What does “fruits of righteousness” mean? Fruit is another word for rewards. This daily devotional looks at how God rewards His people for living righteous lives.
Nuggets
- We receive the reward of eternal life when we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, confess God as Sovereign Lord and demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us.
- Peace comes from God.
- We gain access to Sovereign God by the reconciliation He devised.
- Joy comes because the peace we find in God gives us hope.
To read a devotion in the What Is Righteousness? series, click on the appropriate button below.
What Are the Fruits of Righteousness?
God rewards those who do His Will. Romans 2: 6 says, “He will judge everyone according to what they have done” (NLT). Hebrews 11: 6 says, “… that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (NIV).
Let's Put It into Context
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” (Prov. 11: 30 ESV)
The verse in Proverbs calls the rewards fruit. I see that. Fruit is the produce of trees or vines.
What are the trees and vines in our lives as disciples? Thomas said that it is what is in our hearts and souls. Cross clarified that by saying, “By this is meant his prayers, his charities, his good example, the virtues which compose his character and adorn his life, and all the efforts and influences by which he shows forth his wisdom in winning souls.” It is our character and how we live our lives for God.
So, what are the fruit of righteousness?
The Reward of Eternal Life
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life …” (Prov. 11: 30 ESV)
“The reward of the righteous is life; the wages of the wicked is punishment” (Prov. 10: 16 CSB)
When the Bible talks about the tree of life, it is talking about eternal life. We receive that reward when we admit our sins, believe on Jesus as Redeemer, and confess God as Sovereign Lord.
That is the beginning. Because we are repenting of our sins, we are to demonstrate that commitment by following our job description. Repentance is not only expressing sorrow for things we’ve done wrong but also making the commitment to changing ourselves so that we no longer do the wrong things.
- Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to change our sinful ways to ways of righteousness through obedience.
Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Maclaren put it this way. He said that, “if we are to have the life beyond, we must have its beginnings to-day.” Eternal life is the reward of the righteous lives we live now.
Resource
Revelation 2: 7 says, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (ESV). That indicates that it will be a struggle. Those who overcome will be rewarded.
We can’t just give lip service. “Oh, yes. We believe in Jesus” — but then live our lives not imitating Him. We have to live a righteous life.
Watson reminded us that God is looking for sacrifice. No, He isn’t looking for animal kills anymore. He is looking for us to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12: 1).
Resource
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Being a living sacrifice is living a righteous life.
The Reward of Peace
“The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa. 32: 17 NIV)
Jowett defined peace as a “… general glow of health resulting from the inter-related life of many members, each of whom occupies his appointed place in the spiritual order, and is possessed by the spirit of equity and truth. Peace is the spirit of communion, the genius of co-operation, the cohesion of many members into one pure and indissoluble whole.”
Resource
Ooo, baby. That has a lot of components. It implies cooperation, humility, integrity, communication, and cohesiveness. All of that promotes peace.
Bottom line, though, is peace comes from God. He gives us peace down deep in our soul. It is the product of living for Him. Jowett notes that “we cannot command peace; we can only grow it.”
Resource
Isn’t that true? We cannot grow it because, when things start getting difficult for us, we generally lose our peace. It is only when we concentrate on God in those trials that we find peace.
If we are not living as we should, we don’t have peace. This is because the disobedience brings punishment.
Johnson put it this way. Peace increases when our spiritual nature is strengthened. This decreases our physical nature.
Resource
When we are living to imitate God, we have peace through Jesus (Rom. 5: 1). He justifies us upon conversion, giving us peace. Justification is the act through the merits of Christ that makes us free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
Being made right with God brings up peace. In fact, Macbriar stated it is the first gift after conversion.
Resource
God’s love for us promotes that peaceful feeling within us. We know we can come to Him anytime — for forgiveness, for protection, for assurance.
The Reward of Access and Joy
“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5: 1-2 CSB)
Romans 5: 1-2 gives us two other fruits of righteousness: access and joy. Now, we’ve talked access before.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Before conversion, we didn’t have access to God. Being spiritually dead, we were not in a relationship with Him. Thank You, God, that is no longer the case!
We gain access to Sovereign God by the reconciliation He devised. We access the peace provided by our Lord and Savior through following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
We have access to God by His Word. We approach Him through prayer and worship.
- Prayer is a two-way communication with God in which we pour out our soul to Him.
- Worship is our personal or corporate response of admiration (confession, thanksgiving, praise, etc.) based on our attitude to God’s presence and our imitation of His character.
This is 24/7/365. God never takes a holiday. He doesn’t keep banker’s hours.
God is always available when we call on Him.
Joy comes because the peace we find in God gives us hope. God also gives us strength to overcome the trials we face.
Psalm 94: 19 says, “When I am filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy” (CSB). Regardless of our circumstances, God gives us peace and joy.
Most of all, we have joy because we have salvation. This has given us peace, joy, and hope for today, tomorrow, and eternity.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
Glossary
Making the Connections
Peace and joy. Those are pretty nice rewards.
I vote life and access as the best rewards. Eternal life with our Heavenly Father — nothing can beat that!
We get them through a righteous life. Righteousness is the indwelling goodness that is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments and from which all virtues flow. That is based on fulfilling the covenant and building relationships with God and others.
So, getting the rewards is based on doing the relationship with God right. That means searching for and seeking God.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
How do we seek God? It will take hearing His Word, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, and memorizing it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning. To accomplish all of those, we will need self-discipline.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Choosing to live a righteous life will need discipline. One huge reason is because of the pull this world has on us. We have to be conscious of the decisions we are making.
How Do We Apply This?
How do we schedule our quiet time? Is it something we schedule, or do we leave it up to whenever we can fit it in?
Do we ever schedule an afternoon or a weekend or a couple of days where we go off and commune with God? We’re talking about a time when we can get away — alone — to talk and listen to God. You know, work on the relationship.
We should have several goals.
- Have a solid relationship with God.
- Have the heart of God.
- Live lives that imitate Him.
If we do that, we will receive the fruits of righteousness.
Heavenly Father. Lord, we want to earn the fruits of righteousness. That would mean that we are living as You want us to live. We want to have a solid relationship with You. We want to have Your heart. We want to imitate You. Help us to grow in grace and knowledge of You so that we can accomplish those goals. Amen.
What do you think?
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Your article was very enlightening but I wonder from which religious group. There was no indication of your religious affiliation. Are you evangelical or mormon or what? I am sure you are not Pentecostal or church of God. Blessings.
Thank you for your response. Personally, I am Southern Baptist. Elaine.
Thank you ?
You’re welcome.
Am glad i found this,
I have not been left the same.
I am so glad God used these words to speak to you. Elaine
You are truly blessed. Amen
Thank you.
Thank you for these good words and scriptures Elaine.
We live in the Boise area and don’t know where to go to find this kind of fellowship. I might have to just start in our home and pray for likeminded brothers and sisters who would join us. Do you know any others in and around Boise who believe like you do and your writings here in this blog. Whole hearted victory seeking Christians?
Thank you for your kind words and following me on Facebook.
I have heard that Idaho is beautiful country. One day, I would like to see it for myself. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone who lives in the Boise area. We will be praying for God’s direction on your starting a home ministry.