Counseling Through Jeremiah 17:5-9

By Wendy Wood

Several times throughout scripture God uses the analogy of a tree to explain the life of a believer or an unbeliever.  Psalm 1:3 says that a person who delights in the law and meditates on the Word day and night is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit and does not wither.  The picture created is that loving the Lord and His word produces a joyful, fruitful, newness of life that is evident to all around.  The fruit of this person’s life is healthy and plentiful.  It is vibrant and alive.  Psalm 1 goes on to say that the wicked are like chaff that the wind blows away.  Here the person’s life is unstable, easily carried away by changing circumstances (wind) and is not rooted in truth. Picture a tumbleweed being blown about the wind down a dusty road.  This is not a lively tree, by the remnants of an old life that floats away in the air, or a tumbleweed blown about by the current trends of this age. 

Luke 6:43-45 again compares a person’s life to fruit trees.  The “good” heart, the one who trusts and delights in the Lord, produces good fruit.  The good fruit is the fruit of the Spirit and this person’s life is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.  Others observing this person see the difference in how they respond to people and circumstances and notice that Christlikeness is present.  But Luke 6 also says that bad fruit comes from a bad heart, or someone who is trusting in themselves rather than God.  This person’s fruit is more like the fruit of “old man” desires and is anger, anxiety, conflict, lust, greed, and lies.  The ugly fruit comes from a hardened heart and is not a pleasant person to be around.  Typically, the people coming in for counseling are experiencing “bad fruit” in their lives but don’t know what to do about it.

God uses the word pictures of trees to show that what our hearts are worshipping determines the type of fruit or behavior will come out of us.  These pictures are very helpful to demonstrate and explain how the fruit in our lives comes directly from the heart.  I frequently use Jeremiah 17 as a teaching tool in counseling.  This helps the counselee connect the fruit of their life with what their heart (the root) is trusting in, either self or God.

Jeremiah 17:5-6  

“Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

    and makes flesh his strength,

    whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He is like a shrub in the desert,

    and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

    in an uninhabited salt land.”

Jeremiah 17:5-6 is a man who trusts in himself.  He is trying to control his life by working hard to produce the results he wants.  This may be a person who gets angry when things don’t go as planned or when someone inconveniences him.  Trusting in man can also look like needing respect or approval from others.  This person must have the love and admiration of his peers or superiors and lives life trying to make himself feel good by getting approval.  He is trusting in man to give him worth and value.  A person who trusts in man may be all about pleasure and comfort.  This person is trusting in what money can provide or what adventures he can pursue for happiness.  This man is trusting that temporary happiness is what will make his life meaningful and worth living.  The person who trusts in man is not trusting in God.  This person has committed two evils, says Jeremiah 2:13.  He has forsaken God and is hewing out broken cisterns for himself which holds no water (Jeremiah 2:13).  God must be ignored in order to trust in man.  Trusting in man will never lead to a full life.  It will be the empty pursuit of continually needing more and more of whatever he believes will satisfy him.

This person is like a shrub in the desert.  Picture a dead, thorny bush in the heat of Arizona or Texas.  This dead bush is prickly and sharp.  The ground that this bush is planted in is dry, hard, and salty.  There is no life anywhere near this shrub.  What does this look like in a person’s life?  This “shrub” comes into your office as someone who is angry, sad, or anxious.  They have spent so much time working to achieve the life they want and cannot understand why things are working for them.  The idols of approval, money, pleasure, control, and comfort have not produced what your counselee thought they would deliver and you have a discouraged and frustrated person before you.  Relationships are difficult for this person.  Anyone or any circumstances that doesn’t meet their expectations rubs up against the prickly, sharp thorns of this bush and gets cut.  Others experience this person as an angry, quick tempered, difficult person.  The “shrub” person most likely has many broken relationships in their life and is frustrated that life is not going as they thought it should go.  They are looking to the wrong sources for life giving water and nutrients. Rather than trusting in God, this person is trying to work their way into joy.  Life feels like a parched wilderness.  They feel lonely and without hope.  There is nothing in their vision that can help their circumstances change.  They continue to look to themselves or others to make them happy.

Contrast this shrub with this description of a beautiful tree.

Jeremiah 17:8-9

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

    whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

    that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

    for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

This person is trusting in the Lord.  This person’s heart is planted in the life giving water of Christ and His gospel hope.  The one who trusts in the Lord spends time in God’s presence in prayer and in His word so that his thoughts, desires, and emotions are shaped by the glorious truths about God.  This person searches God’s word for God’s character, promises, and grace.  He spends time talking to God and committing to trust His will and plan for his life.  This person gets up each day and thinks and prays about how he can please God.  

