{"id":84,"date":"2008-02-20T20:30:44","date_gmt":"2008-02-21T02:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/index.php\/2008\/02\/20\/galatians-523-his-fruit\/"},"modified":"2008-02-20T20:30:44","modified_gmt":"2008-02-21T02:30:44","slug":"galatians-523-his-fruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/galatians-523-his-fruit\/","title":{"rendered":"Galatians 5:23 &#8211; His Fruit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Banner-MOG-60.gif\" alt=\"Ministry of Grace Church\" height=\"58\" width=\"472\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\n<p class=\"Section1\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: maroon\">Galatians 5:23<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong><span style=\"color: navy\">gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 0.25in\"><strong><u><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Truth to Learn<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The fruit of the Spirit is gratifying as long as we recognize that the source is God.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\"><strong><u><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Behind the Words<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The word translated \u201cgentleness\u201d is one of the more interesting words we have looked at lately. It is translated from the Greek word <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">praot\u0113s<\/span><\/em>, which is derived from the adjective <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">praos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cmeekness, mildness, or forbearance.\u201d Here is what <em>The Complete Word Study Dictionary<\/em> says about this word:<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 6pt 0.25in 0.0001pt\">Primarily it does not denote outward expression of feeling, but an inward grace of the soul, calmness toward God in particular. It is the acceptance of God&#8217;s dealings with us considering them as good in that they enhance the closeness of our relationship with Him. However, <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">pra\u00f3te\u0304<\/span><\/em><em><span>s<\/span><\/em><span> encompasses expressing wrath toward the sin of man as demonstrated by the Lord Jesus \u2026 This meekness does not blame God for the persecutions and evil doings of men. It is not the result of weakness \u2026 According to Aristotle, <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">pra\u00f3te\u0304<\/span>s<\/em> is that virtue that stands between two extremes, the <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">orgil\u00f3te\u0304s<\/span><\/em>, uncontrolled and unjustified anger, and <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">aorgis\u00eda<\/span><\/em>, not becoming angry at all no matter what takes place around you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSelf-control\u201d is translated from <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">engkrateia<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">en<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cin\u201d and a form of <em><span style=\"color: maroon\">kratos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cpower.\u201d Hence, it refers to keeping power in control or, as it is translated here, self-control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt; page-break-after: avoid\"><strong><u><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Meaning Explained<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Paul finishes up his list of the fruit of the Spirit with two that we seldom hear about today. In years past it was appropriate to refer to a man who had his desires under control as a \u201cgentleman.\u201d It\u2019s a word seldom heard today because few people (men or women) exhibit this characteristic, and because those who conduct their lives in a gentle manner are often seen as wimps. Being at peace with God and following the leading of His Spirit, however, produces a calm confidence that is the result of a gentle spirit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\">Like gentleness, self-control is seen by the world today as a waste of time and effort. With the world throwing off the restraints of godly living and self-control, someone with these qualities is seen as weak and spineless, but that\u2019s not how God sees them. The ability to control ones passions and appetites is a rare commodity today because fewer and fewer people are willing to submit their will to that of our Heavenly Father.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\">When we are completely submitted, however, and actively seeking and following His leading, there is no law that condemns us because we exhibit the qualities of righteousness. The danger, however, is that we will become proud of ourselves and allow our sin nature to grab the steering wheel from our Father\u2019s hands. That\u2019s when we stumble and fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\"><strong><u><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Application <o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Any Christian who has experienced a close fellowship with God has known the fruit of the Spirit as Paul has described it here. But such a person also knows how tenuous this position is because of the powerful, ungodly effect of our sin nature.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-top: 6pt\"><strong>In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/signature.gif\" alt=\"signature\" height=\"35\" width=\"63\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"right\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: NuptialScript\">Copyright \u00a9 2008<span>  <\/span>Will<span>  <\/span>Krause.  All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'\">  <\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/Will_e-mail.gif\" alt=\"e-mail address\" height=\"40\" width=\"156\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Truth to Learn The fruit of the Spirit is gratifying as long as we recognize that the source is God. Behind the Words The word translated \u201cgentleness\u201d is one of the more interesting words we have looked at lately. It is translated from the Greek [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galatians-5"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-1m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}