Sunday Message — 2026.08.16, Liberation Sunday, The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday Message — Liberation Sunday, The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
The Fruit of the Spirit Is Not a Personality Makeover — It Is the Result of a Life
Subtitle: Fruit Is Not Something I Manufacture — It Is What Grows Inside Me When I Call On That Name
Text: Galatians 5:22–23
Opening
Today is both Liberation Sunday and the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, and I want to preach on this: the fruit of the Spirit is not a personality makeover — it is the result of a life.
This year we've stayed with the Holy Spirit as our subject all the way from Pentecost through to week twelve now. Honestly, it's only because you keep showing up that I get to keep going like this. If a brand-new believer walked in today, this whole thing would sound like a foreign language. So thank you for staying with me. I've had a real interest in the Holy Spirit for a long time myself, and I'd always wanted to work it all the way through — and this year turned out to be the chance to do it.
Last week we took up the Spirit's leading. And the result of that leading is today's subject: the fruit of the Spirit. It's a straight line from last week to this one. As always, five questions.
One. How Did I Fight the Spiritual Battle This Week?
Since last week's theme was the Spirit's leading, I spent the whole week chewing on that word — leading. As it happened, this week we had our church camp — well, not exactly a camp, but a camp of sorts — and a family trip alongside it.
Getting Interviewed in the Car
In the old days, other people might have watched me talking and thought it looked perfectly natural. But I know my own heart. I don't actually like conversation. I'm used to giving instructions, giving one-word answers — that's what I'm comfortable with. This back-and-forth kind of talk isn't something I enjoy.
But this week, of all weeks, I was stuck in a car for a long stretch with nowhere to go. I wasn't driving — I was in the passenger seat — so I had a job to do: keep the driver from getting drowsy. And something was different. The person next to me kept asking me questions. There was no way to just not answer.
Honestly, before we left, I'd geared myself up — there's someone new I'm going to meet this week, and I'm going to interview them. But from the moment we pulled out, I was the one being interviewed. One question after another I hadn't seen coming, over and over.
In the old days, I would have felt the irritation rising right up. And to be honest, part of me did feel it this time too. Each time, I held onto myself with Jesus is the Christ. And watching myself answer question after question, I thought — huh, so this is what I'm actually like — and it turned into a moment of correction.
What Comes Out Around the People Who Know Me
In that same gathering were some people I hadn't seen in a while. My sister, and her husband — someone I've known for a very long time. And something rose up in me: a reluctance to talk, an urge to just brush past it all. That urge is enormously strong in me.
So I prayed, said Jesus is the Christ, and I watched myself carry on a perfectly normal conversation. But inside, the fight never let up.
What I saw this week is that I'm far too accustomed to giving orders — far too authoritarian, far too used to pressing things down from above. As I've kept fighting it, it's slowly been easing — but before, I couldn't even see how forceful I actually was. This week I saw it more starkly than ever, and it made me all the more determined to keep fighting.
Confess it with me. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ.
Calling the Name Before Every Departure
This week, as we set out in the car together, there was a one-year-old and a two-year-old riding in the back. Every time we pulled out, we said it together — Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is the Christ.
The training of Jesus is the Christ never stops going on inside me. It can't stop, because I've been running this drill for three years and five months now. In our country, military service used to be three years. Do three years of that, and it becomes the baseline your whole civilian life runs on afterward. In the same way, three years of heaven's boot camp changes what you're made of. You simply can't not do it. Your whole constitution shifts. I believe the same shift is happening in you, as you follow along with me.
Say it again with me. Jesus is the Christ. I am a child of God. Every problem is finished. Satan, go. Filled with the Spirit. World evangelization.
Two. Looking at the Whole of Scripture This Week, How Did I Come to Understand Genesis 3:15?
I see that every human problem traces back to Genesis 3:1–5.
A Problem Already Living Inside
But this week I saw it more broadly. In Genesis 3, the satan is already there. The devil is already there. Demons are already there. It's already a place under occupation — and into that, God's Spirit comes and there stand Adam and Eve. Because of that towering, terrible presence, everything that had been outside came pouring in.
