SPIRIT BAPTISM WITHOUT FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT; IS IT POSSIBLE? (DAILY DIET E-BOOK SERIES 02 DAY 45)

 The Fruit of the Spirit Is Not the Evidence Of Receiving the Holy Spirit 

So many times people have listened to others and not to what the Bible teaches. Or sometimes people draw their own conclusions about Bible experiences, such as salvation or receiving the Holy Spirit instead of relying on what the Word says. They want to accept their own conclusions instead of accepting what the Bible says. For example, some people argue against the baptism of the Holy Spirit by saying, "But a lot of these Full Gospel folks who speak with tongues don't have the fruit of the Spirit as they ought to have; therefore, they could not be filled with the Holy Spirit." However, the fruit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:22 and 23 is not the fruit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at all. It is the fruit of the recreated human spirit. 

GALATIANS 5:22,23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Most Bible translators and scholars agree that the word "Spirit" is erroneously capitalized in verse 22, and that it should be "spirit" indicating that it is the fruit of the born-again, recreated human spirit. Therefore, Galatians 5:22 and 23 is talking about the fruit that should be in the life of every believer, not just in the life of Spirit-filled believers. Jesus said, 1 am the vine, ye are the branches . . ." (John 15:5). Fruit grows on branches, and Jesus said believers are the branches. Therefore, the fruit of the spirit grows in the life of the born-again, recreated believer because of the life of Christ resident and developed within believers — the branches.

The first fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5 is love. Believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit don't necessarily have any more love than Christians who are not filled with the Spirit, for the simple reason that Jesus said all believers are to have love: "By THIS shall all men know that ye are my DISCIPLES, if ye have LOVE one to another" ( John 13:35). Every believer is to have the fruit of love. The Bible further states that "We [every believer] know that we have passed from death unto life, because we LOVE the brethren . . ." ( 1 John 3:14). Love is the fruit of the born-again human spirit, not the fruit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit; therefore, every Christian should have the fruit of the spirit regardless of whether or not he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

 Another fruit of the spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5 is peace. I didn't have any more peace after I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost than I had before. The Word of God says in Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith [in Jesus Christ], we have peace. ..." Therefore, peace is a fruit that should be resident in the life of every Christian because of the life of Christ within through the new birth. However, one thing we must understand about the fruit of the spirit is that, just as with natural fruit, the fruit of the spirit can grow and be developed in the believer's life. Baby Christians, for example, don't produce and grow fruit all at once. After all, you don't expect a baby tree to produce fruit all at once. It takes time for a tree to mature and for the fruit on its branches to grow and develop. It's the same way with a baby Christian. A baby Christian can be filled with the Holy Ghost, however, and have power, and can even have the gifts of the Spirit operating in his life. 

For example, the Corinthians were babes. Paul called them babes in Christ: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1). Yet he also said, ". . . ye come behind in no gift.. ."(1 Cor. 1:7). Therefore, even though the Corinthians were babes in Christ and didn't have a lot of fruit of the spirit evident yet in their lives, they did have gifts of the Spirit operating in their lives. The fruit of the spirit are for holiness, but the gifts of the Holy Ghost are for power. You can be holy without having much power, and you can have power without being so holy. Yet the combination of holiness and power in a Christian's life is best, and that is what God desires. I have seen plenty of people who are wonderful Christians and who have marvelously developed the fruit of the spirit in their lives, but they have no power in their lives whatsoever. Then I know of other Christians who are certainly powerhouses for God, but it is obvious they need to grow a little more fruit of the spirit in their lives.

FFT: The fruit of the spirit are for holiness, but the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for power.

ACTION POINT: Don't neglect one for the order.

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