01.03A. The Distinction Between the Gifts of the Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit.

A. The Distinction Between the Gifts of the Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit. The Scriptures tell us that there are gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, 1 Corinthians 14:1-40) and that there are fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). They are not the same, however, because gifts and fruit operate in the spiritual life of the believer for different purposes. In order to edify the spiritual life and to train believers for the work of the ministry, the Holy Spirit distributes gifts “to each one individually as He wills,” and “to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11). Thus, the gifts of the Spirit are given by Spirit-filling and are given to enable us to bring spiritual light and life to others, as the Scriptures say, “He gave some…for the equipping of the saints” (Ephesians 4:11-12), that is, to build up Christ’s body-the church. The word “equip” (katartismos) is derived from a root which signifies in its verbal form “to mend or prepare” nets for the task of fishing by cleaning, mending, and folding them together (Matthew 4:21), or for disciples to be “fully trained” to be like their teacher (Luke 6:40).

Also, it can mean “to restore” to a right position as those Christians in Galatia who had lapsed into sin (Galatians 6:1), or “to complete” what is lacking in the spiritual growth of the Thessalonian Christians (1 Thessalonians 3:10). Thus it follows that God’s chief purpose for the manifestation of different spiritual gifts in the church is not primarily for the benefit or growth of the recipient, but it is for the edification and training of the church as a whole. In a word, gifts are given through Spirit-filling primarily for “the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). Concerning this point Leon Morris writes, “Spiritual gifts are always given to be used, and the use is for the edification of the whole body of believers, not some individual possessor of the gift.”39 The fruit of the Spirit, however, is produced by the fullness of the Spirit and is for the benefit of the believer’s spiritual life. Although the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are different in nature, they are not totally unrelated. Possessing both permits a believer to live a heavenly life and at the same time to serve the Lord effectively. When Spirit-filling occurs the result is immediate and the process may be repeated frequently.

Spirit-fullness, however, is a process in the believer’s life that takes time to bud, blossom and bear fruit which itself will mature gradually. Spiritual fruit such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:23) matures step by step and from faith to faith in much the same manner that “the righteousness of 45 God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17), which is from a lesser degree of faith to a greater faith. A believer possessing the fruit of the Spirit gives clear evidence that he is full of the Holy Spirit. Being full of the Spirit is the cause of a believer’s spiritual life, and the fruit of the Spirit is the effect.

Thus the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit are complementary to each other. Being full of the Holy Spirit results in spirituality, whereas Spirit-filling bestows spiritual gifts and empowers the believer for specific service. God desires that the believer may have both a heavenly life and also possess spiritual power and gifts to serve Him with competency and vitality. However, due to their different backgrounds, spiritual environment, and degree of faith, Christians often experience an unbalanced growth. Some, such as Barnabas, have reached great heights in their spiritual lives (“For he [Barnabas] was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord,” Acts 11:24). Others, like Apollos, were given a great ability to preach (“Now a certain Jew names Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.” Acts 18:24). In the early church there were some believers who excelled in both spiritual life and service, such as Stephen, Philip, and Paul. A lopsided growth in His children certainly does not please the Lord. Unfortunately, this kind of spiritual growth is frequently seen in the church today. Being aware that our spiritual life does not grow evenly should help us to be patient with one another, while enabling us to admit our mutual weaknesses and defects to each other. The individual who is Spirit-filled with the resultant gifts and effectively serves with good results, yet who does not have the Spirit’s fullness for love, patience, kindness, self-control, and so on, is not as fully developed spiritually as our Lord desires. Without doubt, those who have the gift of preaching, casting out demons, and performing many miracles and yet do not let God’s will reign in their lives are not pleasing to Him. They have gifts for service, but because they also practice lawlessness (do evil), they will be refused entrance into the Kingdom of heaven, even though they shall be eternally saved (“If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire,” 1 Corinthians 3:15; see Matthew 7:21-23). When the seventy disciples returned from their preaching tour, they rejoiced to report to Jesus that they were able to cast demons out of suffering people. Jesus, however, wanted them to pay more attention to the quality of their spiritual lives than to the results of their work (Luke 10:17-20; also see Luke 22:28-30).

Therefore, even if we have the filling of the Spirit and possess His gifts to work effectively and powerfully, we still must pursue the fullness of the Spirit which will enable us to be kind to one another, to encourage one another and to live a life of love toward the brothers and sisters. Otherwise, although others might be edified by our spiritual gifts and service, we ourselves might be disqualified for the prize of entering into God’s Kingdom (“No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize,” 1 Corinthians 9:27 NIV; see 1 Corinthians 3:14-15; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 25:14-30). Conversely, if we are full of the Spirit and have a strong spiritual life, we should also earnestly desire Spirit-filling in order that we might be gifted to edify and equip the church. Our spiritual life shows that we are children of 46 our heavenly Father. Our spiritual gifts equip us to be servants of the King of kings.

Both in their proper proportion will show that we are not an “unflipped spiritual pancake.”

Even though we might suspect that in our abilities we are as talented as Leonardo da Vinci and as loving and kind as the apostle John in our daily lives, it is highly probable that some other brothers and sisters have spiritual gifts and wisdom that surpass ours and whose spiritual lives are further advanced than ours. Since we have nothing that we did not receive from God, let us be kind to one another and encourage each other. Our fellowship through the Spirit puts us into a special association with all those who sincerely follow God. We need to labor intensively through the Spirit’s filling and to honor and esteem our brothers and sisters because we have a mature godly life. If we have not yet arrived at this desired point, we should not despair because the spiritual life is attained through a gradual molding process, rather than through the immediate Spirit filling that occurs as the need arises to perform a specific task.

How long should the gradual molding process take to make a believer full of the Spirit? Here are some examples. Paul’s first visit to Corinth was probably in the year 51 or 52 AD. He wrote his first letter to the Corinthian believers while he was in Ephesus, perhaps early in 55 AD. God’s revelation through Paul indicates that the believers at Corinth should have been spiritual by the time that he wrote to them saying “I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ [52 AD]…for you are still fleshly [55 AD]” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Thus, according to Paul’s thinking, the saints in Corinth should have been full of the Spirit in three or four years. Unfortunately, they were not but were still living carnal lives. Our Savior and example, the Lord Jesus Christ, experienced immediately both the filling with the Spirit (“And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove,” Luke 3:22) and the fullness of the Holy Spirit (“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness,” Luke 4:1). Spurgeon, although he did not use the same terminology that we do, was probably filled with the Spirit at his new birth and his experience of fullness of the Spirit could not have been much later. Let us follow these good examples in order to be powerful servants of God as well as His exemplary children.