As I prepared this message for today focusing on the idea of good and bad fruit, I could not help but relive an experience many years ago as a young teacher in Jamaica. I had stopped at a fruit stand while on a journey and was delighted to see some very delicious mangoes among the fruit that the vendor was selling. They were simply divine and without much complaint I paid the price that was demanded and continued on my journey. Over the next few days, I watched the mangoes ripen with great anticipation while striving to wait patiently until they were ripe enough to be eaten. When that day came, I rushed to peel the first one then the next and the next until I had tasted all four of them only to be bitterly disappointed. This was because they were all extremely sour and the flesh was very hard. In a nutshell, they simply could not be eaten. My disappointment and my anger was palpable. I felt bitterly deceived because I was assured by the vendor how wonderful the fruits were. I would be dying for more he told me and here I was almost dying because I tasted what turned out to be horribly bad fruit.
This brings me to our text in Galatians 5 where the Apostle Paul uses an agricultural analogy to remind the Galatians about the importance of distinguishing good fruit from bad fruit in their lives.
Scholars are not exactly sure to whom Paul addressed this letter whether it was to a group of churches in southern Asia Minor or to a nation of Gallic people in Northern Asia Minor. Paul had visited both places during his missionary journeys.
What is clear, despite that uncertainty, is that the Galatians were enthusiastic recipients of the gospel and were showing good spiritual growth until some Judaizers or Jewish believers came after Paul had left and were leading them astray with the message that they could not be authentic Christians without following the Jewish law. The Galatians seemed to have latched on to this message as readily and as eagerly as they had accepted Paul’s teaching before. At this point, you might be wondering what has all this got to do with bearing fruit, and I can say it has everything to do with fruit. This fruit of course is not the physical fruit that bears on a tree or on a vine, but the fruit that is seen in human lives through our actions among one another. Paul’s message to the Galatians was quite simple and just as appropriate for them then as it is for us today. The Galatians accepted the gospel message and came to believe in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. The Holy Spirit was now enabling them to live their lives showing the practical results of their conversion. This practical result was what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. This meant that they were no longer under the bondage of any other religious teachings or laws that did not make Christ central to their faith and life. The Galatians, sadly, were now being led astray by others who had their own suspicious agenda and this made Paul very angry and frustrated. No wonder he used rather strong words in addressing the Galatians when he said, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (Galatians 3:1 NIV) or in chapter 5 when he says, “You were running a good race.Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7 NIV). Paul in writing to the Galatians is clearly angry and frustrated not so much at the Galatians themselves but those who sought to lead them astray. No wonder Paul encouraged these false teachers to “go the whole way and emasculate themselves.” (Galatians 5:12 NIV) Emasculate here means to castrate themselves. This letter served the purpose of reminding them of what is the most essential thing to their faith which is Jesus’ death and resurrection which gave humanity freedom from sin. As a result of this any old beliefs and practices which Paul sees akin to a new slavery was to be shunned. Christ’s death and resurrection brought about freedom, freedom from the Law of Moses and any other doctrine which does not promote Christ as most important to having faith. This new faith in Christ is not exemplified through offering sacrifices being circumcised or any other former ritualistic practices but it is exemplified in the practical ways that the believer lives out his or her life every day. These practical examples are what Paul outlines so clearly in Galatians 5:22-25. As we read about the experience of the Galatians we should also contemplate whether or not we have also on occasion or more habitually fallen into the same misfortune as the Galatians did where they strayed from the good course that they were on and started to bear bad fruit? Paul does not mention the term ‘bad fruit’ in his letter but the description given in verses 22-23 which Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit stand in contrast to those things in verses 19-21, all of which Paul calls the acts of the sinful nature. In essence, they comprise the bad fruit which are only produced by human sinfulness while good fruit can only be produced by the life that is controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is easy for us to ask the question then, which of these two is reflected in our lives. No one individual may reflect all of these sins or bad fruit described here but we all have aspects of sinfulness in our lives that need to be dealt with because these behaviours are ultimately incompatible or as Paul says, in conflict with a life that is spirit-filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit.
In St. Matthew chapter 7 Jesus warned his disciples about false prophets by also using the analogy of a tree that bears good fruit and one that bears bad fruit. (See St. Matthew 7:15-20) The point that is clear from Jesus’ warning to his followers then and Paul’s admonition to the Galatians here is that the fruit is a product of its source, the tree. If the tree is therefore contaminated then its fruit will very likely be spoiled or of no good. Our tree source is the heart. If our hearts are controlled by the Holy Spirit then the natural human instincts will not take root and bear bad fruit. The question to be asked then is who or what controls you? Do your thoughts and actions display a life that is under God’s control or not? Some of us may be quite good at displaying a very good and even holy public-facing persona while at home and to those who know and see us more intimately, we show how much the devil controls our thoughts, our speech and our actions. I still remember after all these years an experience where a woman came to complain to me about a close relative whom she lived with. Apparently this relative treated her in a most disgraceful and abusive manner at home while in public she behaved like a saint and indeed many people would have been completely fooled by the contradiction between this woman’s public-facing and private behaviour. Many people are just like that woman. Who we show to the world is far different from who we are in our private lives and because of this we cannot grow spiritually because the hypocrisy of our lives is too toxic for growth to take place.
Bad fruit very much like that horribly bad mango that I bought years ago, are of no use to anyone. They have to be thrown out into the garbage. Many of us need to contemplate whether or not we are living lives that are producing only bad fruit or good fruit. This begins by asking ourselves who has the priority in our life. Is it Jesus or the devil? Which attributes make up our character, especially that part of us that is hidden from the world, our thoughts? Is it sinfulness or righteousness? Jesus’ warning in St. Matthew 7:19 is still as relevant today as it was then. He said very clearly, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (See St. Matthew 7:19 NIV) Are you worthy to be cut down or to be pruned? We keep wondering why the world is in such bad shape. I think it is in this bad shape because Christians have not been setting the right examples of holiness and true spirituality across the world. Let me ask all of us to reflect deeply on the life we have lived up to this point and ask ourselves whether or not we have been bearing good fruit or bad fruit. Then we can adjust our lives accordingly before it is too late. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will lead us into honest reflection about who we have been and who we are today and where it is necessary, we can prayerfully ask God’s guidance and strength to cut away any part of us that is making the entire tree bad and inhibiting or preventing us from being the fruitful person that God wants us to be. May God bless us and give us the courage and strength to be His true servants today and always. Amen.
I wish for everyone a HAPPY CANADA DAY 🍁on Tuesday July 1, 2025.