For the fruit of the Spirit
Either of the spirit of man, as renewed, or rather of the Spirit
of God; the allusion is to fruits of trees: the believer is a
tree of righteousness; Christ is his root; the Spirit is the sap,
which supports and nourishes; and good works, under the influence
of his grace, are the fruit: the Alexandrian copy, and some
others, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions,
read "the fruit of light"; which agrees with the preceding words:
and the genuine fruit of internal grace, or light,
[is] in all goodness, and righteousness, and
truth;
the fruit of "goodness", lies in sympathizing with persons in
distress; in assisting such according to the abilities men have
in a readiness to forgive offences and injuries; and in using
meekness and candour in admonishing others: "righteousness" lies
in living in obedience to the law of God; in attending the
worship and service of him; and in discharging our duty to our
fellow creatures; and this as goodness, is very imperfect, and
not to be boasted of, or trusted to, nor is salvation to be
expected from it: "truth" is opposed to lying, to hypocrisy, to
error and falsehood; and where the Spirit of God, and the work of
grace are, there will be more or less an appearance of these
fruits.