In the BBC’s ‘The Apprentice’ programme, one team wins if they make more profit than the other team. The worst performing team member from the losing team is then fired. In business, people are often valued by how much money they make, or how much they contribute towards a company’s profit. But is money a good way to value or rate the stature of people? If not, what should we look for instead? Are career success, influence, wealth, etc. the right criteria? What about ethical issues? In Christian circles, we can often be tempted to value or gauge people according to how effective they are at communicating their faith, how much theology they know, how big or wealthy their church is, how influential or successful they or their ministry appear to be, and so on. But are we simply adopting worldly standards or ways of thinking instead of having our minds informed by God’s Word, the Bible? What should a Christian look like? The Apostle Paul tells us what Christians ought to look like. He describes the results of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of those who trust in the Lord Jesus: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22–23, NLT) These verses are quite well known. But what is not so well known is that they are the contrast to what worldliness looks like. Paul is here contrasting the character that the Holy Spirit produces in a believer with a list of some of the sins that characterise the opposite extreme of unbelievers. The Holy Spirit is essential It is not possible to have the ‘fruit of the Spirit’, or the results of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, unless the Holy Spirit is at work in their heart. We cannot have fruit of the Spirit without the life of the Spirit. Jesus said that humanity gives birth to human nature, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to godly spiritual nature (John 3:6 NLT). We all inherit fallen or sinful human nature. But if we want to have godly nature, which is far superior to our best efforts at being godly, then we need the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our hearts, changing us on the inside first. The result is holiness and salvation Paul’s primary concern throughout the letter to the Galatians is that they had been trying to be right with God, and to deserve eternal life, through worldly methods (the ‘flesh’ instead of the ‘Spirit’). Paul concludes that worldliness results in judgment and condemnation, but those who display the fruit of the Spirit are not under God’s judgment (law) (Galatians 5:21, 23). this reflects what Jesus said, that those who have trusted in him have passed from death to life, and will not be condemned (John 5:24). Encourage the fruit of the Spirit The fruit of the Spirit is not many fruits, but one fruit with many flavours. We ought to encourage each other to be more godly, to show the character of the Spirit in our lives. We ought to try to ripen the fruit, although we know that it will not be perfect until we go to be with the Lord. When Paul wants to evaluate whether a person is a Christian or not, he looks at their character or the fruit of the Spirit, not their ministry or the gifts of the Spirit. He certainly does not rate them according to worldly standards. Jesus summarises it well: “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” (Matthew 7:20, NLT) How to receive the Holy Spirit However, Paul is not saying that the fruit of the Spirit is the means towards being right with God. The fruit of the Spirit is a result of being right with God, not a means towards it. Good actions are not the way of salvation, but those that are the fruit of the Spirit are an indication that a person has already been made right with God. The way to be made right with God is through believing in Jesus, and his atoning sacrifice on the cross, for our sins (John 3:16). And the Spirit is received at the same time, by faith in Jesus (Galatians 3:2). To have the fruit of the Spirit, we must have the Spirit. And to have the Spirit, we must have faith in the Lord Jesus.