But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
All Commentaries on Galatians 5:22 Go To Galatians 5
John Chrysostom
AD 407
He didn’t say “the works of the Spirit” but “the fruits.” Therefore [it may seem that] the soul is superfluous. For if the statement mentions the flesh and the Spirit, where is the soul? Is Paul then speaking of soulless beings? For if the evil belongs to the flesh and the good to the Spirit, then the soul would be superfluous. Not at all; for the ordering of the passions is the work of the soul and concerns the soul. The soul is situated in the middle of the struggle between virtue and vice. If the soul uses the body as it should, it makes itself more spiritual. But if it departs from the Spirit and yields itself to evil desires, it renders it more earthy. Do you see how everywhere he is not speaking of the essence of the flesh but of moral choice that is inclined toward virtue or vice? So why does he refer to “the fruits of the Spirit”? Because evil works come from us alone, and hence he calls them works, while the good works require not only the resolution of our will but the kindness of God.
