Gal. 5:16-26, The Fruit of the Spirit: Love (1)

“The fruit of the Spirit is love.”  There are some who believe there is one fruit, which is love, and that the other eight items in the list are varieties of the one fruit.  It’s kind of like the last time I was looking for apples in the local store.  I couldn’t believe how many options there were that I had never heard of besides Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious and so forth.  (Enough getting side-tracked, Ron!)

Let’s begin this study with some reminders about “love” in Scripture.  First, our love depends on God’s love.  Consider these passages …

·       Rom. 5:5: God has poured out His love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit He has given to us.

·       1 John 4:19: We love because He first loved us.  Note that this “translation” doesn’t say “We love Him” but simply “We love.”  The “Him” is in italics, meaning it has been supplied by the translator.  I think it’s more powerful and a correct translation to leave out the italicized word here.  Our ability or inclination or interest in loving in any of our relationships is the result of having first received His love in Christ.

·       Eph. 5:1-2: Here’s why.  We are to be “imitators of God as dear children.”  Our love is like that of a child: like Father, like son (Son).  We are what we are because we have been adopted into the family of God.  Our “walk in love” involves following Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us, “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  First, Jesus loved perfectly.  Then we came to accept God’s love in Christ and are being conformed into His (Jesus’) image (Rom. 8:29). 

·       John 3:16: The verse begins, “For God.”  God was/is first in love!

Here’s another basic truth: GOD IS LOVE! This and related truths are sprinkled throughout 1 John 4:7-21:

·       v7: Love comes from God; all who love are born of God and know God.

·       v8: God is love.

·       v9: God showed His love.

·       v16: We know and rely on the love God has for us. And again, God is love.

·       v19: God loved us first.

Thus, God is love!  But here’s another truth about God.  God is just/righteous (the words in the Greek NT are the same). 

·       1 John 3:7: “He is righteous” (said by the same Apostle who said God is love).

·       2 Tim. 4:8: “The Lord, the Righteous Judge” (said by the Apostle Paul).

·       John 17:25: “Righteous Father” (said by the Lord Jesus Himself). 

To be “love” and “righteous” presents a small problem, of course, so we will think more about this in the next post.