul’s letter. Why was this list written to these specific Christians?

Context matters. Every word in the Bible was written in a historical moment and for a purpose. When we learn to read the Bible and honor the way it was written in time, we’ll see that some of its most familiar, musical verses have more depth than we have thought.

The Immediate Context

Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23)

The larger section in most Bibles is Galatians 5:16–26. Paul urges the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit” so that they “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). He describes how the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are opposed to each other. Immediately before the fruit of the Spirit, Paul lists “the works of the flesh,” which are “evident.”

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21)

We clearly must not take these sins lightly!

Then Galatians 5:22 contrasts these obvious works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. When the Spirit is present—when a person is “led by the Spirit” (Gal 5:18), “live[s] by the Spirit,” and “keep[s] in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25)—these fruit sprout forth in a similarly obvious way.

The Larger Context

This list of the fruit of the Spirit comes not only in a specific paragraph, but toward the end of a specific letter. How does this fit in with Paul’s train of thought?

Some of those in Galatia were deserting Christ, turning toward a different gospel (Gal 1:6). Paul insists that his gospel is from Jesus himself (Gal 1:11) and then writes about his own reception of the gospel and how he responded.

In Galatians 2:15–21, Paul writes the content of this gospel, nicely summarized in verse 16: “…a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” This faith brought with it the Holy Spirit, and since the Galatians began in faith by the Spirit, they must also continue by the Spirit (Gal 3:2-3). This is the “promised” Spirit that is received through faith (Gal 3:14).

God sent his Son “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:5). And sons receive the “Spirit of his Son” in their hearts, inclining them to call God “Father” (Gal 4:6).

Before they knew God, the Galatians were “enslaved to those that by nature are not gods” (Gal 4:8). Paul tries to show them the foolishness of turning back “to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more” (Gal 4:9).

Christ set us free for freedom (Gal 5:1). “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13).

By this point we have arrived at the paragraph we examined earlier. But now we can place it in context. Those who have embraced the true gospel have received the promised Spirit by faith. This Spirit leads away from slavery to the works of the flesh and toward freedom—the freedom to serve one another through love.

How do we know we are walking by the Spirit? We show the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit Bears Fruit

The fruit of the Spirit are not a magical collection of good behaviors or character traits. Rather, they are what the Holy Spirit brings about in those who believe the true gospel—those who have been justified by faith, those who have the Spirit of adoption as sons, those who “belong to Christ Jesus” and “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24).

Context matters.

(My co-blogger Peter wrote some similar ideas about the fruit of the Spirit more briefly back in June, but I wanted to give this section of Galatians a longer treatment.)

For more examples of why context matters, click here.

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Proverbs Purpose #4: To Transform People

October 4, 2024 By Peter Krol

To give prudence to the simple,
Knowledge and discretion to the youth –
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
And the one who understands obtain guidance (Prov 1:4-5, ESV).

A Push in the Right Direction

We’ve already seen that Solomon wrote Proverbs so we might know wisdom (partly by recognizing those who speak it) and live wisely. Solomon’s third purpose for writing is found in verses 4 and 5. He desires nothing less than the transformation of the simple person (“the youth”) into a wise person (who has “prudence”), and of a wise person (“one who understands”) into a wiser person (one who will “increase in learning”).

Remember that the simple person is the one at the crossroads. This person has not yet decided which fork in the road to take: the one moving toward the Lord (wisdom), or the one moving away from the Lord (folly). Solomon here offers a push in the right direction. His proverbs will help us to move toward wisdom.

Remember also that the wise person is not someone who has achieved enlightenment or some sort of spiritual heightening. Rather, the wise person is simply moving in the right direction. If you are moving closer and closer to the Lord, you are wise. Solomon’s proverbs will inject supplements into your tank so the fuel can burn cleaner, last longer, and move you down the road more quickly.

How to Respond

Some people should be comforted by this third purpose. It means you can start where you are and just move forward from here. It’s okay if you’re not as far down the road as that other person. What matters is that you get moving in the right direction. You shouldn’t sit still, lamenting the fact that you’re not as wise or mature in Christ as you should be or would like to be. You should just do something. Anything. If this description connects with you, then Proverbs 4:18 can be your theme verse: “the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” You haven’t hit the sunrise yet, so just keep moving down the path.

Other people need to be rebuked by this third purpose. It means that you have tried to get by with being “simple” for far too long. You’ve been a Christian for 10, 20, 30 years or more, and you’re still content to have minimal involvement, minimal influence, and minimal responsibility. You’re happy to receive the church’s resources, investment, service, and instruction; but you’re unwilling to be a part of giving resources, investment, service, or instruction for the good of others. This attitude is simply unacceptable for a Christian called to wisdom.

