The Fruit of the Spirit

Introduction. During the winter months, only an expert in horticulture can identify most fruit trees. Even in the spring when the leaves and flowers are easily seen, not everyone knows its identity. But when the time of harvest comes, everyone knows the kind of tree because they can see its fruit. Jesus made a powerful application of this truth in the life of every person. Since “each tree is known by its own fruit,” “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.” Therefore when speaking of those who preach error he revealed, “You will know them by their fruits” (Lk. 6:44-45; Mt. 7:16-20). Since God created “fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind,” “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Gen. 1:11). 

Jesus drew from these same truths as he spoke of his relationship to his disciples. He is the vine producing after its kind, and God is the vinedresser, seeking to draw as much fruit as possible. The disciples are the branches in this vine. As long as a disciple maintains a faithful relationship to him, that disciple will be bearing fruit after its kind. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ... By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so prove to be My disciples” (Jn. 15:1-8).

Just as God our Father and Jesus our Savior are actively involved in producing this fruit, so also is the Holy Spirit, for the “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). By these fruits we can see the extent of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Just as God created a tree to bear after its kind, the Holy Spirit created Scripture to produce after his kind. Just as we can identify any tree during harvest by its fruit, we can identify the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives by this fruit. 

In order to see how the Holy Spirit produces fruit within us, we need to return to the fruit tree. In the beginning God created the force and power that brings the tree. The seed for this tree is the most amazing thing of all! In the spring when we plant that seed, it brings forth a small green plant nourished by the soil and the sun. In the course of time that plant grows into the fruit tree. The tree then becomes the “manufacturing plant” to make that fruit. 

It is exactly the same process that makes the fruit of the Spirit possible. “The seed is the word of God” (Lk. 8:11), and the author of the Word of God is the Holy Spirit. In the Old Covenant “no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2Pet 1:21) Hence every word of every prophet from Moses to Malachi did not come from their own will, but the will of the Holy Spirit. He is the author and the force behind Scripture. All the good produced by Scripture is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

• All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2Tim. 3:16-17).
  

Jesus made it clear to his apostles and prophets that this would continue in the New Covenant. Their preaching was not by their own will “for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mk. 13:11). Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would “teach you all things,” “bring to your remembrance all that I said”, and “guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14:26; 16:13). Paul knew everything he spoke and wrote were given by the Holy Spirit and thus all that he wrote were “the commandments of the Lord” (1Cor. 2:9-13; 14:37) and “when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:4). 

Today we have the finished product in the Bible. It is the word of God, “incorruptible, living, and abiding”(1Pet. 1:23-25), “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12), and the “sword of the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit works through His word and we are thus “born of water and the Spirit,” when we obey its commands. In this way “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God", and it is also how we are “led by the Spirit of God,” and “are sons of God” (Jn. 3:5; Rom. 8:14,16). 

• “The seed is the word of God” (Lk 8:11). With that seed each of us was “born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1Pet. 1:23). 
  

Conclusion. Just as seeds become healthy fruit trees known by their fruit, healthy disciples have taken the seed of God’s word deeply into their hearts. We know how fertile our heart and how healthy our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are by the type and quality of fruit we are producing. In the parable of the sower, and the vine and the branches. Jesus made this very clear: 

• “And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (Lk. 8:15)
  
• “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Mt. 13:23).
  
• “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (Jn. 15:8-9).