February 18, 2018_The Good Fruit

Just Judgment and the Righteousness of Faith

  God is the God of Justice. Justice refers to the law of God by which even God Himself is bound. When God told Adam that if he ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would surely die, the command became righteousness. As a result, when Adam disobeyed the command, he was subject to eternal punishment. God sent His Son to the world to save this Adam, and the Son of God who bore the sin of Adam had to shed His blood on the cross. Justice prevails, and even the Son of God is subject to it.

The problem is that justice applies to all of creation. Many countless angels and men will be cast into hell and eternal punishment on that day, but the righteous who have been justified by God will not perish but have eternal life. There is no law or creation that can harm those whom God has justified and sealed. That is because when God declares someone to be righteous, that is justice.

Who then can be justified? Those who have faith. This faith does not refer to an assurance that can be derived from a man’s own heart or mind, but to that faith which comes from God. That is the faith that God gives because it comes from God alone. When we possess that faith, God testifies that we are righteous. Since this testimony is more powerful than the law, even the strictest application of the law cannot condemn us. This testimony God swore by His Son.

No one is without sin. Not even one person. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:27-28). Even though your actions may be honorable, you have already sinned in your heart, and God knows it. Therefore, there is no way for a person to be saved by their own righteousness. The only way for a man to be saved is by the faith that God gives. This is why we preach the gospel.

Returning to the Law Diverts Men Toward Hell

We have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Men could experience baptism in their flesh through the baptism of John, but they couldn’t experience it in their soul. But the baptism of Jesus Christ is different. This baptism is of water and of the Holy Spirit and a person can experience it in both the flesh and the soul. Those who were baptized by John the Baptist confessed that they were sinners, but this did not save their souls. But, the baptism by the name of Jesus saves our souls.

In the days of Noah, concerning the ark it says in 1 Peter 3:20-21: ”In which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water, which corresponds to baptism that now saves you also.” Israel crossed the Red Sea when they left Egypt. 1 Corinthians 10:2 explains that they were baptized in the sea. In this way, baptism is a burial of the old man whereby we are united with Jesus Christ so that we can share in His glory, which God bestows on Him. We must not despise this baptism. Baptism is the link connecting God and man. If anyone feels uncertain about their baptism, they probably have not been united with Christ.

We have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are no longer sinners. God has already credited righteousness to us. In the past when we were sinners, curses and death cast their shadow over us, but now life and peace reign over us. It would be foolish for a saved person to remain under the law. The law was established after the fall of mankind. Its purpose is to condemn man. Returning again to the law is like a man who has been united with Christ and is headed toward heaven, suddenly turning around and heading straight toward hell.

A Good Tree and A Bad Tree

Jesus said, “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Mt 7:17-18). For many people, when they hear this passage it brings to mind good deeds or acts of charity. That is because people have been conditioned to judge everything as good or evil and it’s all they know.

The law encourages men to distinguish between good and evil. When God gave the law to the Jews, who had lived in Egypt for over four hundred years, He intended to implant in them the conscience of faith so they could discern between good and evil. But for the gentiles, their conscience served the same function that the law served for Israel. Although God had not given them the law, their conscience was the standard for discerning good and evil. In this way, both the law and a man’s conscience enable him to distinguish between good and evil. God guided man in this way so that man could confess that he is a sinner. No one can escape the condemnation of the law or of conscience.

Some people say that they have a clean conscience and they never sin. But just because a man does not recognize his sin, it doesn’t mean he is innocent. What men say about sin doesn’t matter, only the judgment of God matters. If you were to drink poison, you would still die, even if you did not recognize it was poison. Even if you are able to discern between good and evil and choose to be good all the time, your attempt at righteousness would not only be meaningless, it would separate you further from God’s grace.

Galatians 5:4 says, “You who seek to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ and fallen from grace.” What could a branch that has been cut from a tree possibly achieve? Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). How could anyone who is separated from Christ produce any fruit that is pleasing to God, or how can he survive at all?

A good tree refers to one who belongs to Christ, and a bad tree refers to someone who places his trust in the law. This parable of the good tree and bad tree that Jesus told was more than mere words of wisdom. Jesus didn’t come into the world to speak words of wisdom, but to save mankind who was perishing. Jesus came to save the Jews who were condemned by the law, and the gentiles who were condemned by their conscience.