So the human problem was never something happening on the outside. It's already a problem on the inside — starting from Genesis 3. The darkness, the sin, the curse, the wrath, the death, the sickness that had all been outside — all of it moved in, and it's in here that the seed takes root and bears its fruit.
And looking back over my own life, I realize I've lived without knowing what was actually going on in here. I've felt this again this week, meeting people. However much of an elder or a pastor a man is, and looking at my own past too — the inside is left far too empty. Something is happening in here, and we don't know it — we assume the trouble is coming from outside, and meanwhile we leave the inside standing wide open, undefended.
Like the King on a Chessboard
I hesitate to compare it this way, but this week I played chess with my granddaughter. I've only played four times — I barely know where the pieces even go. But watching the game, I noticed: the king just sits there with nothing guarding him, and the moment an attack comes in, everything falls.
It's the same with us. Every problem originates on the inside, and we mistake it for something coming from outside — and we don't even know how to guard what's in here. Not knowing how to guard this place means a lifetime of suffering.
The Name That Guards This Place
So God gave a name — first, to guard this inner place, before anything outward could follow. You have to guard the inside before you step out. And that name is the offspring of the woman.
Confess it with me. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ.
However poor a pastor's sermon, however strange the words that come at me, whether I let them in or not is entirely up to what's in here. The thing that matters is guarding this inner place. God already gave Adam the name that guards it, back in Genesis 3:15.
And how you hold that name — how often, how deeply — determines what kind of person you become. Look at Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all the way through Genesis and Exodus — who are they? People whose lives were shaped by how often, how deeply, they felt and knew and grasped that name — the offspring of the woman, Jesus is the Christ. And who has to do that calling? I do.
Say it again. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. I have to call it.
Three. Explaining Today's Text on the Foundation of Genesis 3:15
Today's text is Galatians 5:22–23. The fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, and on through the list of nine — anyone who's been in church a long time has heard this many times over.
This Phrase Appears Only Once
But the exact phrase fruit of the Spirit appears nowhere else in Scripture — only here, in Galatians 5:22–23. Paul is the one who laid it out this way. Christ Himself had already said something like it, of course — that you know a man by his fruit, and He spoke of the vine and the branches. But those were the general statement. What Paul does is take it further, breaking it down in detail. Not because Paul was some genius — he was only a man — but because he unpacked what Christ had already said.
From Pentecost to Galatia
Let me trace briefly how we get to this text. In the Old Testament, the one name that matters most is Jesus is the Christ. That name runs all the way through, until in the Gospels, He comes. His name is Jesus. He settled every problem on the cross, died, rose, ascended, and sent the Spirit.
And once that Spirit came into the disciples' hearts, the church went from a handful to three thousand, then to a count of men alone at four thousand, and it began spreading across the whole world. That's the book of Acts. From Acts 13 through 28, the central figure is Paul.
Paul's first missionary journey took him, first of all, to the region of Galatia. That's the backdrop of today's letter. He preached the basics of the gospel there, and the opposition was fierce — especially from the Jews. He was practically run out of town and moved on. In just a few short weeks of preaching, a church had already been planted. This was roughly AD 46 to 48 — the setting is Acts 13.
A Church Split in Two
About two years later, word and a letter reached Paul. The churches in that Galatian region were in an uproar. What was the trouble? One side said, Jesus is the Christ — that's true. The other side said the same, but added: and you also have to keep the law, and you have to be circumcised. Two camps, and a fight had broken out between them, threatening to split the church apart.
Paul, the man who had founded that church, heard the news. So he wrote to explain, to argue his case, to set the faith back on its foundation — and that letter is Galatians.
What Do You Do With Freedom?
Galatians runs six chapters. Today's text is in chapter 5. Chapters 1 through 3 say this: Jesus is the Christ — that name has already settled your past, your present, your future, your eternity. Adding circumcision and law on top of that changes nothing, because Christ, being the Christ, has already settled it all.
That name gave you freedom. The same is true for you and me. By the name that Jesus is the Christ, we became children of God — John 1:12. Nothing needs to be added to that.
