We Are God's Fruit Bearing Trees

In my last post I referred to a couple Bible verses that compare fruit bearing trees to God's reborn people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. So we read in the very first Psalm that the man who meditates upon God's Holy Word continues to yield fruit in its season. I'd like to explore what it means for a Christian to yield fruit and to yield it "in its season." The stream, of course, is the Holy Spirit who continues to nourish and refresh through God's Word (Torah or instruction).

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Psa 1:3 ESV 

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul picks up the analogy as he speaks often about fruit and fruit bearing. 

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. . . . But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. - Rom 7:4, 6 ESV 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. - Gal 5:23-25 ESV 

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness  that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. - Phil 1:9-11 ESV

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. - Col 1:9-10 ESV 

Paul teaches us several important lessons in these passages about fruit. 

1. When Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary, we died with him. In turn, when he rose from the dead on the eighth day, we rose with him. So that we may now correctly say, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). 
2. Further, the Holy Spirit teaches us in that Word He has given to us that we are free. We have been freed from the law that previously condemned and enslaved us. That freedom became ours when we died and rose again with Christ. Because of Christ we are now, in God's eyes, completely without sin. So Paul writes, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). 
3. Released from the slavery of sin, the passions and drives of our sinful flesh, we are free to be fruit-bearing trees for God. This is a radically new way of living, sharply contrasted with the way of the flesh or the ways of this world of sinful men. Raised from the dead with Christ we have the life of Christ, the water of God, the Holy Spirit, ever bubbling up and flowing in our lives. 
4. In this new life, we delight to serve God. It is a joy and a pleasure. We are motivated, not by fear and anxiety, but rather by the love of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. No longer do we run from God to hide in hope that we will not be found out. Rather we run to God to ask, "How may I serve you, my Father?" So we are prepared to bear fruit, or to use Paul's other analogy, to walk by the Spirit. 
5. The power to bear fruit comes, of course, from the Spirit. As a tree withers and dies without water, so we die without the water of the Spirit. And that life-giving water flows in and from God's Word. The more we meditate upon God's Spirit-filled Word, the more we learn about God's love for us and His wondrous plan for our lives. Paul calls this knowledge of God's will spiritual wisdom, discernment and understanding. 
6. Such knowledge is never mere information and facts to be recited in order to pass some kind of examination or to impress people. It is so much more than that. Above all it is personal knowledge. Because of such knowledge I can now say, "Christ died for ME! I died and I rose with him! Christ lives within ME! I am a CHILD of the Heavenly Father. I know Him and He knows me. Now I can crawl right up on my Papa's lap to be held in His loving arms and ask whatever I want. He listens and always gives me what is best for me" (Luke 11:8-13; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). 
7. As this personal Spirit-given knowledge of my Papa's love for me grows within, so does my love for Him grow. And along with my growing love for Papa comes joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. As I learn to love Papa, I learn also to love those around me, all of whom He loves so very much. I become a fruit-bearing tree, bearing the fruit of a godly or God-like life. 

In blogs in July of this year I wrote about the special gifts given by the life-giving Spirit, the so-called charismatic or spiritual gifts. For now, let us simply rejoice in the life of the Holy Spirit, God's refreshing stream, so that we may all bear fruit in every good work and increase in our personal knowledge of God's love.