Proverbs (Part 162) - Pro 11:30

---

 

30. Pro 11:30 – “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” A. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; i. Definitions a. Fruit n. – 7. Anything accruing, produced, or resulting from an action or effort, the operation of a cause, etc. a. Material produce, outgrowth, increase; pl. products, revenues. b. An immaterial product, a result, issue, consequence. c. Advantage, benefit, enjoyment, profit. b. Righteous adj. – 1. a. Of persons: Just, upright, virtuous; guiltless, sinless; conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law; acting rightly or justly. c. Tree n. – 7. a. Phrases. tree of life, (a) a tree symbolic of life or immortality, esp. that in the narrative of the garden of Eden (Gen ii. 9, etc.); also fig. d. Life n. – I. The condition or attribute of living or being alive; animate existence. Opposed to death. 1. a. Primarily, the condition, quality, or fact of being a living person or animal. d. Animate existence viewed as dependent on sustenance or favourable physical conditions. (For necessary of life, staff of life, see those words.) Hence, that which is necessary to sustain life; a livelihood, one's living. 2. fig. Used to designate a condition of power, activity, or happiness, in contrast to a condition conceived hyperbolically or metaphorically as ‘death’. 5. a. The cause or source of living; the vivifying or animating principle; he who or that which makes or keeps a thing alive (in various senses); ‘soul’; ‘essence’. Hence (poet. nonce-use) = ‘life-blood’. e. In other words, the good works that proceed from just and upright men who conform themselves to the standard of God’s law are a source of spiritual sustenance for himself and a source of encouragement and example for others which motivates them to follow God and live a fulfilling life. ii. The fruit of the righteous is the fruit of the Spirit which He works in them including love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, righteousness, and truth (Gal 5:22-23; Eph 5:9). iii. This good fruit coming from within a man from the Holy Spirit will satisfy himself with spiritual sustenance (Pro 14:14). iv. The fruit of the righteous man’s mouth (his words) (Pro 18:20) are a tree of life to himself and to those that hear them. a. The fruit of a righteous man’s mouth will satisfy himself with good (Pro 12:14). b. The righteous speak wisdom (Psa 37:30) which is a tree of life (Pro 3:18). c. The righteous speak wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Ti 6:3), which are a tree of life (Pro 15:4). d. His words feed and nourish those who hear them (Pro 10:21). B. and he that winneth souls is wise. i. Definitions a. Win v. – 1. intr. To work, labour (O.E.); to strive, contend, fight. Obs. 2. trans. To conquer, subdue, overcome, defeat, vanquish, ‘beat’. Obs. 3. a. To be victorious in (a contest of any kind, as a battle, game, race, action at law, etc.). 9. a. To overcome the unwillingness or indifference of; with various shades of meaning: to attract, allure, entice; to prevail upon, persuade, induce; to gain the affection or allegiance of; to bring over to one’s side, party, or cause, to convert. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xi. 30 A wyse man also wynneth mens soules. b. Soul n. – I. 1. The principle of life in man or animals; animate existence. 2. a. The principle of thought and action in man, commonly regarded as an entity distinct from the body; the spiritual part of man in contrast to the purely physical. 13. a. A person, an individual; a living thing. c. Wise adj. – 1. a. Having or exercising sound judgement or discernment; capable of judging truly concerning what is right or fitting, and disposed to act accordingly; having the ability to perceive and adopt the best means for accomplishing an end; characterized by good sense and prudence. Opp. to foolish. d. In other words, the man who converts others and overcomes their unwillingness to submit to the truth of the gospel through persuasion and argument has sound judgment and discernment and has the ability to perceive and adopt the best means for accomplishing that end. ii. This second clause is connected to the first clause by the conjunction and. a. One of the means by which a righteous man wins over the souls of others is through the fruit of the Spirit which they observe in his life. b. He also employes wise words from the scriptures to win people over to following Christ. iii. Winning souls in this verse is not referring to saving a soul from hell. a. Only Jesus Christ can do that (Heb 1:3; Col 1:13; 1Th 1:10). b. No man can win a soul in that sense because eternal salvation is not of the works of men (Tit 3:5; Joh 1:13). c. But we can win souls in the sense of being used of God to aid in their conversion (Act 14:27 c/w Act 15:3-4 c/w Act 21:19). iv. Christians are to strive to subvert their hearers (2Ti 2:14). a. Subvert v. – 1. trans. To overthrow, raze to the ground (a town or city, a structure, edifice). b. They wage a war against the false ideas of those they witness to and attempt to pull down the strongholds of their minds and cast down their unbiblical imaginations (2Co 10:4-5). c. Ministry is warfare (2Ti 2:4-5) in which a pastor strives to instruct people in the truth to help them recover themselves from the snare of the devil (2Ti 2:25-26). d. When a Christian convinces a person of his errors and helps him turn from them he has won a soul through wisdom. v. A pastor or a Christian should use wisdom to be all things to all men and adapt to the manners of those he is witnessing to in order to gain (win) them for Christ (1Co 9:19-27). vi. A brother who converts a sinner from the error of his way has won a soul and saved it from temporal destruction (Jam 5:19-20). vii. Other examples of the wise winning souls. a. Winning a brother whom you have offended. (i) It takes much patience and wisdom to win a brother whom you have offended (Pro 18:19). (ii) If you win such a man, you are wise. b. A brother is wise who confronts a brother that has trespassed against him and gains (wins) him (Mat 18:15), rather than foolishly whispering about him or backbiting him and thus losing him. c. A wise woman through submitting to her unbelieving husband and showing him a good example of a godly life can win him to the Lord (1Pe 3:1).