But the moment you tell people they're free, they think: so now I can do whatever I want. And people start living however the world lives — chasing whatever they please. But everyone lives together, and if each person just does as they like, don't they collide with one another?
So Paul's answer is this: I gave you freedom, but how do you use it? Use that freedom under the leading of the Spirit. Be led by the Spirit — and the leading of the Spirit produces fruit. That's precisely today's text, Galatians 5:22–23.
Four. The Part I Most Want to Draw Out of Today's Text
A Quick Look Back, Weeks One Through Twelve
This is week twelve. Let me sum up briefly the road we've walked.
Confess it with me. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ.
First, the Spirit's coming is the most complete evidence that Jesus is the Christ. When the Spirit fell in Acts 2, it was because Jesus had ascended and taken His seat at the Father's right hand, and the Father sent the Spirit as the proof — this One is truly the Christ.
Second, that Spirit came into the disciples' very bodies. Why there? Because every one of our problems happens in there. Third and fourth, that Spirit doesn't sit inside doing nothing — He keeps bringing to mind everything Jesus said, across Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Fifth, sixth, and seventh, that Spirit keeps testifying that I am a child of God, moves me from a fearful servant into a child's place, and stands as God's own legal certification — in the form of a deposit, a guarantee — that He is responsible for me all the way into the future, into eternity.
Eighth, the Spirit fills. Ninth and tenth, the Spirit brings unbroken fellowship — real conversation. Eleventh, the Spirit leads through the events of daily life. And today, twelfth, we finally arrive at the fruit of the Spirit.
Fruit Has a Process
Take today's subject. Apples are in season right now. We eat them, but before that fruit is ever in our hands, there's a whole process. A farmer plants the seed; rain falls, sun shines, roots grow down, a stem climbs up, leaves come out. Time passes, a flower bud forms, it blooms, pollination happens, and a tiny fruit begins to form and grow. Eventually it's ripe enough to pick and eat — and inside it is a seed, which gets planted again, and the whole cycle starts over.
The First Condition for Fruit Is Staying Attached
So where does the fruit of the Spirit have to happen? First of all, in here. But for an apple to form at all, there's one basic requirement. That apple has to stay connected to the branch. Connected to the branch is how the nutrients keep flowing.
It's the same for us. For the fruit of the Spirit to keep forming inside me, I have to stay connected — to the branch, to the root — without a break.
Confess it with me. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ.
How closely, how deeply, how fully you call out and enjoy that name — Jesus is the Christ — determines what fruit forms inside you. Stop calling that name, and no fruit forms. Stop calling it, and whatever fruit had started to form falls off.
So whether you're active in your faith or not, whether you go to church or not, whether you pray or not, there's one basic thing you have to do around the clock. Say it again. Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. In the Gospels, from Matthew all the way through John 21, the disciples are always attached to Christ, to Jesus. In Acts, from chapter 1 through 28, the Spirit has come inside and stays attached to the disciples the whole way through. For the fruit of the Spirit to happen in us, staying attached to that name is the one condition.
Fruit Is an Inner Change
The fruit of the Spirit is talking about a change happening on the inside. Can a human being actually love someone else? The love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control that the Spirit is describing — these are things human beings do not naturally have. We cannot manufacture them.
Left to ourselves, what comes out is what Mark 7:21 describes — sexual immorality, murder, and so on. Look honestly inside, and that's all that's really there. Where's the love in that? Whatever kindness shows on the outside, inside there's resistance — you're only doing it because people are watching, because your name's on the line.
So for the fruit of the Spirit to form in here, calling the name of Christ has to come first — and in the calling, it grows, little by little, bit by bit. My capacity to love someone, to be patient, to do good, to show mercy — none of it is something I produce. It happens in here, as I keep calling that name.
The Fruit Is Different Sizes on Different People
Apples, too, come in different sizes, different shapes. Some get bitten by insects; some just come out ugly. At the market in my neighborhood, I saw a bin labeled "ugly apples" — smaller, less attractive, some with holes in them. Why? Because something happened to them on the way.
