Fruit of the Spirit: Evidence of New Birth?

In this article I want to examine the claim of free-grace adherents that producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not evidence of true salvation. In the first video of this series we examined the claim that repentance and turning from sin is unnecessary for salvation, and that teaching such a thing is a works-based salvation.  The fact is that true repentance and producing the fruit of the Spirit are intrinsically connected. Why? Because only true repentance leads to being born again, and if one is not born again, they may try to change their sinful habits for a short time, but ultimately have no power over sin, will not be continually producing the fruit of the Spirit, and simply fall away. So firstly, to be clear, I am speaking about the fruit of the Spirit, not the gifts of the Spirit. These fruit are listed in Galatians 5:22-24.

Even before Christ began His ministry, John the Baptist was teaching about the connection between true repentance and fruit as evidence as he prepared people for Christ. In Matthew 3 we see that his ministry was to ‘prepare the way for the Lord’ (v3). The people were ‘confessing their sins’ and being baptized as a sign of their repentance. He told the Pharisees, ‘you brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance’ (v8).  

John is speaking here in the context of the old covenant before people could be permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, however, the principle was being applied in preparation for the new covenant. True repentance requires people to own and confess their sins, and a willingness to walk away from that sin showing evidence of their repentance being genuine. Jesus also had a great deal to say about producing fruit, and recognized that there would be many people who may make a confession of faith but produce no fruit for the simple reason that they are still dead in sin. The parable of the sower in Matthew 13 has this exact message. This is one of the few parables where Jesus explains the meaning and the context is of those who hear the gospel message. 

1. 13:19. Seed on the path…Jesus says that these people heard the message about the kingdom but did not understand it. The word translated understand is ‘synientos’ (to consider, perceive). This reminds me of those who teach a false gospel that a person can have Christ as Savior, whilst neglecting to mention He must be king and Lord from the beginning. Satan snatches away what was sown in the person’s heart because they were not born again and still belong to the ‘god of this world’. The recipient is left empty and produces no fruit. 

2. 13:20-21. The seed which fell on rocky places. This refers to unprepared and shallow ground which is contrasted with good soil. The person receives the message with joy, has no root (foundation) and lasts but a short time. The original language uses the word ‘proskairos’ which means ‘temporary’ and refers to his ‘joy’.  When persecution or trouble comes he quickly falls away.  Again, this person did not count the cost…when trouble comes, they proclaim, this is not what I signed up for, and quickly abandon Christ and remain fruitless. 

Again, this reminds me of those who preach ‘just believe’ and you’re off to heaven no matter how you live or if there is any proof of true repentance or belonging to Christ. This is the false ‘have your best life now’ gospel which thrives in wealthy Western cultures and is absent where Christians are persecuted and must count the cost of following Christ.

3. 13:22 The seed among the thorns…again it is sown on unprepared ground…the thorns/weeds have not been removed. Jesus says that the thorns represent the world, worries of this life, and deceitfulness of wealth, choking the seed and rendering it unfruitful. Again, this represents the need for true repentance, the willingness to trust Christ for the future, to make Him our first love. If a person refuses to be willing to walk away from the world, they, like the first two examples, were not born again. Those who preach any form of prosperity theology are sowing among the thorns and their churches are full of unregenerate people.

4. 13:23. Good soil…soil which has been properly prepared, not barren and rocky, not full of thorns. This person ‘hears the word and understands it’. Same word for understands, to consider, perceive and understand true repentance, the reality of troubles and persecution, and trust the Lord. This person is truly regenerated and produces fruit. 

This parable has two incredibly important points. Firstly, that God does not regenerate someone on the whims of the evangelist. Regeneration means to be born again, to become a partaker of the divine nature and only the Lord knows when a person is ready to belong to Him as Lord and Savior. No person can dictate to God that He must take up residence in a person’s soul because they said a ‘sinner’s prayer’ or followed some such formula. People need time to count the cost of following Christ. 

That will require being willing to walk away from their sinful lifestyle by faith that the Lord will give them the power to live a godly life in His will (2 Peter 1:3). The self rule must be crucified with Christ and submitted to God’s will. If not, then the person does not ‘belong to Christ’ (Romans 8) and is not ‘God’s own possession’ (Eph 1:14). Regeneration requires much more than a ‘change of mind’ as free grace adherents claim, but rather a ‘change of ownership’. 

Secondly, that the only group in the parable of the sower who produced fruit were those who were truly born again. The fruit of the Spirit is the natural consequence of regeneration because the Holy Spirit has taken up permanent residence in the person’s soul. Initially, that fruit will be in their turning from an immoral lifestyle, or deceitful business practices, and other obvious forms of sin which have dominated them. Then, over time, through the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:1-2) new godly habits will be formed as the Holy Spirit transforms them to the likeness of Christ through His divine power. As Jesus said, ‘make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit’ (Matt 12:33).

In a discussion with a group of free grace adherents one of them made the following statement to which they all said ‘amen’. The statement was this: ‘A person can just believe, live any old way they like, and still go to heaven’. This statement was their foundation that fruit is no proof of salvation and although recommended, not necessary.

Galatians 5:19-24 contrasts the acts of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit and has severe warnings to people who hold to free-grace theology. Paul writes:

‘The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.’ (Galatians 5:19-21)

In the next verses Paul gives a list of the fruit of the Spirit, but before examining these, please note the following.

