Jerry Bridges - The Fruitful Life: The Overflow of Gods Love Through You

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2006 by Jerry Bridges

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ISBN 1-60006-027-7

Cover design by Studiogearbox.com Cover photo by Jerry Driendl/Getty Creative Team: Don Simpson, Karen Lee-Thorp, Cara Iverson, Arvid Wallen, Bob Bubnis, Kathy Guist

This book incorporates content originally included in The Practice of Godliness, copyright 1983, 2004 by Jerry Bridges and published by NavPress.

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ( NIV ). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other versions used include: the New American Standard Bible ( NASB ), The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995; the Amplified New Testament( AMP ), The Lockman Foundation 1954, 1958; the English Standard Version ( ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved; the Good News Bible Todays English Version ( TEV ), copyright American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976; and the King James Version ( KJV ).

Bridges, Jerry.

The fruitful life : the overflow of Gods love through you / Jerry Bridges.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-60006-027-7

1. Christian life. 2. Fruit of the Spirit. I. Title.

BV4501.3.B748 2006 241.4 dc22

2006019676

CIP

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H ealthy human life is fruitful life. We sense this at a deep level. For instance, the desire for abundance can bring forth a home with children, a bountiful flower garden, a farm flourishing with crops, a job with creative opportunities, a business with steady growth, an expanding role in public leadership, or simply the sharing of wisdom with others.

The model for fruitfulness is God. He created the universe in a magnificent display of His extravagance, then turned to His living creatures and said, Be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28, NASB ). There is a generational fruitfulness both biological and spiritual intended and prompted by God. But there is also a fruitfulness through the traits of Christian character. Professor John Murray wrote, Whatever else we may have, if we do not have character we have nothing. It is character that determines destiny.

Christian character arises from participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and is the work of the Holy Spirit. This book is about the fruit of the Spirit the nine character qualities found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In my 1983 book titled The Practice of Godliness, I presented much of the content of this present book. In that previous work, I examined a number of qualities that I identified as traits of godly character, which include these nine traits in Galatians 5:22-23.

Recently, I have felt the need to revisit discussion of the fruit of the Spirit as a specific focus. Since writing The Practice of Godliness, much has changed in the spiritual landscape of the evangelical church. For one thing, spiritual formation has become an area of rising interest and practice in seminaries, among church leaders, and in the lives of thousands of laypeople.

This is a praiseworthy movement among evangelicals for which we can be truly grateful to God. As it proceeds, however, it will be important for the movement to head in the right direction. I agree with Evan Howard that Christian spiritual formation is not simply fostering the experience of the Spirit but rather a radical formation, a shaping and molding of the believer into conformity with Christ through the Spirit. In other words, spiritual formation must shape character in keeping with the classic, biblical understanding of godliness.

We should also notice that the fruit of the Spirit is both formational and relational not just a matter for private experience. For example, joy is most accurately joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), peace is the peace Christ gives us (see John 14:27), and love comes from God (1 John 4:7). Further, several of these character qualities have a definite outward focus toward other people. They require practice in the midst of the world. As Jonathan Edwards said, All true Christian grace tends to holy practice.

Another reason for revisiting the fruit of the Spirit is that I often hear a certain possessiveness today about my spiritual gifts. Certainly, we can be thankful that in the last generation there has been a thriving literature on spiritual gifts. But again, sometimes there is a self-focus for the gifts. We use assessment instruments to nail down what our gifts are and seek to use them in a way that can tend toward personal fulfillment. The danger is that the gifts of the Spirit will be separated from the fruit of the Spirit. This can lead to prideful ambition rather than humble, loving service. Sinclair B. Ferguson writes that the fruit of the Spirit should be distinguished from the gifts of the Spirit, but ought never to be absent in their exercise. For without love, and the humility which accompanies it... the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is thwarted.