It's the same with us. The desire to love others, the desire to do good — I don't generate that myself; it arises inside me. But it arises through calling Jesus is the Christ, and how deeply I call that name determines how it shows up.
Fruit Is the Record of a Life
One last thing: fruit is the record of how a life has been lived up to this point. When you look at a beautiful apple, that beauty is itself a kind of history — evidence that it went through the whole process well.
Whatever fruit of the Spirit is showing up in my life right now — sometimes larger, sometimes smaller — the reason is this: however intensely, however deeply, whatever the situation, twenty-four hours a day, how much I called that name. That is the fruit of the Spirit.
Fruit Shows Up Later
You can't always tell, in the moment, how much this fruit is growing inside. How do you know? You see it later. That's why, right after Paul lays out the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23, he moves into chapter 6 — showing what it looks like when that fruit has actually grown.
Talking with one another inside the church, carrying each other's heavy burdens, praying for one another, going out of your way to help someone in trouble — that itself is the fruit of the Spirit becoming visible. So Paul doesn't stop at the list — he goes on to describe what its results actually look like.
Five. How Will I Apply Today's Message to My Life?
First, I Confirm My Position
Before anything else, let's confirm where we stand. Confess it with me.
Jesus is the Christ. I am a child of God. Your standing, and mine, right now, is a child of God.
Every problem is finished. Our becoming children of God, our citizenship in heaven, God's Spirit dwelling within us — all of it was already finished, in John 19:30.
Satan, go. Our enemy is the devil. So when you examine whatever thought is coming into your mind, you'll find that devil behind it. Once you know the enemy's identity, he's easier to defeat.
Filled with the Spirit. World evangelization. My purpose, my direction for living, is world evangelization. From Jesus is the Christ all the way to world evangelization — this is the direction I have to walk from where I stand right now, and it's the entire foundation of who I am.
Is Faith Really This Simple?
Now, moving toward world evangelization, forming fruit inside us along the way matters greatly. And the very first thing required for that fruit is the name — Jesus is the Christ.
As I keep applying this, a thought keeps coming to me: is the life of faith really this simple? And honestly — it is. Don't overcomplicate it. Call the name — Jesus is the Christ — and it turns out to be simple.
Call that name over and over, and love starts to rise up. Peace starts to rise up. A little more room to bear with someone else starts to rise up. It just happens. And that's not something I produce by effort — it comes up from inside because I called the name. And as my own unbelief gets exposed along the way, I see it — oh, I slipped up again — and that too gets corrected, over time, in answer.
The Voice That Called Me a Sinner
Let me close with one last thing — the hardest problem of my entire life, the one keyword I've never fully resolved. It was this: I am a sinner. You're a sinner. You're worthless. That too is sin. That too is sin. From elementary school right up to today, that voice has never stopped.
I can't tell you how hard I tried to get my faith right. I had a friend in high school who did nothing but study, all three years, and went straight to a good university. Me — I probably spent only twenty percent of my time on schoolwork those three years. The other eighty percent went into church work, or into wrestling with the question of what this whole faith thing was even supposed to mean.
I even chased after a certain girl for a while — that took its share too. Years later I ran into that friend. He'd studied the whole time and gotten into the same program I did. When I told him I'd only put in twenty percent, he was stunned — what a strange thing to spend your teenage years on, he said. But the truth is, at that age, I was already wrestling with sin. I still am, honestly. But the thing that keeps meeting that struggle, every time, is Jesus is the Christ.
Telling you all this — it's a real relief. Genuinely. Whatever the case, I hope that this week you and I would enjoy Christ even more.
Closing Prayer
Let us hold this word and pray.
Father, You have given us the eternal name — Jesus is the Christ — and we believe it is the one name given to resolve the problems inside us.
As we call that name, we see the countless conflicts and sinful thoughts inside us retreat, and we watch the fruit the Spirit gives begin to appear, and grow, little by little.
Through the name of Christ, let the fruit of the Spirit grow ever larger within us, ever wider, so that our relationships with one another are made new.
In the name of Jesus, who is the Christ, we pray. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment