Free Grace

All who have ever made a garden, or planted a vineyard or an orchard, know something of the delight of discovering fruit as a result of their labors. When the blade, the stalk and the ear are followed by the full corn in the ear, there is a peculiar sense of elation in the heart of the husbandman. It is fruit that he longs to see above all else, for fruit alone can crown his labors with success. This feeling of the husbandman is but a slight illustration of God’s desire for fruit in the lives of His children. It is the one great desideratum. The fig-tree was cursed because it bore only leaves, and in a parable the Saviour tells of the disappointment of the owner of a vineyard who coming for three years in succession to a certain tree for fruit and finding none gave the command, “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?”
Israel’s fruitlessness was the cause of God’s great lament and His occasion for exclaiming “Israel is an empty vine,” Hosea 10:1. Also how plaintive is the query found in Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” In Galatians 5:22, 23, the fruit that God delights in is named and the manner of its production stated.
Before considering these particulars it is well to note that there is never any fruit found of the flesh, the product of the flesh being rather designated “works.” “Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these,”—and there follows a disheartening catalogue of dark sins. And it should be remembered that there are no qualifications nor modifications, no distinction of good flesh from evil flesh, no difference between the “moral” man and the pronounced sinner (to use the terms of human speech), from which we must conclude, there being no alternative, that even the things produced or performed by the flesh which seem often so attractive and desirable have in them, to the scrutinizing eye of God, the germs or qualities of the corrupting principles that ar named.
Another point of interest lies in the statement that under the law there is no fruit-bearing. Even a conscientious obedience to the law and a correct walk under it are both unproductive of fruit, for in verse 18 we read, “But if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law.” Now if the fruit that God delights in is that of the Spirit, and if the Spirit’s office is to lead away from the law, how can the Spirit’s fruit be produced there (under law)? From which we conclude that in the old dispensation (of law) one might win God’s approval by obedience, but for all that he would not be designated a fruit bearer, though other acknowledgment of his acceptable life would be given appropriate to the dispensation.
Fruit-bearing then comes only through that greatest gift of God’s grace next to Salvation, viz.: the Holy Spirit. His reception is the second great truth concerning the Christian. First, by union with Christ he becomes a son of God, and so is made free from the law,—for this union involves being baptized into Christ, becoming a living part of Him, a member of His body, flesh and bones,—and therefore the believer shares Christ’s position of acceptance with God. Second, the Holy Spirit comes into the believer’s life to control in fulness and with freedom. And now with the life-giving Spirit within and dominating his conduct the believer cannot, but secure (1) victory over the flesh, as is stated in verse 16, “Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh,” (2) freedom from law, verse 18, “But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law.” With these things settled there begins the development of a character that will truly please God. For be it known that Christian character under the dispensation of the Spirit is indeed a reality. It is not, however, the product of an effort, nor can it be attained by following certain rules (an altogether unscriptural practice); nor even by “the imitation of Christ”; but far better than all these, by the beautiful reproduction of Christ by means of life from within. True Christian character is like the beauty of the lily which comes neither by toiling nor spinning. The tree does not try to produce its luscious fruit, but rather owes its success to right conditions. It bears not “works,” the result of effort, but “fruit,”—a growth.
Attention has been called to the form of the word, that it is not as sometimes quoted “fruits,” but “fruit,” that is, not a variety of products, but one with at least nine distinct qualities, just as a perfect apple has bloom, fragrance, mellowness, juice, sweetness, firmness, form, etc. The presence of the fruit of the Spirit marks the real value of the Christian life. With it in evidence it is unnecessary to discuss degrees of perfection, or attainments in holiness, for it is in itself the proof or witness as no word-of-mouth testimony can ever be; just as truly as the beautiful mellow apple testifies that soil, moisture, sun, dew, wind, rain, pruning and fertilizing all co-operated in proper degree in producing its charm.
Oh, the beauty of the life that is the product of right conditions! It has been shown by others that these nine qualities or expressions of Christian character divide themselves into three groups, each of which has to do with one of the three-fold relationships of man, viz.: Love, Joy, Peace, have to do more directly with the believer’s relationship with God; Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, represent the qualities the believer should exercise in his relationship with his fellow-man; while Faith, Meekness, and Temperance are personal and describe the believer’s inner life or nature.
Against such there is no law. That is, among all the statutes there is no accusation against these. No voice can ever be raised to challenge them; no judgment ever pronounced upon them. Let it be noticed how this statement throws a new light upon the phrase “not under law but under grace,” meaning that if we are indeed under grace let us so embrace its gracious benefits and blessings in practical victory over sin, that the law will be helpless and unable to accuse us. But how is this fruit-bearing experience reached? First, By the crucifixion of the flesh, verse 24, “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” He who shuns the cross and refuses to be “crucified with Christ” will never become a fruit-bearer.
Second, By walking in the Spirit, verse 25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” The walk represents the practical life, and the admonition is to make the Spirit’s presence real, or to paraphrase the verse, “If we are living by the Spirit’s power, let our conduct also be governed by the Spirit’s power.” For He is wise and powerful and willing, able not only to give us victory over temptations from without, but even to change our disposition and temperament so that we may overcome.

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