Message Summary

This is the second of several messages focusing on the “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22–23. This week we focus our attention on “joy.” We often think of joy as just being happy or our natural response when life if going well. However, biblical joy is something that all Christians should pursue no matter what the circumstances. Furthermore, joy manifests itself differently from situation to situation. There are times when we manifests joy by exuberance or visible gladness. However, in times of suffering, joy may manifest itself by an internal security and trust in God’s sovereignty. It is during times of difficulty and suffering that our joy is most tested and when the lost see just how genuine our faith is. If our ultimate pleasure is in Christ and the hope we have in him, then we can affirm the statement “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”1 Today we continue our look at the context of Gal 5:22–23 and close with a brief look at “joy.”
1. Rotten Fruit: The Works of the Flesh (Gal 5:19–21)

Gal 3:19–21 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.2

Does the phrase “works of the flesh” imply that the list of sins is sins of the physical body or physical appetites? Think for a moment—which actively engage your physical body (sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, drunkenness, and orgies)?
Do you think Paul intended for this list to include all “works of the flesh?” What clue does he give (v. 21)?
Paul says the works of the flesh are “evident” (v. 19). If this is the case, then how should we respond to someone who might say they expose themselves to what sinners do so that they might know how to interact or minister to them?
Does doing any of these things, or any other sin for that matter, keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God (v. 21)? Do you think Paul is addressing sinful lifestyle, apart from the indwelling Spirit (cf. Eph 1:13–14), or occasional sinful behavior?

2. The Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23)

Gal 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.

What makes the fruit of the Spirit different from the works of the flesh? What are some of the overall characteristics of each list?
Do those who exhibit the fruit of the Spirit fulfill the law (cf. 5:13–15)?
Does this help with how you understand the phrase “against such things there is no law” (v. 23)? If one exhibits the fruit of the Spirit the law becomes irrelevant. Spirit people do the law not because they are told to, but because the Spirit has so changed them they desire to do what is in the law (cf. Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:27).

3. A Few Words on “Joy”

Joy [chara] does not mean to just be happy. Nor is there true joy apart from God. He is the center of our joy. What is interesting is that elsewhere Paul speaks of the joy we have when we come to know Christ; when we are filled by the Spirit (1 Thess 1:4–6).

Therefore, life apart from the Spirit may be characterized as a joyless life. It is true that before Christ many of us had moments of happiness and enjoyment, whether that was spending time with our families, working on a hobby, etc. But for the most part our lives were made up of hardship and suffering that made no sense. After conversion our joy is no longer dependent on the things this life offers, but our joy is to be in the Lord (Phil 4:4). And this should set off within us constant joy (1 Thess 5:16, “rejoice always”).

Our present situations good or bad should not effect our expression of joy. Paul writing in a Roman prison to the Philippians penned these words, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil 4:4)! Despite what comes our way we have reason to rejoice. The Creator of the universe gave his one-of-a-kind Son to bear the penalty of our sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21).

Application

Take time alone with the Lord to see if he is really the source of your joy. If he is not, then someone or something else is in his place. The Bible calls such things idols. Idols are not just statues made by backwards people. Idols are often good things (family, money, careers) that we make into God.
How then are we to deal with idols? First, we must be honest with ourselves and recognize that we may have idols. Second, if we are unaware of any idols we should ask the Holy Spirit to show those things that may be idols or that we may make idols. We may want to consider the following questions to help identify idols. (1) What do we daydream about? Where does our mind go when we have nothing pressing to do? (2) Where do we spend our money most effortlessly? (3) What is it that we are unable to accept God’s forgiveness for? What are we guilty about? (4) What might make us feel we have no reason to live if it was taken from us?3 Third, once identified, one must place their idol under the Lordship of Jesus. This is not some magical chant. It is a lifetime of repentance and confession, and trust in Jesus to rule and reign in our lives. It is recognizing the weight and ugliness of sin, and how it is an offense to a holy God. It is knowing and experiencing the unmerited grace of God for our sin. It is realizing and embracing the magnitude and depth of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice for our sin, so that we might be reconciled to God. Fourth, it may include accountability with other brother or sisters in Christ who more often than not have victory placing their idols under Christ’s Lordship.

Further Study

For more on love in the Bible you could read:

Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 439–448.
John Piper, Desiring God, Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003. May be viewed or downloaded at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/1594_Desi...