I’ve always been enamored with God’s use of fruit in describing the products of salvation. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians around 50 AD. We gather from its lines that Paul is significantly concerned with the controversy seeping into the church concerning the Gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law (613 Commandments). Paul cautioned these early Christians against the religious spirit. This is evidenced in the “fruits of the Spirit” passage found in Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Being a learned scholar, Paul had detailed knowledge of the Mosaic Law. His caution to the Galatians was not one of avoiding the law, but rather of being trapped by the law. The Mosaic Law existed to illustrate the great divide between God and man. It was a sort of simplification of the complicated trappings of the fall of man. The Law wasn’t bad. In fact, it was inherently good. But the chasm between God and man was forever bridged by the cross of Christ. This was the message Paul was teaching to the church in Galatia.
Paul illustrates the presence of the Holy Spirit as superior to the rubric of religious law. So much so that he ends verse 23 with, “Against such things there is no law.” So that even one caught in the law would understand the good produced from the indwelling of the Spirit. He taught that those 9 “fruits” were a positive sign of life change.
In a similar way, the religious spirit is a lot like wax fruit. From a distance, it looks just like the real thing. But when you get close enough to really look at it, you can see it just looks the part. Even if you couldn’t tell right up front, as soon as you picked it up or took a bite…you’d be in for a surprise.
Fruit is such an appropriate illustration because of its nature. It has a real texture, a real smell, and of course a real taste. But more so than that, fruit contains the power and resources to fully reproduce itself.
Religion is based on the moral needs for men to be “okay” or “good enough” to please God. The religious spirit is the very same as wax fruit. Religion focuses on the external. This is mentioned in Luke 11:39 – “Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy–full of greed and wickedness!”
The religious spirit whispers to us that there must be a “thing we can do” to earn the grace of the Almighty. This appeal to our human sense is the first indication that the religious spirit is not of God.
On a human level, doing good works helps us atone for our sense of guilt. So much so that we can get caught up in those works rather than leaning fast upon the blood of Jesus. The level of obvious works is always in direct proportion to the amount of guilt pressed into us by the religious spirit. But the burden of salvation isn’t on the shoulders of men. That burden was borne on the back of the Savior. The only “thing we can do” is have faith in the “thing that was done.” Before faith can fully take root, we must acknowledge that the debt of the law has been paid by Christ Jesus.
There is a difference, as well, between a “hero” and a “Savior.” We allow the sacrifice of Christ to become relativistic in that we make Salvation a matter of personal taste. In contrast to the works we’re sometimes coerced into doing, the religious spirit sometimes tells us that we don’t need very much Salvation, as we’re “not all that bad.” This stems, in part, from the fact that many of us view Christ as a hero instead of a Savior. I think back to World Wars and the stories I heard about young soldiers throwing themselves upon grenades to save their friends. That momentary burst of courage is definitely to be lauded. And though it may seem belittling to those brave soldiers of old, the sacrifice of Christ was and is much deeper.
A hero would offer up his life for mankind, but the Savior offered up His life for YOU. The bargain was a life for a life. Yours for His. When Jesus paid the penalty for your salvation, it was not done with the blind hope that His sacrifice might do some good someday. Rather Christ made a more personal sacrifice. He died for you. His life, for your life. Repeated billions of times. Salvation is not relativistic, it is absolute. Just as there are not varying degrees of God’s love, there are not varying degrees of salvation.
In the same vein lies the potent truth that there is nothing we can do to “earn” God’s favor. The notion that God will dispense varying degrees of love upon His children is a lie perpetuated by the religious spirit. Could a mother love some of her children more than she loves others? Would a true and loving father show more kindness to one son than another? Neither does God hold back love to any of His children.
I look to James for advice about faith. In James 2:12-26, God outlines faith without works. He says very plainly that faith without works is dead faith. Those works, however, aren’t divine brownie points. Those works are a banner to the world. Works are proof of the power in the love of God. Works are the statement of life-change spurred on by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, James 2:26 says, “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” God is saying that it so much more important to quietly execute good deeds in His name than to possess all the appearances and trappings of a pious worshiper.
When we circle back around and consider that the religious spirit focuses on the external, we find that our works must be done with powerful silence. However, even in this, one must be cautious. The religious spirit seeks to have us serve the Lord in order to gain His approval. But our service to the Lord must stem from our having already received our approval from the cross of Christ.
It is fact that the natural gravitation of the human soul is away from God. As such, we don’t chase Him. He chases us. If left to our own faculties we would drift continuously away from the Creator. We don’t sit waiting for God to respond to our love. Rather we must respond to the love He showed us first.
Equally significant in the grand scheme is the sobering fact that the religious spirit may actually push others away from the Kingdom of God. We see this in the earliest days of the church. John 12:42-43 says, “Many people did believe in him, however, including some of the Jewish leaders. But they wouldn’t admit it for fear that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.”
I shudder to think by my own religious example how many people I have pushed further away from the arms of God. How many times have I acted with religious pride or feigned conviction? I don’t want to be that. I can’t live like that.
The difference is the deal-breaker. Where will you fit in? Will you forgive or condemn? Will you judge or love? Will you act with pride or humility?
Take some time. Now, if you can. Just 20 minutes or so, to evaluate. Turn off your phone, find a quiet place and reflect. Keeping up with wax fruit is so much easier than cultivating, maintaining and producing the real thing. But breaking away from the religious spirit can be hard. After all, it is infinitely easier to be an admirer of Christ than to be a follower of Christ.
Blessings,
-B