Is the fruit of the spirit more of a cake or a tree?

Fruit pie or fruitful tree?

Many of us love a good homemade pie. Whether apple, berry or peach, a homemade pie is the result of a specific process in the kitchen. The baker arranges and prepares her ingredients, presses the dough, creates a suitable filling and adds a lattice crust, and voilà! The end product is a feast for the eyes and the taste buds.

The fruit of the Spirit is not like a homemade pie. But how many of us think about things this way? Start with a few Loveadd a little joy And peacefill with patience And goodnessand garnish with some self-controland – voilà! – we hope we got the recipe right. We trust that all our efforts are sufficient. We pray that the end product is a wonderful (and fruitful) Christian life.

But God’s word tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is just that: of the Spirit. It’s not ‘ours’. Instead of imagining the fruit of the Spirit, like a homemade pie that depends on its ingredients, we should imagine it as a tree:

(The blessed man) is like a tree
planted by water flows
that bears fruit in its season,
and its leaves do not wither.
He thrives in everything he does. (Ps. 1:3)

A fertile tree depends on external factors to survive and thrive. It bears fruit because it is well hydrated, cared for and nourished through the roots. Everything a tree needs, it receives from outside. Even a very active process like photosynthesis involves air, sunlight and water. God’s word tells us that believers are like trees: completely dependent on Him for every growth and fruitfulness. A holy life in Christ produces holy, good fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit is. . .

Consider your current thoughts about the fruit of the Spirit. Do you often think of it as a homemade cake, which depends on your own efforts and a combination of the right ingredients? Or do you think of a fruit-bearing tree that depends on its food sources to thrive? The differences are enormous: worship instead of legalism, prosperity versus exhaustion, joy instead of frustration. When it comes to this important spiritual reality, we want to have the mind of Christ and a heart deeply rooted in His words. We want to be like a tree.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; There is no law against such things. (Gal. 5:22–23)

The apostle Paul wrote these familiar words to a church family struggling to continue believing the good news about Jesus (Gal. 1:6–7). The church was persuaded by false teachers to follow certain rules (particularly circumcision) in order to be accepted by God (Gal. 6:15). However, with great passion for the truth, Paul reminds them that “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but faith which works through love” (Gal. 5:6).

What counts in the Christian life? “Faith works through love.” In other words, true faith bears good fruit. Paul reminds us that it is only through faith in Christ that we are accepted by God (Gal. 2:16) and adopted as His children (Gal. 4:6-7). And therefore it is only through faith in Christ that we receive the promised Spirit, who bears his good and delicious fruit in us (Gal. 4:6, 5:18).

The fruit of the Spirit is just that: of the Spirit. It’s like a tree, not like a cake.

Search questions

As we root ourselves in God’s nourishing word—as we seek to be fruitful believers—we find an invitation to examine our hearts. Paul asks at least two searching questions of the Galatian Church that are still relevant to us today.

Have I turned to a different gospel? (Gal. 1:6)

Any change in the gospel message will distort our understanding of how we become fruitful people. This was the problem of the Galatians. Do we firmly believe that we are “justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law” (Gal. 2:16)? Or do we hope that our good works will save us? In other words, our eternal hope must be rooted in who Jesus is and what he has done, not in what we do.

The gospel (or “good news”) tells us that Jesus, the Lord of all creation, makes everything right regarding sin and will save us from sin and all its consequences if we put our trust in Him. The gospel does not tell us to “bear some fruit to earn your salvation” (the cake); it says, “Enjoy your salvation in Christ and then bear His fruit” (the tree). Turning to any other gospel will lead to discouragement (Galatians 2:11-14) and possibly even spiritual death (3:10). But holding fast to the true gospel of Christ means life (Gal. 2:20), freedom (Gal. 2:4–5), and fruitfulness (Gal. 6:8–9).

Have I now begun by the Spirit, perfected by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3)

Perhaps you would say you believe the true gospel, but tend to drift toward self-sufficiency (Gal. 4:9), works-based righteousness (Gal. 5:2), and therefore a burdensome form of Christianity ( Gal. 5:2). 7). Paul reminds the Galatians (and us) that nothing can be added to our salvation (Gal. 3:5). We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus (Gal. 1:1–5). That’s it!

However, this does not mean that we do nothing (Gal. 5:16). Like the active photosynthesis of a tree, we are called to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25), which proves that our faith in Jesus is genuine (John 15:8). But we must be careful; it is always possible to fall into legalism, thinking that we can somehow earn God’s favor. But just as we received “the promised Spirit by faith” the moment we believed (Gal. 3:14), so too we must “stand firm. . . by the Spirit through faith” every moment until Jesus returns (Gal. 5:1-6). We continue as we began: through the love and power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:3).

A fertile people

The fruit of the Spirit reflects the heart of God – and it is his Spirit who produces all his graces in us. We see this most clearly in Jesus, whose entire earthly life was empowered and made fruitful by God’s Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18), making him our perfect Vicar, compassionate brother, and faithful high priest. When we are redeemed from the curse of the law through Christ, we are adopted as sons, and God sends the Spirit of Jesus into our hearts (Gal. 4:3-7). What more could we wish for?

And what happens when a child of God is rooted in Christ and filled with His Spirit? She bears its fruit. She becomes fertile. Such a person is not like a fruit cake, but like ‘a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. He will prosper in everything he does” (Ps. 1:3).

This article is adapted from ESV Devotional Journal, Fruit of the Spirit by Kristen Wetherell

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