It should be assumed that different people have different capacities and rates of acceleration in their growth in wisdom. That fact is not in question here. Rather, the chief question is are you accelerating at all or just sitting still in your walk with Christ? You can only remain simple for so long before you become a fool; but the proverbs extend much hope that it doesn’t have to be that way. So let’s add this new component to our definition.

Wisdom is:

Knowing the right thing to do in any particular situation.
Recognizing those who promote the right thing to do.
Doing it.
Always improving at both knowing and doing.

This post was first published in 2012.

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When the Prophet Declares Peace on Pagan Temple Attendance

October 2, 2024 By Peter Krol

Susan Tyner has a thoughtful piece wondering “Why Did Elisha Allow Naaman to Bow to an Idol?” Naaman the Syrian, cleansed of his leprosy, asks the prophet for the Lord’s pardon on his participation in the worship of the god Rimmon.

Elisha’s response? “Go in peace” (2 Kings 5:18-19).

Tyner explores the implications, comfort, and conviction offered to us through this narrative.

Living in today’s society can be a lot like the Israelites living in exile then. We struggle with various questions: Should I teach a school curriculum that goes against my beliefs? Should I quit a job that has LGBT+ stickers on its storefront window? Will my boss understand if I ask for the Lord’s Day off? In this story from the ancient world, we sense God’s compassion for us as we try to figure out how to be in the modern world but not of it (John 17:14, 15).

Tyner examines the story’s context, along with the contrast between Naaman and Elisha’s servant Gehazi to draw implications for true worship and obedience.

Check it out!

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Proverbs Purpose #3: To Live Wisely

September 27, 2024 By Peter Krol

To receive instruction in wise dealing,
In righteousness, justice, and equity (Prov 1:3, ESV)

We’ve already seen that the first purpose of Proverbs is to know wisdom, and the second is to recognize those who speak it. Solomon’s third purpose now gets very practical.

We are not simply to know true facts about God, people, or the world. It also is not sufficient that we be capable of pointing out actual examples of wisdom or foolishness in the culture around us. Rather, we must be people who live out of the wisdom given to us.

Where verse 2 focuses on the mental component of wisdom, verse 3 focuses on the moral component of wisdom. Wisdom that remains in the realm of ideas, factoids, or experiential principles is not truly wisdom. It must instead seep out of our fingertips and infect everything we do. It translates to action (wise dealing): doing the right thing before God (righteousness), responding appropriately to circumstances (justice), and treating other people without favoritism (equity).

man standing while facing concrete buildings — Photo by Adil Alimbetov on Pexels.com

Taking what God teaches us and putting it into practice is a major theme throughout Scripture. Prior to Solomon’s day, Moses and David had already declared it.

Moses: “Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them [the commandments], that it may go well with you” (Deut 6:3).

David: “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:1-2)

After Solomon’s day, the New Testament epistles frequently repeat it. For example:

Paul: “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Rom 2:13).

Author of Hebrews: “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:14).

James: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22).

Peter: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:13-15).

John: “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

Most importantly of all, it was a central theme of Jesus’ teaching.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24).

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46).

In every one of these verses, notice how God expects his people not only to know the truth, but also to put it into practice. The measure of wisdom is found in its follow-through.

Are you becoming a different person based on the truth you hear from the Bible? Can you pinpoint things you have addressed and grown in over the last year? Are there character issues you would like to tackle in the coming year? Would others who know you well say that you make wiser decisions now than you used to? Are you more pleasant, more insightful, more honorable, and more Christ-like than ever before?

Let’s add this new factor to our definition of wisdom. We must take into account both knowing and doing the truth.

Wisdom is:

Knowing the right thing to do in any particular situation.
Recognizing those who promote the right thing to do.
Doing it.

This post was first published in 2012.

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Can We Trust Our Interpretation of the Bible?

September 25, 2024 By Peter Krol

I found an older episode of Ask Pastor John with a really important question: Can I really trust my interpretation of the Bible?

John Piper addresses the question from two angles. First, he offers guidance to the person looking for guidance. Second, he addresses the inconsistency of an extreme skeptical perspective.

I could give, for example, five biblical pointers to how the Bible says we should handle the law. And a certain kind of person could say to me, “But how do I know that I’m reading those pointers correctly?” And I could give an explanation of the pointers and how they work. They could say, “But how do I know that I’m interpreting your explanation correctly?”

