This summer I’m meditating my way through the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). I’ve been in Colossians the last couple days, and my attention continues to be drawn back to Pauls’ phrase, “bearing fruit and growing” in chapter 1. (Note: I use the CSB translation.)
Have you ever noticed how Paul talks about the gospel as a living, active, powerful force? In Romans 1:16 he says the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Here in Colossians 1:6 he speaks of the gospel like a tree that produces fruit and keeps growing among God’s people. This leads me to ask myself, “is Radiant Church a gospel orchard?” A church that is growing in attendance or financial numbers but not in gospel fruit is not a healthy church. It’s a social club or affinity group. We’re not just looking for more people in the room when church stuff is happening, we’re looking for something deeper. What does it look like for the gospel to bear fruit and grow in us? Just keep reading the text.
Just a few verses later, as Paul is articulating his prayer for the Colossians believers, he uses this phrase again:
So that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.
As part of the “worthy walk,” the gospel lifestyle that God saved us for and empowers us to live, we produce the fruit of good works and continually grow in the knowledge of God.
The fruit names the tree
First, the living force which is the gospel works inside us to produce good works. But let’s be careful here. How do you define good works? Here are some possibilities:
- Acts that will make other people like me
- Acts that will make others feel good
- Acts that will make the world a better place
- Acts that will make God like me more
Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking that a “good work” is anything we do that we feel good about. I don’t mean to suggest that the four definitions above are all completely wrong and that good works are something else entirely. Deeds that fit into those categories may qualify as “good works” in the gospel sense. Maybe we could think of good works in these terms: things Jesus would do because of who he is.
If the gospel produces good works as fruit, then the fruit itself is going to bear witness to the gospel, right? The fruit you pick off a tree bears witness to what kind of tree it is. When I was a kid I was always impressed with my dad’s ability to identify a fruit tree (or any tree really) simply by its overall shape and the kind of leaves it had. But I’ve never had the horticultural smarts to do that. I have to see the fruit: I know it’s a peach tree when I see peaches hanging on its branches. Likewise, the good news that the holy, righteous Creator God loves sinners and is full of grace and mercy toward them because of what his Son has done on their behalf will produce works that show mercy and grace and righteousness. This is why Paul says in other places that we were saved FOR good works, that we are to walk in those good works, that we must walk in love like Jesus did, and so forth. The gospel produces good works in us that are a reflection of the gospel itself. So I do good things—not to be liked by God or people or to feel good about myself, but as a way of intentionally reflecting the goodness of Christ and his gospel in my life.
The knowledge makes the relationship
That’s the “bearing fruit” part; what about the “growing in the knowledge of God” part? Knowing God doesn't mean learning facts about him, that is, learning Bible verses or theology. It's more than that. Getting to know God is a lot like getting to know any other person. When you spend lots of time with someone having meaningful conversation, sharing your highest joys and lowest discouragements, giving and receiving encouragement, and other relationship-building activities, you come to know each other. So it is with God. Growing in the knowledge of God means pursuing God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit like you pursue a spouse or best friend because you enjoy knowing them. It means being drawn deeper into an intimate, day-to-day relationship. The kind of friendship where you share everything because you’re always together (whether in person or spirit).
My wife and I love to hike in the mountains. Nothing heroic like backpacking for days on end, we’re day hikers for sure. But that’s enough to get out into the intense beauty that explodes on these mountains in late summer. She loves the birds and I love the flowers that are found in alpine meadows around 8,000 feet and up. Dense stands of tall aspens whose leaves quake in mountain breezes against deep blue skies. It’s a pageant that feeds our souls in ways that are hard to explain. But here's the thing: we don't just experience it individually. In fact, the point is really to experience the walk together. As we follow the trail over the course of a few hours, we share each surprising moment of beauty—“look! A western tanager!” And we watch together as this little riot of orange and yellow flits around eating bugs off the branches of a bush before urgently flying off somewhere. “Hey babe, check these flowers out—they’re Indian paintbrushes, but they’re bright pink instead of orange or red!” And we marvel together at the how the mountains always seem to have something new in store for us. We arrive back at our lodging place, footsore and basking in the life-giving experience we’ve shared together.
I may have gotten a little carried away there—after all, I’m in the Colorado mountains right now as I’m writing this—but I see my relationship with Jesus as very similar. Growing in knowing God means walking with him every minute of the day, spending intentional conversation time with him, then living the day aware of his presence, referring each experience to him, thanking him, leaning on him, whispering to him here and there about what’s going on. You know—living life together. The more you know of God the more you are drawn into relationship with him. Yes, of course it’s different from human relationship in important ways because he’s God, but that just means the relationship is one framed by worship and obedience. It’s still a relationship between persons—a personal relationship.
Bearing fruit and growing. That’s what the gospel does among God’s people. Much more than a single encounter that causes you to believe some facts about God, it’s an ongoing, lifelong process, like a tree that keeps making peaches. Like two friends that learn to finish each other’s sentences or order each other’s lunch. Is the gospel doing that among us, at our church?
