Wednesday, October 2, 2019

The Fruits of the Spirit: Love


Pastor’s Pulpit for September 2019
The Fruits of the Spirit: Love

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23; ESV).

This month we begin a series of newsletter articles on the Fruits of the Spirit as St. Paul lists them in Galatians 5.  The Holy Spirit gives us living faith in Christ by means of Holy Baptism and the preaching of God’s Word.  We might call this the planting of faith.  This is no decision of our own or act of our will.  It is God’s work in us, by grace: “by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  Faith in Christ is God’s gracious gift to us, and we are saved by faith alone.  But faith is never alone.  For as faith grows and is nurtured and strengthened by the water of Baptism, the preaching of the Word, the forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Supper of our Lord’s body and blood, it begins to bear fruit.  And the fruit of faith is love and good works.  It is the fruit that the Spirit produces, that He works through us.  Again, it is all His gift.  We call this “sanctification,” as we begin to do the holy works of our calling: “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).  The virtues listed here in this list, and the good works that are their concrete expression, are not done to earn salvation or favor with God.  That is all done in Christ.  These flow from that.  These are the fruit of faith.

The first is love.  Agape in Greek.  This is the kind of love Jesus has for us in giving himself on the cross for our sins.  It is self-sacrificial love.  It is the love described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  Needless to say, of ourselves, we are incapable of this kind of love.  Try this thought experiment: Replace the word “love” with your name in the passage from 1 Cor. 13, and see if it is true.  You will come to the horrifying conclusion that this cannot be a description of you.  But now replace the word “love” with “Jesus.”  Ah, yes.  Now it is true.  This love is Jesus’ love.  And it is that love that flows from the Spirit through you by faith and begins to produce its fruit toward your neighbor.  You actually begin (haltingly, imperfectly, sometimes begrudgingly [because it kills your Old Adam!], but really and truly) to love and serve your neighbor.  To be patient with him, and kind to him, in spite of all his sins and faults.  To put away your own rights and preferences.  To put your neighbor first, above yourself.  Even to sacrifice yourself for the sake of the neighbor, as Christ sacrificed Himself for you.  This is a love that expects nothing in return.  It loves the unworthy, the ungrateful, and even and especially those who reject this love.  That is what it means that it bears all things and endures all things.

Often this love must say and do hard things.  Like admonish a neighbor to repent of sin.  Call a fellow Christian back to Church who has absented himself.  Tell a loved one that what they are doing is harmful to the self, to others, and separates that loved one from God.  This love disciplines children for their good.  It teaches.  It speaks up for the defenseless.  It defends the lives and property and reputations of others.  It takes persecution and rejection as rewards for its efforts.  It dies to self.  It forgives.  Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).  That is to say, it covers over the sins of those who sin against you.  It releases your neighbor from guilt.

Your loving your neighbor in this way is Christ loving your neighbor through you.  For this reason, it is at the head of the list.  And in spite of the editorial decisions of our English translators, I would change the punctuation of the list of fruits in Galatians 5.  I would put a colon after love.  The rest of the fruits are the unpacking of this first and most important fruit, and they flow from it.  The Fruit of the Spirit is Love: Joy, Peace, Patience…” etc., etc. (Pastor Krenz Unauthorized Translation of the Bible, hereafter PKUTB).  Though our love does not save us, St. Paul says that as a virtue, love is even greater than faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13).  For faith and hope have their fulfillment in heaven.  Love never ends (1 Cor. 13:8).

As you’ve heard me say so often, this love is not an emotion.  It is decision and action.  It is first Christ’s decision to love us and give Himself up for us, to sanctify us and cleanse us from our sins so that He might present us to Himself in splendor, spotless, holy, and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27), and shower upon us His every good gift.  And now, as those baptized into Christ, one with Christ, His Body, His Bride, it is our calling and joy to decide to love our neighbor and give ourselves up for our neighbor in the Name of our Bridegroom, Christ.  Christ’s love flows through us and to our neighbor.  Or as St. John puts it, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19; ESV; in agreement with PKUTB).

Our love will be perfect in heaven.  How much less strife and bitterness, contention and controversy would there be if we loved one another more and better here and now!  Let us pray daily for an increase of the fruits of the Spirit in the Church and in our own lives of faith, namely, Love: Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.  God grant it for Jesus’ sake. 

Pastor Krenz


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