Home / All verses / Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22-23
Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The trainer needs JavaScript. Read it aloud, cover it with your hand, and say it.
Why it is worth knowing
- “Fruit” is singular: these nine qualities are one unified characteristic of Spirit-filled life
- This is not a checklist to achieve but a description of what the Spirit produces
- The qualities span outward (love, kindness) and inward (peace, self-control) dimensions
- “Against such things there is no law”: the Spirit’s life goes beyond what law could demand
Where it sits: Galatians 5:19-23
Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Hear the passage it sits in, sung word for word, on BibleDo's Galatians page.
Background
Paul contrasts “the deeds of the flesh” with “fruit of the Spirit”: one is plural (deeds, implying scattered human effort) and the other is singular (fruit, implying organic, unified growth). The nine-fold fruit is often grouped in threes: love/joy/peace (Godward orientation), patience/kindness/goodness (outward toward others), faithfulness/gentleness/self-control (inward character). These qualities cannot be manufactured by willpower: they are grown by abiding in the Spirit. Paul’s point is that the Spirit-filled life fulfills everything the law pointed to, without the coercion of law.