This person’s life is characterized by the fruit of Christlikeness.  This person is patient in their speech and responses.  This person is loving and seeks to serve others.  This person is faithful to keep his word, even when it is inconvenient.  This person gives thoughtful, gracious responses when others are rude or unkind.  This person still sins.  Trusting in the Lord is never going to be perfect and complete while we live under the curse of sin.  But this person is quicker to repent and enjoys the freedom from enslavement to sin that Christ has purchased on the cross.  This person produces fruit consistently and others experience joy and grace in their presence.  This person is being transformed from one degree of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Whether his circumstances are good or difficult, in drought or plenty, this person experiences peace within his soul because he knows the One who is sovereign and good.  There is no need to be anxious when trusting in God.

Both of these trees experience heat.  Picture a sun shining on these trees.  The tree in the desert is already dead and the hot sun just perpetuates the deadness of the shrub.  The tree that is planted by the water uses the sunlight to grow and produce more fruit.  The heat or sun represents our circumstances.  The “heat” may be the inconvenience of traffic or a toddler having a bad day.  The “heat” may be an illness or the loss of a job.  The “heat” may be a huge blessing of a bonus at work or an unexpected promotion.  The “heat” may be a child’s success at school or the pregnancy that’s been hoped for for years.  The sun or heat represents all the different circumstances that happen throughout life.  

The person who trusts in man responds to his circumstances as if he is in control.  When circumstances are difficult, he is angry and anxious and responds with prickly behavior. He desperately tries to regain control by barking out orders to others or throwing himself into a new plan that will produce the wanted results.   When his circumstances are good, he takes credit for all the hard work he has done and glories in his own achievement, not giving thanks to the Giver of all gifts.  

The person who trusts in the Lord responds differently to heat.  When circumstances are difficult, the one who trusts in the Lord prays and digs into God’s word to understand their situation from a biblical perspective.  He talks to God, pours out his heart to God, and commits to trust God and His will for his life.  When circumstances are good and a blessing, this person who trusts in the Lord is thankful and gives God the praise and gratitude for His blessings.

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things,

    and desperately sick;

    who can understand it?

Because we live under the curse of sin, our hearts are deceitful!  We are easily fooled into thinking we are trusting in the Lord when, in fact, we are trusting in man.  We read our bibles, go to church, and participate in a small group, so, of course, we are trusting in God.  Don’t be so sure.  Ask God to search your heart and reveal any offensive way in you (Psalm 139:23).  Prayerfully ask God to reveal to you where you are truly putting your trust in the moment to moment interactions and responses you have.  As you walk with your counselee through the first few sessions, it will be helpful to keep this passage in mind, and frequently ask these questions.

As you describe these two types of people, ask your counselee: 

Which type of tree characterizes your life most of the time?  

What is the “heat” you are experiencing right now in your life? 

What words and actions come out of you in the “heat” moments?

What emotions do you experience frequently?

What thoughts repeat in your mind when difficult situations arise?

How are you trusting in man?

The Cure for a Lack of Fruit in Our Christian Lives

Derek Thomas 

The Westminster Confession of Faith insists that Christians may be “certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” (18:1) and goes on to assert that this “infallible assurance of faith” is “founded upon” three considerations:

1. “the divine truth of the promises of salvation”

2. “the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made”

3. “the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are children of God” (18:2).

The possibility of “certain” and “infallible” assurance is set against the backdrop of medieval and post-Reformation Roman Catholic views that paralyzed the church with an “assurance” that was at best “conjectural” (wishful thinking), based as it was on rigorous participation in a sacramental treadmill. Few epitomized the contrast more starkly than Cardinal Bellarmine (1542–1621), the personal theologian to Pope Clement VIII and ablest leader of the Counter-Reformation, who called the Protestant doctrine of assurance “the greatest of all heresies.” What, after all, could be more offensive to a works-based and priest-imparted system of salvation than the possibility that assurance could be attained without either? If Christians can attain an assurance of eternal life apart from participation in the church’s rituals, what possible outcome could there be other than rampant antinomianism (the belief that God’s commandments are optional)?

But what exactly did the Westminster divines mean when they implied that our assurance is “founded upon” inward evidence? Behind this statement lies a practical syllogism:

(major premise) True believers demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit.
(minor premise) The fruit of the Spirit is present in me.
(conclusion) I am a true believer.

