HomeWe all know the fruits well enough, love, joy, peace etc., but let’s quickly look closer at those verses because I want to propose something that might upset a couple of people but be liberating to so many more!
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (NKJV)
The thing that caught my attention when I read this a while ago was the last sentence. “Against SUCH there is no law.” That one word threw my theology about the fruits out of whack. It is the Greek word toioutos and means ‘of this sort’ or ‘things like these’. That would imply that this list is by no means complete and that there are more than 9 fruits of the Spirit. The fruits are the representations of the nature and character of God manifested through us. Obviously God has more than 9 characteristics! The works of the flesh have 15 fruits listed and we know that list is nowhere near complete. Don’t tell me sin and law can out-produce God and grace!
I believe any characteristic that was embodied by Jesus as the exact representation of God can be included in this list. I have tried to think of as many as I can and list them here. So far I have added humility, honour, courage, purity, compassion, forgiveness, hospitality, loyalty, fairness, righteousness, innocence, friendliness, mercy, favour, justness, integrity, empathy, dependability and politeness. I am sure there are even more. If you are wondering how to determine if a characteristic can be a fruit of the Spirit, the answer lies in “Against such there IS NO LAW”. This means there is no limit to how much of a thing you can have or how many acts of it you are allowed to commit. There is no limit on how much love you can have and how much love you can show and give away. Same goes for all the other fruit too. You cannot be too kind, too fair, too compassionate, too innocent, too hospitable or too Jesus. There is no law against the how much of Jesus you can have or against how much of Jesus you can give away!
Glory to Glory!
Cornel Marais
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