361. Peaceable fruit of righteousness
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
The peaceable fruit of righteousness is actually a conditional promise; it is conditioned on first being disciplined by the Lord. If you are chastened, then you will enjoy the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Righteousness is a gift of God gifted to us by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is God’s righteousness shared with us; it is ours, but it is alien; it comes from outside not from the inside. The Holy Spirit plants it inside of us by faith in the Gospel.
However, the peaceable fruit of righteousness is not a gift. It grows and develops within and affects the outward behavior. The fruit of righteousness arises out of gifted righteousness. The gift is sudden; the fruit is a gradual process. The fruit of righteousness is nurtured and developed by the husbandman, the gardener, which is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He nurtures and produces fruit by hearing with faith. Our flesh and our own effort cannot produce it. The branch simply abides in the vine, and when it does the fruit appears. Thus, going to church to hear the Gospel weekly and spending time alone with God daily grows the fruit; it all depends on being connected to the Vine (Jesus).
The Spirit uses the Word, and He also uses daily life experiences. The Gospel is the power, and the school of experience is the setting in which the Spirit works. Life experience involves chastening, or discipline, to yield the peaceable fruit. When we learn the lesson and repent and believe, then the Spirit goes on to the next lesson. This process never ends until we die (the final discipline). The promise of fruit signifies that it will happen; it will come in time. Learn from the Word and the experience, repent from the discipline, and believe the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of life. Trust and humility allows the work to proceed. Self-will and pride will only prolong the process.
For example, patience can be developed only by enduring the thing about which we must be patient. We don’t ask for patience, or any other aspect of the fruit; patience will come from the Spirit if we do not complain, blame, resist, rebel, or try to do it by our self in our own strength. Accept the discipline with quiet trust in the kindness and the promises of God for Christ’s sake. We don’t ask for the discipline; it will come if God loves us. We ask for God’s presence to endure with hope. The promise of “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” is worth the wait. God wants you to bear fruit, and He will make sure it happens, when we do not hinder.