It should be obvious that the subjectivity of this argument is fraught with difficulty. While the certainty of salvation is grounded upon the (objective) work of Christ, the certainty of assurance is grounded upon the (objective) promises God gives us and the (subjective) discovery of those promises at work in us. And it is this latter consideration that gives rise to one or two problems.

Theologians have made a distinction between the direct and reflexive acts of faith. It is one thing to believe that Christ can save me (direct act of faith). It is another thing to believe that I have believed (reflexive act of faith). Apart from the first consideration (that Christ is both willing and able to save) there can be no assurance of faith. Indeed, it is pointless to move forward with the discussion about assurance apart from a conviction of the truthfulness of this statement: “Christ is able to save those who believe.”

Assuming, then, that there is no doubt as to the ability and willingness of Christ to save those who believe, how may I be assured that I have this belief? The answer of the New Testament at this point is clear: there is an “obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). True faith manifests itself in outward, tangible ways. In other words, the New Testament draws a connection between faithfulness and the enjoyment of assurance. True believers demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, and this fruit is observable and measurable.

Four Ways of Knowing

The Apostle John addresses this very issue in his first epistle: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Apart from belief “in the name of the Son of God,” there is no point in furthering the discussion about assurance. The question at hand is, “How can I know if my belief is genuine?” And John’s answer emphasizes four moral characteristics of the Christian life.

First, there is obedience to the commandments of God. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:2–3). True faith is not and can never be antinomian.

Second, there is practicing righteousness: “You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). Those who have a genuine faith will display a life of faith, a life molded and shaped by the obedience of faith. They demonstrate a desire for godliness.

Third, there is a radical breach with one’s former life. John expresses it radically (by employing a relative contrast in absolute terms): “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning” (1 John 5:18; cf. 3:6, 9). The explanation of this admittedly difficult language requires more space than is allotted here, but it is clear enough that a true and genuine faith is incompatible with a continuation in the pattern of sinful behavior that characterizes the life lived in unbelief.

Fourth, there is walking in love: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death … whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 3:14; 4:7). Loving our brothers and sisters is something dear to the Apostle John’s heart. After all, according to tradition, the elderly Apostle in Ephesus, carried by the arms of his disciples, was heard to repeat, “Little children, love one another.” And when asked why he kept repeating it, he answered: “It is the Lord’s command. And if this be done, it is enough.”

These four marks then collectively contribute to an assurance that our faith in Christ is genuine. But what if I cannot discern these outward evidences in myself and wonder if they are lacking? Should I then conclude that my faith is hypocritical or insincere? Yes, that is a possible conclusion. But it is not necessarily the correct conclusion, because our assessment of the evidence of outward faith in these four marks may be faulty. We may be too hard on ourselves. We may doubt what others can clearly see. Satan may cloud our thinking. The lack of consistency may lead us to conclude that no evidence at all is present. And personality and disposition may lead us to negative assessments when a more objective scrutiny deduces a different conclusion. But the possibility exists that our faith may be insincere. What then?

Faith in Evidence or Faith in Christ?

And it is here that differences of counsel appear. A predictable counsel might be, “Try harder.” It is a comment I most remember from annual school reports—“Could do better.” A person who doubts the genuineness of his faith due to inconsistency of behavior would then be urged to “be more consistent.” Read more Scripture, pray with greater fervency, love with greater altruism, and so on. But what would such counsel achieve? First of all, it is doubtful that someone predisposed to read the presence of fruit negatively would fare any better in his evaluation simply by increasing effort. But more importantly, such counsel is predisposed to commit the fatal error of viewing the fruit of the faith as the root of faith. It is fundamentally predisposed to appeal to self-justification—something for which we are all hardwired.

The counsel to “do more” in the belief that works provide the ground of assurance rather than the evidence of assurance is the path to legalism—and legalism in its proper sense. In his book The Whole Christ, Sinclair B. Ferguson urges a “gospel logic” to the effect that “there is no assurance of faith that can be experienced apart from faith.”

And it is here that one perceives a counterintuitive counsel that must be given to the one lacking assurance. To look to works (and the counsel to “do more works”) as a means of gaining assurance is essentially counterproductive and pastorally deadly. Only Christ can save us, and assurance, when lacking, must be found by looking to Him. Apart from faith in Christ, no work on our part will assure us of anything except Pharisaism.

