Which Tree Are You Eating From?

“So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either. Don’t be a fool! Why die before your time? Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes.” — Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

“…In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” — Genesis 2:15-17

Even if the Jews of the Old Testament could have kept the whole law, the most that would have produced for them is goodness, the "Good" fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But as we know, the law can’t produce righteousness. The law can produce obedience, somewhat. It can produce some marks of outward holiness, somewhat. Like a guardian or custodian, the law can make you a “good little boy," (St. Paul actually calls the law a “schoolmaster” or “babysitter”). Nevertheless, the law cannot produce justification, holiness or righteousness because the law doesn’t affect the ontological status of humanity; the law doesn’t change the heart. It doesn’t change who you are. It doesn't generate a new creation. It doesn’t regenerate a dead spirit.

We would be corrupted even if we could keep the law perfectly. We may be able to achieve goodness through the law (and this is debatable, for the strength of sin is the law), but we would not have received Life.

This is why "trying to do good works" — doesn’t actually work! At least not for very long.

“If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness only affects men such as you, and your righteousness [only matters to a] son of man [like you].” — Job 35: 6-8, AMP/NKJV/NLT

Whether I’m trying do good (eat the Good fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) or trying do evil (eat from the Bad fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) it's still the same, wrong Tree.

Through the use of rhetorical questions, Elihu basically tells Job that his sin doesn’t affect God in the slightest. But he also tells Job that his righteousness gives nothing to God. Whether Job is righteous or sinful, none of what Job does or doesn’t do gives or takes anything away from God. As if Elihu’s statement wasn’t profound enough, he ends it by saying that Job’s righteousness or wickedness doesn’t affect God at all. It only affects mere humans, like Job.

Stop and ponder that for a moment. My Christian life began to change once I really got this revelation down into my heart. What the Spirit of God taught me through Elihu is this: I’m nothing more than a liability to God.

Pastor Mike likes to say it this way: “You think God can trust you to obey Him?”

It’s a good question. What kind of fool would God be to trust us to obey Him? The Bible tells us that there is no one righteous, not even one (save Jesus). It also reminds us that our hearts are deceitfully wicked, that we aren’t even aware of all the wickedness that dwells in our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). If God could trust us to obey Him, He would have had no need to send His only perfect Son to rescue us!

But we don’t really believe this, do we? Secretly, we often still live as if we have a little bit of righteousness, if we’re honest with ourselves. We live our lives as Christians as if God does 99% of the work, and we contribute 1%. Or if we’re more prideful, maybe God does 90% and we do 10%. But when you realize that this Christian life is not about a partnership but a union, you realize that you do nothing.

Sounds radical, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t. Jesus reminded his followers that, unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees, none would enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wasn’t just mincing words there. He was being serious. The Bible reminds us that our righteousness is like filthy rags to God.

So Elihu reminded Job. True freedom in Christ came for me when I realized that I don’t contribute anything to God’s glory. This walk with Christ is authored and choreographed by God from start to finish. But see, until I came to the end of myself, I couldn’t grasp this revelation. It was God’s design and process to let me keep striving to obey Him, to do His will, to “be a better Christian” — until it wore me out and I was ready to call it all quits.