Conclusion

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These compose the Personality of the Lord Jesus Christ and the personality of the person who is mature in Him.

There are other characteristics of the Lord, such as wisdom, courage, and majesty. But Paul offers these nine aspects as a contrast to the fleshly nature. Paul's teaching is that these attributes of personality are found in the Kingdom of God but their opposites are not.

Today we say people will enter Heaven by grace whether or not the fruit of the Spirit is found in them. The Bible says personalities that exhibit the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit will not inherit the Kingdom of God. I wonder which is correct, the Bible or our traditions? How do you feel about this?

When we look at the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit we behold the adamic personality, the carnal nature of untransformed man.

The opposite of love is hatred in all of its forms, from slander to murder. Slander and gossip often are practiced in the Christian churches—so much so the believers accept gossip and slander as a normal part of the Christian life.

Those who gossip and slander will never enter the Kingdom of God, unless they permit the Holy Spirit to transform them. Gossip and slander are not found in the Kingdom of God, not by grace, mercy, or any other device. Aren't you thankful for that? I am!

The opposite of joy is misery. Christians talk about having fun, being happy, being fulfilled, being satisfied in Jesus. But true joy is found only in the heart of the cross-carrying, obedient saint—nowhere else. Sinners are always miserable whether they are Christian sinners or non-Christian sinners.

Righteousness, holiness, and stern obedience to the Father create joy in us. But sin always brings misery, degradation, worry, unrest, fear, dread, and every other painful, destructive condition.

The opposite of peace is unrest. The sinner, having a guilty conscience, being terrified of death, driven by his or her own lusts, worldliness, and personal ambition, experiences some form of misery most of the time. The only peace there is is that which comes to the obedient saint. He knows his God and he knows he is pleasing His God.

The opposite of patience is impatience. The adamic nature is characterized by impatience. Patience is the mark of the saint who understands clearly that the Kingdom of God is given only to those who faithfully plod along, trusting in the promises of God, until the goal is attained. Those who must have their desires fulfilled now will never be permitted in the Paradise of God. Such as these belong in the Lake of Fire with the demons.

The opposite of kindness is harshness, cruelty, selfishness. On numerous occasions people who have only their adamic nature to draw on have demonstrated remarkable kindness and self-sacrifice. Even these, however, will fail under enough pressure. Jesus Christ, and those in whom He is dwelling, are always kind. This is because the Spirit of God is in them and harshness, cruelty, and selfishness have been driven from them by the manifold workings of the Spirit.

The opposite of goodness is badness. Each human being was born with badness in him or her. Few people are totally bad, there is good in most of us. But true goodness is found only in God. Even Jesus responded that only God is good. This is true. Compared with God the best of us are mean, harsh, selfish, devious, self-centered individuals. But through the Divine Nature we can be transformed until God's goodness is in us.

To be continued.