1. Notice that Paul states, I warn you, as I did before. This is not the first time Paul has warned these people, therefore, we can assume that some were calling themselves Christians, were living by the flesh and had not produced the fruit of the Spirit. Paul warns them again that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. We do not know how many times Paul warned them before, but his message is crystal clear and a direct contradiction to the statement I was given by the free-grace group. The message is this: If a person is still living in sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, self ambition, factions, envy drunkenness, orgies and the like, they are destined for hell, not the kingdom of God.

2. When confronted with these verses, many free-grace adherents immediately accuse you of being a ‘fruit grader’, of trying to establish levels of sin or fruit, and ask, how much fruit must a person produce as evidence of salvation? They also cite 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul confronts the gross sexual immorality of the Corinthians, especially the man who was sleeping with his father’s wife (most likely his step-mother’. Paul said to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Paul obviously believed this man was saved, despite this sexual sin which Paul stated was of such a kind that even pagans would not tolerate it and the Corinthians were ‘proud of him’ rather than mourning or putting him out of fellowship. Why would the Corinthian Christians be ‘proud’ of this man’s sin, and why were so many of these men openly fornicating with prostitutes (6:15-20).

Please note that in  6:12 Paul quotes the Corinthians as saying, “I have the right to do anything”, a very similar statement to the one made by the free-grace adherents I was debating with. 

There were two forms of Gnosticism circulating in the 1st century. One claimed a form of strict asceticism which is mentioned in Colossians, and the other (Docetism) that nothing done in the body could affect the soul. Those who taught the latter boasted that the more gross the sins committed the more grace the person received. This had gone far beyond using grace as a license for sin, but rather sin as a means to show God’s grace. Corinth boasted the temple of 1000 prostitutes and was a very important trade route. This form of Gnosticism also spread to Rome  where some were claiming that Paul taught, ‘let us do evil that good may result’ and  Paul asks the question, ‘shall we sin more so that grace may abound. His reply was, ‘God forbid’.

In 2nd Corinthians chapter 2, we learn that the Corinthians repented of their sin, and Paul also encouraged them to forgive  and confirm their love for the man who was excommunicated as he also repented, proving that Paul was correct in saying he was saved.  In 2nd Corinthians 2:11, in regards to this incident, Paul mentions Satan who tries to outwit Christians and we should not be unaware of his schemes. 

Galatians 5:22-25 gives a list of the fruit of the Spirit as a contrast to the acts of the flesh.

‘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. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit’.

Legalists and free-grace adherents ask, “how much love, joy, peace and self-control are necessary to prove you are a Christian?” Paul’s answer is there is no law and that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The issue is not one of legalism, rules and regulations, but one of regeneration, of ‘belonging to Christ’ and being ‘crucified with Christ’. Those who truly know and love Christ never ask the question, ‘how much fruit do I need’ for their hearts desire is to always live for Christ out of gratitude for their salvation.

We end up coming full circle and back to the issue of what is required for salvation, the very issue expressed in the parable of the sower. Free-grace adherents insist that salvation merely requires a ‘change of mind’, this is their interpretation of repentance. Scripture declares that regeneration requires a change of ownership, a surrender of our wills to the will of God in Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who believe they can ‘just believe’ and live any way they like are simply admitting that they are the ones ruling their life, that the ‘self’ or ‘self rule’ is not crucified with Christ. The demand to rule our own lives is the very root of all sin. We either ‘belong to Christ’ and are ‘God’s own possession’, or we still belong to ourselves.

The apostle John explains this in detail in the 3rd chapter of his first letter stating that those who are truly born again cannot ‘continue in sin’, in rebellion or self-rule. I explain this passage in my video entitled ‘Cannot continue in Sin’. The crux of the message is this. Any person who is truly regenerate knows when they have sinned and grieved the Holy Spirit, if not deceived by Satan, and a true Christian has no peace until he/she confesses their sin and seeks forgiveness. The false Christian has no such conviction, just a few rules which they can choose to obey or not. Such people continue to live in rebellion to God, setting their own standards of morality and obedience to the Lord they have never surrendered to. If there is no death to self, there is no regeneration and no fruit of the Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit convicts a non-christian of sin, they see that sin as He sees it, they see their slavery to the flesh and its desires. God will always bring the sincere seeker to that place, if they ask Him to reveal their sin to them. At that moment there will be a form of self-loathing and a desire to be free of that slavery. However, if they are told to ‘just believe’ with no biblical repentance, they will simply head home to their lover or homosexual partner to spend the night clubbing, getting drunk or high, living as they please. If such people die in that state, they will experience being cast into Gehenna and never inherit the kingdom of God. 

In summary. 

Those who preach a ‘just believe and live any way you like’ theology testify that they have never submitted their self-rule to Christ as Lord. In my opinion, this is just a diluted and powerless form of counterfeit Christianity which, when tested, will fail the test. The question of fruit as evidence of real regeneration is never an issue for true Christians as their greatest desire is to live for the Lord they love. That fruit is grounded in faith from the beginning, a turning away from sin and trusting Christ for the future, no matter what that costs.

Such people will receive the divine nature and be able to testify to Peter’s words.

‘His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires’. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

The knowledge Peter speaks of here is not intellectual knowledge, but of knowing Christ personally, of being joined to Him. If you have experienced this, then you will know that you have been changed. Where once your desire was to live for self and the flesh, now your desire is to live a godly life which honors Christ.  Peter then goes on to tell us to make every effort to add to this knowledge and lists the fruit of the Spirit. Our efforts are the ongoing denial of the old habits we formed prior to salvation, the process of sanctification. 

You will fail on occasions, the enemy may condemn you, but understand that the Lord sees your heart’s desire to live for Him and this gives Him joy. 

I pray this video/article has been helpful for you.

Steve Copland