Here’s something we know all too well: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 3:17).
Do you understand what this means? The Message Translations says, “For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit…” In other words, the part of you that received salvation is often in opposition to your old self that wants to throw a fit, hold a grudge, indulge itself, etc.
And the crazy thing is, we know it later— but in the moment of “self-interest” we don’t care— unless we’ve already learned the lesson that any temporary pleasure isn’t worth the regret later. Interestingly, the Bible says the works of the flesh are evident (vs. 19), or as I like to say, they can’t be hidden. You can interpret this as not hidden from God or simply not hidden from anyone. I know it’s possible to disguise our sin, but it eventually shows up in some form or another.
BUT… here’s the good news. Verse 22-23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” At face value, when we read this, it’s natural to immediately think of this list as fruits of “the Spirit” meaning His fruit, not ours. But a better way to translate this scripture is this: “But the [spiritual nature] is love, peace, joy…” (and so on). In other words, when we talk about our old nature (the flesh) fighting against the Spirit, it can sometimes feel like an un-winnable battle. But that’s not true.
If you are born-again, you have been infused with the Holy Spirit and all His traits. Therefore, your “spiritual nature” can produce the same fruit as the Holy Spirit. And the Bible said, “Against such there is no law.” Another way of saying that is: “Against such there is no [limit, boundary, etc].”I like what Rev. Larry Hutton says: “The fruit of our spiritual nature is year-round because there’s no limit.”
And that’s not all. The following verse seals these truths together. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). Sometimes it seems like the flesh always wins whether we want it to or not. But we haven’t fully understood that when we accepted salvation in Christ, all evil passion was nailed to the cross at the same moment we were filled with God’s Spirit— when we received our new spiritual nature.
This is why Verse 25 says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” I used to interpret this as a choice. And I suppose it is in many ways, but once I began to see the fruit of the Spirit as something belonging to my spiritual nature, I realized I live in the Spirit all the time because of my salvation. I’m not the same anymore. Yes, I still have moments of temporary insanity when my flesh wants to throw a fit, but the infused spiritual nature I received from Jesus overrides that nonsense.
So be encouraged today that you too have an infused spiritual nature! And it can produce year-round fruit!
