Lists with Love
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Galatians 5:22-23 NASB1995
Usually, when it comes to the lists in the NT the word “love” is at the end. Everything builds up to it. However, here, it comes first. Usually, there seems to be a reason for the order in these lists; especially when they are building up to love. Perhaps the reason it comes first in this list is to convey that it is the first, preeminent, foremost fruit of the spirit.
In verse 13, contextually, we are told the whole law is fulfilled in this first fruit of the spirit: love. That if we walk by the spirit we will not carry out the desire of the flesh. If we are led by the spirit we are not “under the law”. What does that mean? It means we are not under penalty/condemnation of the law, because love is the purpose and fulfillment of the law. When we walk by the desire of the spirit instead of the flesh, then we bear the fruit of love. True love. Pure love. Godly love.
Prior, when listing the deeds of the flesh, the first one mentioned was immorality (v.19). That term “immorality” carries the meaning of “sexual immorality” in particular. Fornication, adultery, incest, and the like. The premise often given for immorality is “love”. “Love is love” and “If two people love each other then they have a right to engage in carnal lust”, so the “reasoning” goes. And yet, this is set in stark contrast to the first fruit of the spirit: love. Godly love, true love, and pure love does not pursue or indulge carnal passion; but instead, tempers it. Controls it. Abstains from it in the form of immorality. The law speaks against the false love of sexual immorality but does not have a law against the true pure righteous love found in God.
These verses very much convey to us the truth of choice. We choose who we follow. We choose whether to indulge the desires of our own flesh or fulfill the desires of the spirit. We choose whether we will walk in the sinful lusts of our flesh, lusts of our eyes, or sinful boastful pride of our life (I John 2:16), or if we will walk in the spirit and walk in love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, etc. Of these, love is the greatest, and will ensure the choice of all others and ensure our inheritance in the kingdom of God (by implication v. 21).
The Holy Spirit makes a very plain and unmistakable assertion based on the premise of this list. He provides us a test when He says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” We can know, by this test, if we are living by the Spirit or not. If we are not walking in love (or joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control) then we are not living by the Spirit. How could we? How can you walk by the flesh and live by the spirit? We can’t. And that’s the slap-you-in-the-face-wake-up-call truth that the Holy Spirit delivers here. To profess to live by the spirit while you choose to walk according to the flesh is hypocrisy. Self-deception. Choose the spirit. Reject the desires/temptations of the flesh. Choose the fruit of the spirit, reject the deeds of the flesh. Choose love. True love. Choose the spirit and you will live and walk by love.
Notice that that is the order it is put in here. It is not “walk in love and you will walk in the spirit”. It is walk in the spirit and you will walk in love. The fruit of love is not the spirit. It’s choosing the spirit and producing the fruit thereof: Love. Let’s not get it backward and that will help us to move forward in the blessing and hope and peace of God’s will.
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