Many catchphrases that get tossed around the church today have caused confusion. One such expression is, “No root, no fruit.” The idea is that if a person is not producing spiritual fruit––meaning that they are not living righteously and following the Lord in obedience––then they have not truly been born again. If there is no visible spiritual fruit, that means there is no root, which shows that God is not working in their life. In a sermon about fruit production, John MacArthur stated:

A Christian cannot be a no-fruit. Listen, if the life of God is in you, there will be productivity. You may try to bottle it up and squelch it and redirect it a lot, but it’s going to get through anyway [emphasis added]. (John MacArthur, https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1305/if-you-abide-in-me)

This view reflects the Calvinist argument that if the Lord has predestined a person to eternal life, then he is guaranteed to persevere in good works, and there will be visible spiritual fruit. In this system of thought, if God has predestined someone, then God cannot fail to produce fruit in that person’s life. If God is involved, good fruit is guaranteed; if there is no fruit, God is not at work in his life. If there is no fruit, then the Lord didn’t choose them. In short, no root, no fruit; therefore, no God.

There are many problems with this view. For example, it assumes that the Lord always gets what He desires from people. In other words, if God puts in the work, His people are guaranteed to produce fruit. But is this true?

In Isaiah 5, the prophet is talking about the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. Israel is described as being the Lord’s vineyard (v 1).

The passage begins by describing all that the Lord has done for His vineyard, and––to put it mildly––He has done a lot. He placed His vineyard on a fruitful hill (v 1). He dug the hill up and cleared away the stones so the vineyard could grow without obstruction. He built a tower in its midst so it would be protected, and He made a winepress for it (v 2). After all this work, He expected it to bring forth good grapes (v 2b). It should be noted here that not only could the nation produce good fruit under the Lord’s care, but He was also anticipating it.

According to Calvinism, the nation would have had no choice. The Lord planted them, so they were guaranteed to produce good fruit. And yet, they produced wild (or sour) grapes. Rather than the expected good fruit, the nation produced bad fruit. Sadly, despite all that the Lord had done for Israel––delivering her from Egypt, providing for her in the wilderness, giving her the promised land, and nourishing her (Isa 1:2)––the people rebelled (1:2b-4) and turned to idolatry (2:8).

In response, the Lord laments:

3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?” (Is 5:3-4) (emphasis added)

What is noteworthy is that the nation’s lack of fruit is not due to the Lord’s lack of trying. The tragedy of Israel is that they rebelled in spite of all that the Lord had done for them. The Lord was actively involved and expected the nation’s fruitfulness. Yet they chose to rebel. In other words, lack of spiritual fruit doesn’t prove a lack of the Lord’s effort or participation.

Believers today have the same proclivity to turn away from the Lord, despite His efforts. We have been given every spiritual gift necessary to successfully follow the Lord in obedience, just as the people of Israel were given all that they needed to succeed. We, too, can choose to live carnally, just as the nation chose to rebel against her God. If a believer is not producing visible fruit, this doesn’t prove that the individual isn’t saved, or that the Lord isn’t working in his life. However, as He did with the nation of Israel, the Lord expects spiritual fruit from His children. If, like the Israelites, believers choose to walk in the flesh and disobedience, we can’t lose eternal life, but we can expect the Lord’s discipline in our lives, as well as the loss of eternal rewards (Isa 5:5-6).