Bible Study Journal

The Spirit and its Fruits

The Holy Spirit is responsible for two things: (1) Regeneration and (2) Indwelling. Regeneration is the process by which God gives new life. Indwelling on the other hand involves the walk with God whereby a believer moves towards an eternal relationship with God. Often we start depending on our capacity to walk in the righteousness of God. We try to imitate others, be like others, in order to lead an ideal Christian life. However God has set up only one ideal for us to follow and that ideal is the perfection of Jesus Christ. Anything else is a blasphemy.

The Holy Spirit acts in the lives of a believer through two primary means. The first are the gifts of the Spirit and the second are the fruits of the Spirit/ While the gifts play an important role in the strengthening of the Church the Fruits of the Spirit symbolize the characteristics of Jesus that He wishes to see in His disciples.

That Jesus Christ, the blameless sacrifice is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. That revelation is made through various manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we limit the action of the Holy Spirit to one or the other. It happened to me. It can happen to anyone. We see someone enjoying the favour of the Holy Spirit through healing, prophesy and we are tempted to feel that this particular person is so blessed. He must have done something great to deserve it. That is however not true. You can do nothing to deserve the Holy Spirit. It is a free gift. What you can however do is to ask of God.

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:2-3

Our God is a generous God. He provides all our needs. But he desires that we reach out to Him. If he can provide us all that we need for our personal ambitions how much more shall he provide when we strive for his Kingdom.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11

The Holy Spirit is the helper assigned to us for our walk in the Christian life. It works in us to change us. That transformation is not only spiritual but also social and psychological. The Holy Spirit acts in our lives to change our point of view, our modes of interaction and our behaviour. It curbs our carnal instincts and purges our temptations to sin by pouring out God's anointing in our lives. However, the Holy Spirit does not act contrary to the free will. The believer must ask of the Holy Spirit and receive it. One thing to note is that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is more dependent on God's purpose for the individual and that person's constitution rather than choice.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Let us see few of these manifestations. I had always confused between the utterance of wisdom and the utterance of knowledge. Knowledge comes from the Word of God. It may or may not be prophetic and may or may not have real life applications for an individual or a church. The Utterance of Wisdom on the other hand is primarily based in application.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5

Knowledge becomes wisdom when they are directly applied to our personal lives or immediate surroundings. The source of Knowledge involves revelation of God but the source of Wisdom is the discernment of the Holy Spirit. Though distinct they have a relationship. The knowledge of the Word of God builds wisdom of the believers.