Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I have known this list for a long time. It's time to dig a little deeper into the meaning and application.

Firstly, there is another list immediately preceding this:
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

The acts of the flesh is in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit. The interesting thing about this "negative" list is that it pretty much describes our culture! And if it implies that anyone who commits any of these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God, then none of us will make it! Let me try to understand this in the context of the the book of Galatians. The Galatians, who became Christian converts when the apostle Paul first visited them, were at risk of forgetting the real meaning of salvation. Instead of believing by faith what Christ has done for them on the cross, they were to entrust themselves once again to the work of the flesh (i.e. by strictly following the requirements of the Mosaic law):

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:1-6)

So what Paul was saying was that if we think that we can rely on the "acts of the flesh" to keep the law in order to earn our salvation, we will discover that we will in fact wind up following what our flesh are naturally inclined to do which is the opposite of what God intends for us. We will end up "living like this" and therefore not "inheriting the kingdom of God".

On the contrary, if we simply receive our salvation by faith (as Abraham did), God, by his Spirit, will begin to work in us to produce the Fruit (note singular) which only God can do. There will be increasing evidence of these characteristics of a Christian life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. "Against such things there is no law" - in other word, what the Mosaic law wanted to produce this in us but had failed.

It is good to routinely check our own life. Do I see evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life? If I do - praise God! There is nothing to be proud of other than that God is mighty to save. He has done great things! If I don't see evidence of the "good" list and find evidence of the "bad" list, return to Jesus, ask him to forgive which he is delighted to do, and trust his promise: "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)