The Fruit of Righteousness

In the Bible the ‘fruit of righteousness’ is often associated with ‘the tree of life’. At the beginning of the Bible we learn that the tree of life and its fruit was available to Adam and Eve to give them life. When they rejected God’s rule they were excluded from the ‘tree of life’. At the very end of the Bible the river flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb is flanked on each side by ‘the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit.’. The ‘leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations’. The tree of life is not there for its own sake, it produces fruit and leaves to give ‘healing’ to others.

The ‘tree of life’ is a popular theme in Jewish thinking and is often used as a synonym for the ‘Torah’, the word of God. It is a common name for their schools and synagogues. In Ashkenazi Jewish congregations a song, based on Proverbs 3:13-18, is sung as the Torah is returned to the ‘ark’ after a public reading. This passage is about God’s wisdom, the wisdom that is found in his Word,

“She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.” Proverbs 3:18

Jesus refers to God’s tree as the vine, which who are those people who are living in Christ.

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2

To live in Christ is to produce fruit for him. What is this fruit? In John’s gospel it is clear that the fruit referred to is the sharing of the gospel so that others can come to know Christ. Jesus goes on to say that he is sending his disciples out into the world to bear fruit for him.

“You did not chose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” John 15:16

Calvin called this fruit,’the source of life’. Another passage in Proverbs refers to this fruit as something that grows so that others become trees of life. This is what sharing the gospel about Jesus does. The verse continues to make it clear what God’s people are meant to be doing for their Saviour.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 10:30

We will help win people partly by the attractiveness of our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is that change of character when Christ is in us and it is this change that helps draw people to Christ. He gives us the desire and ability to grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control (Galatians 5:22), all attractive interpersonal features. That Paul was thinking in this way is apparent because other non-relational features of the work of the Holy Spirit, such as a desire to pray and to understand God’s word, are not mentioned here.

BVP

January 2021