The Character of Christ:
The Fruit of the Spirit in the Life of Our Saviour
DETAILS:
Publisher: Banner of Truth Trust
Publication Date: April 04, 2023
Format: Paperback
Length: 154 pg.
Read Date: August 6-13, 2023
The Goal/Design of the Book
The introduction is called “This Is Not A How-To Book.” This is vital, and this emphasis is likely why I bought this book* after hearing Cruse interviewed about it. Christian bookstores (wherever they may still exist) and websites are full of books on how to generate the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and are great ways to make yourself feel guilty when they don’t work.
Also, those books really miss the point anyway.
Cruse is clear about the need for believers to produce fruit—and he’s also clear about the way that happens. But that’s a secondary matter for this book—this book is about focusing on the Fruits of the Spirit and seeing how they were seen, manifested, and taught by our Lord.
This is a book about Christ, first and foremost. Following John Owen (and others) Cruse is convinced that as we see Him better, as we understand Him more, we will be transformed and those fruits will be seen.
* Given my appreciation for Cruse, that’s likely an overstatement–but I would’ve bought and read other books first.
What’s The Character of Christ About?
Okay, I just answered that—oops. After the Introduction, Cruse takes one chapter to look at each of the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The organization of each chapter varies—which is annoying for trying to sum it up briefly, but so nice when it comes to reading. It’d have been very easy for each of these chapters to have the same outline, just with different topics—and my eyes would’ve glazed over a lot.
Essentially, we get a good definition of each fruit along with examples of how we see that in the life of our Savior. Cruse will often show us what Christ Himself taught about the fruit, too. Each chapter ends with some sort of application—not in the “How To” sense. But here’s how you can display Christ, go to Jesus, and pray for this to be shown in your life as it applies to each fruit.
The book concludes with a reminder to look to Christ and how He has perfectly kept in step with the Spirit and borne the fruit. As we do so, as we are united to Him by the Spirit, we can be transformed as well.
So, what did I think about The Character of Christ?
This is too brief, not because Cruse was skimpy on details or needed to explain anything better. But each chapter could’ve been twice the length and not lost my interest, I could keep reading more and more about each of these ideas in this manner. Although I’m pretty sure if he did give us twice the length, I’d still be asking for more.
This was a great balance of doctrine and example/illustration. He’s careful not to let the reader focus too much on themselves as they ponder each idea but consistently points to the Author and Finisher of our Faith. It’s easy to read, wonderful to chew on, and truly helpful in the way that how-to books can’t be.
I strongly recommend this to your attention—not just for the content, but the manner in which Cruse presents it.
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