Far from being a counsel to laxity, what this counsel intends to secure is an understanding that faith gives rise to obedience rather than obedience’s giving rise to faith. And the difference is crucial. One gives rise to legalism; the other to evidentiary, evangelical (gospel-based) works.

Abiding in Christ

Is not this counsel (to look first to Christ) precisely what Jesus said in His final word to the disciples in the Upper Room?

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5) Bearing fruit, something that Jesus identifies as keeping His commandments (15:10), is intimately related to abiding in Him. It is in the sphere of abiding in Christ and not apart from it that fruit emerges.

There is only one cure for a lack of fruit in our Christian lives. It is to go back to Christ and enjoy (yes, enjoy) our union with Him. The “love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 5:14). The Greek verb translated here as “controls” is elsewhere rendered as “surrounds” and “hems in” (Luke 8:45; 19:43). That’s what the experience of abiding in Christ does—it hems us in to obedience. From such gracious love, compliance with His commands emerges. Disobedience drives Him away. But when we enjoy His presence, we also desire to “please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). And as we bear the fruit of this union, assurance grows.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

Posted at: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/cure-lack-fruit-our-christian-lives/

Context Matters: Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

 BY RYAN HIGGINBOTTOM

Perhaps you’ve heard that no one can do anything apart from Jesus. You may have been told this saying refers to our complete reliance upon God. Or, you may have read this phrase during leadership or evangelism training, urging your frequent communication with Jesus.

Context matters. When we learn to read the Bible in context—not just as a collection of memorable phrases—we’ll find that some familiar verses take on richer and deeper meanings.

The Vine and the Branches

The phrase “apart from me you can do nothing” is just a portion of John 15:5. This is part of a long conversation Jesus has with his disciples on the evening of the Last Supper, after Judas departs (John 13:30). Jesus tells them he is the vine and his father is the vinedresser (John 15:1); God takes away branches that do not bear fruit, and he prunes every fruit-bearing branch (John 15:2).

Because of their parallel nature, we need to read John 15:4 and John 15:5 together.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

In the immediate context, “you can do nothing” is related to “bear[ing] fruit” and “apart from me” stands opposite to “abide in me and I in him.” We cannot know Jesus’s full meaning in John 15:5 without understanding “abiding” and “bearing fruit.”

Abiding

In one way, the metaphor of the vine and branches makes clear the meaning of “abide.” Branches draw nourishment and life from the vine; without that connection, they die.

Abiding in Jesus is not an extra level of discipleship—it is essential! He is life itself; anyone who does not abide in Jesus is thrown away like a branch from the vine and burned (John 15:6).

Abiding in Jesus is also connected to both Jesus’s words and his love. If anyone abides in Jesus, his words abide in them, and their prayers will be answered (John 15:7). Jesus tells the disciples not just to abide in him but to abide in his love (John 15:9). He then explains what this means—if the disciples keep Jesus’s commandments, they will abide in his love (John 15:10). Jesus teaches this not as a burdensome duty but so their joy will be full (John 15:11).

We should also notice the similarity between the words “abide” and “abode,” or dwelling. Unfortunately, some translations obscure this link. Jesus is going to prepare a place for his disciples in his father’s house (dwelling); he wants them to be where he is (John 14:2–3). He speaks of his connection with the father as “the father abiding in me” (John 14:10, NASB). Throughout this discourse, Jesus’s relationship with his disciples shares many features of his relationship with his father.

Any disciple that wants to bear fruit must abide in Jesus and Jesus must abide in them (John 15:5). This mutual abiding, along with the other context summarized above, points to a unity, knowledge, obedience, and love that is life-sustaining and supernatural.

Bearing Fruit

As with abiding, bearing fruit goes hand-in-hand with following Jesus. Jesus says that bearing fruit is the way a person proves to be a disciple (John 15:8). In the metaphor of the vine and branches, bearing fruit is what normal, healthy branches do.

If anyone loves Jesus, they will keep his commandments (John 14:15), and thus we see a connection between bearing fruit and keeping Jesus’s commands. Jesus knows that we need help in this calling, which is why he promises to send “another helper”—the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). The Spirit abides with the disciples and will be in them (John 14:17, NASB).

We see this essential link between love, obedience, and the presence of God in John 14:23.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23, NASB)

So bearing fruit is a Spirit-powered yet normal part of being a disciple of Jesus. And it happens as we abide in, love, and obey Jesus.

Abide in Him

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. When we read this verse in context we see that Jesus is not primarily warning against self-reliance nor dismissing the contributions of non-Christians. Yes, he is drawing a sharp line between those who follow him and those who do not. But this is a call to life.