The most significant thing that Jesus did was to shed His blood on the cross and die. When Jesus died on the cross He fulfilled the requirements of the law and tore down the wall of partition between God and man. Hence, whoever abides in Jesus is now dead to the law or conscience. It is no longer essential to distinguish between good and evil based on the law and conscience.

The Fruit of a Good Tree and the Fruit of an Evil Tree

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Mt 7:15-16). Anyone who preaches the words of God but judges others based on the law or conscience is a false prophet.

What is their fruit? Corinthians 15:56 says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Where the law is, sin reigns; and where sin is, death reigns. Therefore, whoever remains under the law remains under a curse. Religious people seek after righteousness based on works rather than grace. They endeavor to lead a righteous life and derive satisfaction from it, but that satisfaction in oneself prevents them from receiving grace.

John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” What kind of tree are you? Are you rooted in grace and truth? If you are, you will bear the fruit of peace and life. If you are rooted in the law, you will bear the fruit of sin and death.

Even those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit and have worked diligently in the church can fall just like a house that has been built upon the sand (Mt 7:24-27) once they decide to focus on looking for good and evil. We must become men of the Holy Spirit, abiding in grace, rather than men of conscience who focus on good and evil. Do not be someone who has fallen from grace and been cut off from Christ, but rather be someone who has been justified by God. We must become branches that bear much fruit, relying on the vine that is Jesus.

It is wrong to cast judgment and condemnation on those whom God has justified. Grace is a commandment every bit as much as the law is. Just as anyone who shows contempt for the law is accursed and punished, so anyone who disdains grace will also be accursed and punished. You fear the command of the law; why then do you not fear the commandment of grace?

We must receive grace. Without grace, we are sinners destined to be cast into hell. Only someone who has received grace can lead others to salvation. The evil tree that is the law can only bring death to man’s soul. Let us fulfill the purpose for which Jesus came to the earth by becoming good trees rooted on grace.

As the cow drags the plough against the hard soil, it digs up and turns it over. As the farmer scatters the seed across the soil, new life appears and the crop comes up. The cow must grind the soil, plow the ground and turn it over. The cow or plow that does not work either goes to the slaughterhouse or withers away as it rusts. The cow and plow are used by the farmer to make a furrow.

I am the cow. I do not act according to my own will, but I hear the voice of the master. Until my entire body collapses, I carry my yoke, and with all my strength, I grind the soil. When the sun rises, I am the cow that goes out to do my work. It is only when the sun sets that I return back home. However, without the command of the master, I cannot go out nor come back in.

Every day I repeatedly do the same work to help fulfill the dream of the master. No matter what kind of vegetable or crop the master sows, it is not for the cow to know what he is grinding the soil, for since the master plants the crop according to his will. The cow simply goes where the master instructs. Whether it is gravelly soil, fertile soil, flooded soil or a barren field, I must carry my yoke and carry the plow. I was born so that my whole life I would be the Lord’s workman, to be used by him. The result is that I bear it until the end according to the will of the master. A cow does not turn into a dog or a pig. It remains a cow. And the cow belongs to the master. He is the workman who helps the master’s hard work.

My whole life I have been busy. My whole life I have had to use all my strength. The master has given me his fodder and that has been my portion. I know even today the work that I must do. The reigns of the cow are in the hands of the master. If the sun comes up, I must go out to work as the master compels. The child-like calf sees the mother cow that grinds the soil at the control of the master, and jumps about excitedly. One day this calf also must become the slave of the master, pierce its noise and, to the points that it bleeds, must be dragged by its reigns to do the work it is destined to do.

I have neither the strength or right to flee from the hand of the Lord. I am just a workman of the Lord, doing the work of the cow. And at the end, I will leave this world, heading towards the Signs of the Resurrection. Before that time, I have work that I must do. I still want to write books and write poems. And I must preach sermons and give commands. The words that I preach are about the place that I must go. I speak because I know the place I need to go and the work I need to do.

Lord! I am your cow that grinds your soil. Please lead me, please discipline me. Please give me strength…

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Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee