Ephesians 5:9 – the Fruit of the Spirit

(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Ephesians 5:9

Previously, we have seen that God gives light to his children. This light comes in the form of knowledge, an internal light. This light – this knowledge – requires us to transform from the inside out. Knowledge should lead to corresponding actions – it needs to be incorporated into our being.

It is at this point that Paul now leans into another analogy: fruit. When using fruit as an analogy, the tree which bears the fruit is implicated, for fruit is the end product of a plant. The plant starts from a seed, into a tree, to produce fruit, in which is a seed for more plants. For fruit to occur, there must be a seed planted, germinated, and nurtured until it has matured to bring forth the next generation – fruit.

What is this fruit then? Paul describes it as this: For the fruit of the Spirit. That is to say, a seed was planted which came from God, for God is Spirit. This seed if it finds good soil, will germinate, sprout, and mature, and in the process of time, it will bring forth fruit! It echoes back to when Jesus speaks about knowing a tree by its fruit (Luke 6:43-45). Paul is saying, if you are walking in the Spirit, then there should be a corresponding fruit. Unlike the bad fruit mentioned at the start of Ephesians 5, there is a fruit that should come as a result of walking in the Spirit, that is, following after the Spirit – another way for saying, imitating God – being followers of God. Being dear children.

That is the identifying characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit? Paul has a condensed list here as compared to Galatians 5:22. In Ephesians three descriptors of the fruit are given. The outward actions and behavior of someone who is following God – has the Spirit inside of them actively working – will have fruit in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

“In all” qualifies how good the fruit is. The fruit of the Spirit is ‘ALL’ goodness, righteousness, and truth. It doesn’t have any corruption in it, thus touching back to verse 3 when Paul indicates such evil behavior should not be found in a saint’s life at all.

This fruit is good, as opposed to bad. It is righteous, that is, just – innocent when measured by the Law of God. Lastly, it is true. There is a surety of this fruit.

As we close out this verse, there is an important note to make. It is apparent that Paul equates the Spirit and Light together. They are interchangeable here, for in the previous verse (the context) Paul commands the readers to walk as children of light. Two verse later, he will tell them to ‘have no fellowship with the UNFRUITFUL works of DARKNESS.’ This is the inverse, making it apparent that the Spirit and light to Paul are one and the same. This can be confirmed in 1Ti 6:16 and 1John 1:5.

There are two practical elements implicit in this verse. One if we are walking in the Spirit, being followers of God as dear children, we should be showing actions and a life that is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. The second is that if someone proclaims to be walking in the Spirit, but their life and deeds do not reflect that three-fold description, something is amiss.

Walk in the Spirit.