Christian Love and Joy

Having focused on our duties in progressive sanctification to mortify sin, vivify righteousness, and do good works in obedience to the moral law of Christ, we now want to look at the results of sanctification. Though it can be difficult to do so, we can measure our progress in sanctification to some degree. After all, Scripture defines the character of a person in whom the Holy Spirit is working. By the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we see how we are growing in Christ.

Galatians 5:22–23 gives us the fruit of the Spirit, though references to these various fruits abound throughout the rest of God’s Word even if they are not always called fruits. As we look to this list in Galatians, we see first that while various fruits are present, they are referred to collectively as “fruit.” This tells us that these fruits together form one package of virtues, all of which are to be evident in the Christian life. The Holy Spirit produces all these qualities in every child of God, and though the strength of particular fruits may vary from believer to believer, there is no such thing as a Christian who completely lacks one of these fruits.

Paul puts love at the head of his list of fruits (Gal. 5:22). Commentators have noted that he does this because love is the preeminent fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Christian. It is the greatest Christian virtue, surpassing both faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13). Biblically speaking, we should remember that love is not a mere feeling of affection but the active seeking of another’s good. Dr. R.C. Sproul writes in his Galatians commentary: “In the Scriptures, the concept of love is better understood as a verb than a noun. It’s how we act. It’s what we do with respect to our brothers and sisters.”

The second fruit of the Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22). Like Christian love, Christian joy is not primarily a feeling or emotion. It is the abiding confidence that we belong to the Lord that sustains us even when we endure periods of sadness or depression. The sure promises of God establish the sure foundation for our joy. Dr. Sproul comments: “Joy doesn’t just describe a person who exhibits happiness all the time. Happiness is a fleeting, earthly emotion, whereas joy is related to blessedness, the supreme, transcendent gift of favor and settledness from God. For the Christian, blessedness captures the supernatural fruit of the Holy Spirit that is joy.”