Galatians 5:22,23 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

But the fruit of the Spirit He says the fruit of the Spirit, to signify that the graces here mentioned are the natural, genuine product of the influences of the Spirit upon the mind of man. It is not possible to give a higher praise to any temper of mind, or course of life, than to say, it is the fruit of the Spirit of God; is love To God, his people, and all mankind, the source of all the other fruits; joy Arising from a sense of the remission of sins, of the favour of God, of adoption into his family, and being constituted his children and his heirs; from a lively hope of the heavenly inheritance, the testimony of a conscience void of offence toward God and man, (2 Corinthians 1:12,) communion with God, and an earnest of heaven in our hearts. Peace Namely, with God, and in our own consciences, and a disposition, as far as possible, to live peaceably with all men; long-suffering That is, patience in bearing with the infirmities, and faults, and even injuries of others; gentleness Toward all men, ignorant and wicked men in particular, implying sweetness of speech and manners; goodness A benevolent and beneficent disposition, with all that is kind, soft, winning, and tender, either in temper or behaviour, as the Greek word αγαθωσυνη implies; faith Or rather fidelity, as the word here evidently signifies, namely, in engagements, promises, and trusts, or what we call good faith and uprightness in men's dealings, neither, in any instance, imposing upon others, nor failing in any of those engagements which it is in our power to fulfil; meekness Or calmness under provocations, holding all the affections and passions in an even balance; temperance In the use of meats and drinks, and all animal gratifications: Against such holy and happy dispositions, there is no law By this observation, the apostle intimates that the graces and virtues here mentioned are so manifestly excellent, that they not only never were forbidden by any human law, but that there never hath been any nation which did not acknowledge their excellence, and give proofs that they did so, by making them objects either of their public or their private institutions. And those who in the general course of their lives bring forth these amiable and benign fruits of the Spirit, are, by the grace of the gospel, freed from the condemning sentence of the divine law.