Peace as Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5: 19-24)
GIBC (7 Dec 2025 – 2nd Advent Sunday).
1. Intro
Peace is not something that comes naturally to us. There are no 4- easy lessons to find peace with God and to have it as a part of daily living. So, I want to introduce you to this topic of peace or Shalom by talking about the Holy Spirit. Most of us will agree doctrinally about the Trinitarian God. We agree to Yahweh being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but in actuality, we are bi-nitarians; that means we believe in Father and Son but just give lip service to the Spirit. We accept because we are told. How about experiencing the Spirit?
1.1. The Spirit is: characterized by four symbols: Fire, Wind, Water, and Oil. 1. Fire describes purity, the lighting up of a new work, tongues of fire! 2. Wind: the mysteriousness and power of the Spirit: you do not see the Spirit but you will know of the His presence. He came like a rushing wind at Pentecost! 3. Water is about life, refreshment: “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38) but it’s important to also read v37: “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said.” This comes from Ezekiel 47: 1-12. Verse 1: “behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple.” The prophet goes on to say that on both sides of the river there will grow all kinds of trees for food” - fruitfulness (v12). 4. Oil signifies the presence of the Spirit. They anoint with oil as a sign of the Spirit’s presence. We have that story about the prophet Samuel being sent to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse. When he chooses David to be the next king, Samuel anoints him with oil. What happens? The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon David (1 Sam 16:13). NIV: the Spirit came powerfully upon him.
1.2. We All Want More of the Spirit: The 4 symbols: fire speaks of purity not carnality, wind for power, water for refreshment and fruitfulness; and oil for the presence of God. The Q: do we all not want more of the fire, of wind, water, and oil, more of the reality of the Spirit in our life as a part of daily living?
2. Shalom and the Spirit
2.1. Shalom: The Hebrew Shalom is not just about peace and tranquility but it is about well-being, completeness and safety. There is a holism to that word that describes the whole person in a state of wellbeing. Shalom means more than just doing well in life or business but more so, emotional and spiritual wellness. That means no wild swings, no ups and downs. It also means being a state of positivity with all those around you. That means being in good relationships with friends and relatives where there is no strife, no petty jealousies. No striving after the almighty dollar and no envy of others who are doing well. Are we in a space where you can rejoice because some else has done well or whose children are doing well and who are getting accolades?
When we can rejoice because of the success and wellbeing of others, we have reached a stage of emotional and spiritual maturity.
But, most importantly, Shalom means being at peace with Yahweh as a continuum.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you” (Isa 26:3).
2.2. The Spirit: my emphasis today is primarily on Jesus and the Spirit not on peace because peace is a byproduct of the Spirit’s presence, an outworking of the interaction between Holy Spirit and our humanity. Jesus is our peace! Our natural state is not one of spirituality. Our natural state is carnality – look at Gal 5:19-21. A few of them: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissentions, divisions, envy. I’ll just pick on those. There’s no one here who can say he doesn’t experience them. In our natural state, those traits are deeply rooted in us and it is a life of discipleship and walking with Jesus or rather keeping in step with the Spirit that moves us away from carnality and striving. Therefore, we shouldn’t aim for peace but aim for more of the Spirit. The discipline that we need is to be mindful about what upsets the Spirit. Jesus:
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13)
I’ll translate that into language that we understand: don’t we want more of the Father’s Spirit? Don’t we want to be more like Jesus? Don’t we want to experience more renewal and strengthening to fight our inner carnality and brokenness? Don’t we want to be more infectious as children of the living God who have a dynamic testimony to tell? Don’t we want to say: it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me? Then, be like the man who had this guest at midnight and didn’t have enough food, he goes to his neighbors house and knocks on his neighbor’s door and keeps knocking until his persistence pays off, the neighbor gets up and gives him what he needs. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened (Lk 11:9).
2.3. Quenching the Spirit: Another symbol of the Spirit is a dove. The dove came upon Jesus at the Jordan. It is a gentle animal. It gets easily spooked. If we want more of the Spirit then we must live a life that doesn’t grieve the Spirit. Sin has that effect. Living the Spirit-filled life and maintain peace means intentional spirituality.
3. Jesus and Peace
3.1. Peace: can exist even though there is war and crisis around us. Peace is a state of being where one lacks nothing. It is a state of contentment and security. The angels tell the shepherds “peace on earth to people he favors” (LK 2:14). Peace is a grace. In Lk 7, we have the story of the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’s feet with oil. Of course, the Pharisees were disgusted because they thought they were better. Jesus pronounces forgiveness upon her and says to her: “You faith has saved you; go in peace” (Lk 7:50). That means, go in wellness and feeling un-condemned even though she had led a sinful life.
3.2. Jesus: I want to cite 3 instances of crisis in Jesus’s life. Did he get caught up by the stress of the occasion?
1**. After his baptism**, Jesus gets led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Mark records that the Spirt “drove him out into the wilderness” but Luke records these words “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit” (Lk 4:1). There he fasted for 40 days and was under severe stress. He was in great pain as his body was breaking down. But, Jesus kept his composure and rebuked the devil. The key words in Lk 4:1 - “full of the Holy Spirit.” I know we have the Spirit but does he have us fully? Are we yielded? Are we inclined and aligned? Seek the infilling of the Spirit. Do we pray selflessly for the kingdom?