This study was taught at our Sunday evening service by Matt Randall on the 25th October 2020. You can listen to the audio on this web page or save it for later listening.

This is the sixth study in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, something that should be evident in the life of every Christian, and found in the Bible in Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

As taught in our introduction to this series, we should keep in mind the following foundational items;

• Grace, not works (We don’t show the fruit of the Spirit in order to be saved, but rather we grow fruit because we have been saved – see Ephesians 2:8-9)
• Fruit, not fruits (Unlike the gifts of the Spirit where different ones are given to different people, we should each demonstrate all the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit – see 2 Peter 1:5-9).
• Abiding, not striving (We are to abide in Christ. If the branches are not connected, they will not bear fruit. Likewise we must spend time in the Word, and in prayer, or we will not bear fruit – John 15:4).

In this study we specifically looked at Faith, with our reading from Habakkuk 3:17-19. As we began, we considered that both being full of faith and faithful are good things, but as noted in our introduction to this series, faith is a distinct quality and the word that the greek pistis is most commonly translated to in the KJV.

Our study was broken down by considering that faith is…

• Fundamental to salvation
• Temporary
• Belief
• Trust
• Reasoned
• Evident in works

Scriptures referenced throughout this study include;

• Hebrews 11:6
• Ephesians 2:8-10
• 1 Corinthians 13:13
• Hebrews 11:1
• John 20:30-31
• James 2:14-24
• Hebrews 11:8

Additionally it was noted that Jesus mentioned faith, both when correcting and commending others;

• Correcting
  • Matthew 6:25-30
  • Matthew 8:25-26
  • Matthew 14:29-31
  • Matthew 16:8
  • Matthew 17:20
• Commending
  • Matthew 8:10
  • Matthew 9:2
  • Matthew 9:28-29
  • Matthew 15:28

Throughout this 10-week series we will continue to study one quality of the Fruit of the Spirit each week, with studies available on our website (usually) the same day they are taught. Separately, it is worth listening to our previous study on this chapter here.