Those connected to the vine are animated by the life-giving Spirit, and they are fruit-bearing by nature. Apart from the vine, there is no nutrition, no life, no fruit.

Context matters.

Posted at: https://www.knowableword.com/2020/04/13/context-matters-apart-from-me-you-can-do-nothing/

Bearing Fruit in Christ

 Paul Tautges

When God saves a sinner He begins a new work of transforming grace, which results in the production of good works for His glory. Ephesians 2:8-10 gives this full picture:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The good works that follow salvation are too numerous to list, but they can all be summarized by one word: Christlikeness. This is God’s goal: to conform us into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29; Col. 3:10).

To be “in Christ” is to be saved. To be “in Christ” is to be a new creature in Him. To be “in Christ” is to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. This connection to Christ, as a branch is connected to the vine, results in the production of fruit. All other fruit bearing is simply the temporary result of having enough willpower to change. William MacDonald writes, “Works are produced by human energy. Fruit is grown as a branch abides in the vine (John 15:5). They differ as a factory and a garden differ.”

The life of Christ working itself out in our lives as new creatures in Him is what Jesus teaches us about in John 15:1-11. In this passage, there are four key truths that you need to understand about fruit bearing.

God the Father is the master gardener, and Jesus is the true vine who provides the new life that is essential to fruit bearing (v. 1).

Jesus begins by making it clear that He is the true vine. Why is that? In the Old Testament, Israel is often referred to as God’s vine. However, each time this metaphor is used the emphasis is upon Israel’s failure to be fruitful for God. In contrast to that failure is Jesus, the true vine who is abundantly fruitful for God. Through His sin-bearing death and victorious resurrection to new life, Jesus brings about great fruit for God. Jesus accomplishes this work through the sending of the Spirit, which He promises in the previous chapter. Under the New Covenant, the center point of the love of God is fully revealed in Christ who has sent his Spirit to accomplish His fruit bearing work. Again, this is why it is called the fruit of the Spirit.

God will judge all false disciples whose lack of fruit bearing gives evidence to an absence of true faith (v. 2a).

In verse two, the “in me” language is for the sake of the metaphor. From the context, it seems clear that any connection these so-called branches have is superficial. In other words, there are branches that appear to be connected to the vine, but internally do not have the vein of life within them. These will be taken away to final judgment. The context supports this interpretation (see verse 6).

Judas is one example of a false disciple. From all outside appearances Judas was a believer; he had everybody fooled. Everyone except Jesus, of course. Though Judas looked like he was connected to the life of God in Christ, he was actually a dead branch who had attached himself superficially. Mixing metaphors, we could say he appeared to be heading in the same direction as the other eleven disciples, but really he was just along for the ride. And when the rode got bumpy, he jumped off the wagon and sold Jesus to his enemies.

God prunes all true disciples so that their fruit bearing increases (vv. 2b-3).

God is not content for us to remain as we are. He works and works in His garden. Not only does He cut off the dead branches and throw them on a pile to be burned, but He diligently and carefully prunes those branches that truly belong to Him, those that are bearing good fruit. Why? Because He longs to see us become more fruitful. The apostle Paul understood this as the will of God for every believer. So, for example, he prayed for the Colossians this way:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

Col. 1:9-11

God is glorified by the fruit bearing that grows from cultivating a daily relationship with Christ (vv. 4-11).

Spiritual fruitfulness does not occur without our active participation. Biblical sanctification is cooperative sanctification (Phil. 2:12-13). When it comes to bearing fruit for God, the Holy Spirit refuses to do all the work for us. We are fully responsible to nurture a life-giving relationship with Jesus on a daily basis, so that the life of God which was implanted in us at the moment of salvation bears fruit for His glory. Notice the repetition of the word abide. Ten times Jesus tells us that bearing fruit hinges upon our abiding in Him. Jesus tells us that fruitfulness is dependent upon our walking with Him in a growing intimacy of relationship. This requires prayer and time in the Word of God, at a bare minimum.

All of these truths lead to an end: our joy. Staying closely connected to Jesus in dependent relationship and loving communion will lead to fruitfulness. But we cannot do this alone… and Jesus knew that. He sent us his Spirit to perform the inner work of transforming us into his image, but we must abide in Christ. — Watch or listen to the sermon.

Posted at: https://counselingoneanother.com/2020/02/17/bearing-fruit-in-christ/