The Holy Spirit is Not the Author of Chaos

Last night I happened to watch a few minutes of Tony Evans preaching from Galatians 5:19-24 on the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit. Near the end he made one point I had never heard before. It begins with the observation that Paul contrasts two different categories:

Works of the flesh (v. 19)
Fruit of the Spirit (v. 22)

Tony noted the difference between the plural “works” and the singular “fruit.” Why is that? Because, he said, anything that comes from the flesh produces chaos. When the Spirit works in us, the result is peace, wholeness, harmony, unity. Tony waved his arms in the air to show the works of the flesh being “all over the place,” producing inner confusion and outward chaos. If you go back to the very beginning, back to when Lucifer rebelled against the Lord God, you discover that the essence of sin is self-willed rebellion. All sin springs from anarchy in the heart. Sin is anarchy. Sin by its very nature can never produce anything positive, anything good, any wholesome. Sin throws the soul off key and puts everything it touches out of tune with God.

I thought about my own life and realized that every time I sin, the result is only chaos. I hurt myself and I hurt those around me. The reverse is also true. Because we live in a chaotic world, things will often seem to be “flying all over the place” around us. There is little we can do about that. Then I thought about some Christians I know who remain calm and hopeful and on an even keel in the middle of a tornado of circumstances. That’s the true work of the Holy Spirit. He gives us grace and strength on the inside so that we have peace, wholeness, harmony and unity when the world seems to be falling apart.

If your life is filled with turmoil, perhaps this would be good moment to look in the mirror and do an analysis of your heart in light of Galatians 5:19-24. The out-of-control life means something is out of kilter on the inside.

The Holy Spirit is not the author of chaos.