About the Fruit of the Spirit & the wall of love
Bible Students
"Come Let Us Reason Together"
A Spirit-filled man with the wall of love
When we were filled with the Holy Spirit, we also received this wall of love.
Romans 5:1-5 (1-11) "Therefore having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have had access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about patience; and patience, proven character, and proven character, hope; and hope does not put to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
The Wall of love continued
"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit"
The portion of Scripture quoted above is found in Acts 2:4 (1-4) Which says: "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one accord, and suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves and they rested on each one of them, and were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance."
What does the phrase "filled with the Holy Spirit" mean?
The Greek word for filled = pleos and is found translated:
1) multitude; 2) company; 3) bundle; 4) to multiply; 5) furnish; 6) make full
Conclusion
When a man or woman is filled with the Holy Spirit, all that pertains to the Holy Spirit is given to him or her, which would include; the gifts of the Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Combine this with 1 Corinthians 3:16, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" When the Holy Spirit moves in, all that belongs to the Holy Spirit is now within that person.
The Fruit of the spirit & the wall of love
Galatians 5:22-23 says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Self Control; against these things there is no law." The word fruit in the Greek is karpos, which is singular. This means one piece of fruit. Therefore we are looking at one piece of fruit with its different segments and a covering.
It says in 1 Peter 4:8, "...Love covers..." Like an orange peel, love is a covering that protects the inside segments.
In 1 Corinthians 13 is a list describing what love is. Four in that list are the same as in the fruit of the Spirit, five if you include love. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says "Love is patient, Love is Kind..." 1 Corinthians 13:6 says "...(Love) Rejoices with the truth;" 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, "...(Love) believes all things."
We can certainly see that these two Scriptures are mates and intertwine, so we can conclude that Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness and Faith are inseparable.
The Fruit of the Spirit & The Wall of love continued
Romans 1:7 tells us to whom God wrote the Book of Romans. "To all who are loved of God, in Rome, called saints or holy ones."
We can conclude that all the Book of Romans is written to Holy Spirit filled people.
Romans 8:3 says that "sin is now condemned in the realm of our flesh..."...He condemned sin in the flesh."
1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."
Like an orange peeling, love protects the inside of the fruit, the wall of love protects the fruit of the Spirit.
The Fruit of the Spirit vs Lusts of the flesh
Galatians 5:16-24 says "But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you cannot do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, wrath, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, things like these (or ect.) of which I forewarn you, and just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control; against these there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
So, opposite each fruit, let's write the opposing lust of the flesh. Oh, don't forget the etc. so we can add some of our own.
Final Thoughts about the wall of love
Proverbs 25:28 - "Like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control over his spirit."
Shows a man without a wall protecting his inner man of the spirit.
Zechariah 2:5 - "For I declare, Yahweh will be a wall of fire around her (Jerusalem) and I will be the Glory in her midst."
When Jesus comes to dwell in us, He also provides us with a wall of fire to protect the spirit within us. In Like 23:26-27 God calls people, daughters of Jerusalem.
Matthew 24:12 - "Because lawlessness is increased, most peoples love will grow cold."
This paints the picture of love needing to be red hot - when our love for God is red hot, it keeps us from letting sin in our lives. We'll take liberty to call this wall of fire also the wall of love.
2 Thessalonians 3:5 - "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."
Here we see that our hearts need to be inside God's love, or in other words, surrounded by the love of God.
Romans 5:5 - "And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
If we received the Holy Spirit, at the same time, God's love was poured out within our hearts.
Acts 2:4 - "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
Filled in Greek is pleo which means all, including the fruit of the Spirit. Though the fruit of the Spirit has segments, yet it is one fruit.
1 Peter 4:8 - "Above all keep fervent (or red hot) in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins."
Love must be red hot or fervent, and love covers, like the peeling of an orange. As soon as you peel the orange it starts to dry up. So do we without the wall of love.
1 Corinthians 13:4, 6 & 7 - "love is patient and is kind" and (love) rejoices with the truth and believes all things."
This lines up with the fruit of the Spirit, showing that they are indivisible, one piece of fruit, interconnected, as the orange peel touches all the different segments, also the love of God is part of and protects all the different segments.