Check it out!

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When God Seems Absent in Bible Reading

September 23, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Christian Gafenesch (2022), public domain

In my previous post, I wrote about the way God reveals himself through the Scriptures. I claimed that he meets with us when we seek him in the Bible and that he entices us to continue seeking him.

I’m guessing some readers finished that post and muttered, “yeah, right.” For many people what I described seems like a dream, completely divorced from their difficult reality. For these Christians, Bible reading is not joyful, but difficult. It feels much less like a meeting with a loving, fatherly God than it does a dry, drowsy duty. They gain no encouragement, conviction of sin, or measure of hope when they open the Word.

In short, it feels like God is absent.

If this describes your situation, you’re in good company. Not only do I have some good news for you from the Bible, but many Christians now and throughout history feel and have felt exactly the same way you do.

Is God Actually Absent?

For Christians, God is not absent. This isn’t to deny what people feel and experience, just to state the Scriptural reality: God has promised never to leave or forsake his people (Heb 13:5).

You may feel that God is distant or absent, and that is a common feeling and experience. But when God the Holy Spirit comes in our conversion, he does not leave. This presence of God himself is a down payment or a small taste of the full divine presence we will enjoy in the new creation.

So, God may not be absent, but it sure feels like he is sometimes. We might not be able to point to a specific cause behind this effect, but we can easily find similar expressions of this feeling in the Bible.

Lamenting God’s Absence

Prayer in the Bible comes in many flavors, including prayers of lament. A lament is simply an honest cry to God about the sorrowful parts of living life in a fallen world. And these parts include feeling like God is absent.

Hear the ways the psalmists pray.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1–2)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. (Psalm 22:1–2)

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me? (Psalm 88:13–14)

These Biblical prayers do not fit our present condition exactly; however, they are all examples of saints who were expecting God to be present in their troubles and their experience is the opposite. (It has been helpful for me to realize that many of the psalms are psalms of lament; here is a list to consult.)

How to Handle God’s Perceived Absence in our Bible Reading

My basic advice when Bible readers don’t secure a take-home nugget every day was it’s okay and keep going. My advice in this post is basically the same, but with a few more specifics.

Pray. It is good for us to share our hearts with the God who already knows them. Use some of the language of the psalms of lament or put your frustration into your own words, but talk to God! Ask him: he has promised never to leave you, so why does it feel like he has?

Ask others to pray. As I mentioned above, this feeling is not unusual. If you take someone aside after church, you’ll almost always see a sympathetic smile in return. Enlist your Christian friends to ask God to make his presence real to you again.

Read with others. In the global west, we often individualize our relationships with God, but this doesn’t have to be! If you’re struggling to read or study the Bible on your own, perhaps a friend would be willing to read or study the Bible with you a few days each week. God may use this shared experience to meet with you more intimately.

Keep reading. The Bible is a treasure because it reveals God himself. Sometimes this treasure seems easy to access, like candy at Halloween. At other times, it seems entirely invisible. Talk with older saints and listen to their testimonies: these dry periods eventually come to an end.

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Proverbs Purpose #2: To Recognize Those Who Speak Wisdom

September 20, 2024 By Peter Krol

To understand words of insight (Prov 1:2)

Before we examine this statement further, a brief explanation of Hebrew poetry is in order. The Old Testament poets chiefly relied on a literary device called parallelism, which means that each unit of thought (usually one verse) contains two or more short lines that generally say either a similar thing or a different thing.^[1] The poet’s intention is for the lines to be compared with each other in order to arrive at their meaning. As Waltke states, “Proverbs cannot be interpreted correctly without asking the question: ‘How are the versets [the two lines] related to one another?’”^[2] Thus the reader should be careful not to force the lines apart and interpret them each in isolation (we’ll especially see the impact of this method when we reach verse 7).

So in Proverbs 1:2, we have two parallel lines that say similar things:

To know wisdom and instruction,
To understand words of insight.

The first half of the verse focuses on the abstract concept of wisdom; Solomon wants us to recognize certain facts as containing “wisdom.” The second half of the verse focuses on the concrete communication of wisdom; Solomon wants us to recognize, in any given interaction with other people, whether they are speaking words of wisdom or not.

love is all you need signage — Photo by Jacqueline Smith on Pexels.com

For example, when you see an advertisement on television, is it commending some wise behavior to you, or is it simply playing on your anxiety or passions in order to make a buck? When you speak with a friend, should you take her advice on a matter or respectfully decline it? As you sit in your class, can you tell whether the instructor is speaking truth in line with God’s perspective, or merely soliciting your servile obeisance to folly through bombastically sesquipedalian obfuscation? (In other words, is the prof leading you astray by impressing you with big words?)

In short, Solomon aims to equip us first to know what is wise and what is foolish so we can then identify whether a particular person in a particular situation is communicating wisdom or foolishness to us. In other words, he wants to train people to know wisdom.

Wisdom is: Knowing whether any particular counsel is the right thing to do in any particular situation.

^[1]I intend this as a gross oversimplification to keep things simple. For a far more nuanced discussion of Hebrew parallelism, see this article by Jeff Benner.

^[2]Waltke, Proverbs 1-15, p.45.

This post was first published in 2012.

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The Purpose-Driven Genealogy

September 18, 2024 By Peter Krol

Have you wondered what to do with the genealogies of the Bible? In his piece “Why Genealogies?” Jacob Toman explains what role the Bible’s genealogies play, along with examples of some of the most significant genealogies in the Bible. Toman looks at Genesis 11, 1 Chronicles (with implications for Ezra-Nehemiah), and Matthew 1.

These lists give the reader of the Bible a historical account that shapes an overarching story worthy of reading, worthy of remembering, and worthy of our study.

Check it out!

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Proverbs Purpose #1: To Know Wisdom

September 13, 2024 By Peter Krol

“Why should I read this book?” is what’s on my mind any time a friend recommends a book to me. I’m busy enough already, and I hear more recommendations than I know what to do with. Solomon knows my pain. He cares, and right up front he gives us reason to care about his book. In the next few Proverbs posts we’ll examine Solomon’s five purposes for writing Proverbs, and along the way we’ll piece together a definition of wisdom from each building block. As we progress, we’ll see why we should care about wisdom as much as Solomon does.

To begin with, observe the five-fold repetition of the word “to” in Prov 1:2-7. Solomon completes his sentence from the first verse: “The proverbs of Solomon … (are) to know wisdom (Prov 1:2), to understand words of insight (Prov 1:2), to receive instruction (Prov 1:3), to give prudence (Prov 1:4-5), and to understand a proverb (Prov 1:6).” By means of these “to” phrases, Solomon lists his reasons for writing.

person holding opened book — Photo by Eduardo Braga on Pexels.com

To Know Wisdom and Instruction (Prov 1:2a)

The first use of “to” is found in the first half of Prov 1:2. Solomon writes these proverbs so we might “know wisdom and instruction.” He wants to communicate facts about topics such as God, people, and the world, in order to equip us to believe the truth and reject error.

For example, is God near to us or far from us (Prov 3:32-35)? Can we expect him to care about our lives or not (Prov 16:9, 20:24)? Is he trustworthy (Prov 3:5-6), righteous (Prov 15:9), and just (Prov 29:26)?

What about people? How do we persuade them to believe the truth about God (Prov 16:23)? How do we interact with others who are as selfish and arrogant as we ourselves are (Prov 18:1)? If I love God, what should my business practices (Prov 16:11), love life (Prov 22:14), and social activism (Prov 28:27) look like? How do people change (Prov 4:23)?

In addition, there is the world. What is a godly perspective on animal rights (Prov 12:10)? How can I skillfully use the resources given to me by God to develop and produce more (Prov 14:4), without just destroying what I’ve already got (Prov 21:20)? What perspective should I have toward material goods (Prov 3:9-10)?

Knowing wisdom and instruction involves much more than the ability to answer these questions correctly on a test. We must be able to translate these objective truths into the choices of every moment. We do that by first believing these truths, and then insightfully applying them in any specific situation. For example, anyone with a smattering of biblical education can answer the question “can God do all things” (Prov 16:9)? However, when the little ones are frightened by a thunder storm, a wise parent will confidently connect their experience with the truth: “Pray with me, Bobby: Jesus, please help. I’m scared. Thank you for taking care of me. Amen.”

Remember that proverbs deal with the mundane and messy details of life. Their intention is not only to load us with doctrines or ethical ideals. Rather, they aim to connect those doctrines and ethical ideals with the day-to-day situations we face. Therefore from this first purpose we can unravel the first part of Solomon’s definition of wisdom.

Wisdom is: Knowing the right thing to do in any particular situation.

This post was first published in 2012.

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4 Practices that Cause Boredom with the Bible

September 11, 2024 By Peter Krol

My co-blogger Ryan has provided a very helpful explanation for why the Bible is not boring. Pastor Mitch Chase also recently wrote about 4 reasons you might think the Bible is boring. His reasons are: