But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
What Kind of Tree Are You?
You cannot work your way into Heaven, but you can inherit the Kingdom of God (Ga 5:21). Part of that inheritance is the God-given ability to bear fruit. Not surprisingly, the New Testament has a lot to say about fruit (51 separate verses), and establishes it as both a hallmark and benchmark of our faith. By that I mean, the Bible unequivocally presents the following principles: 1) believers bear fruit; and 2), how much fruit is directly proportional to how well you are abiding in Jesus (the Vine), and whether you are walking in obedience. There are a lot of complicated things in life, but this is not one of them.
Here are some of the things God wants us to know and think about fruit-bearing:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20, NKJV).
Here's a question that you have probably never seriously been asked: are you a thornbush, thistle or a fruit-bearer? I've seen a lot of strange social network quizzes lately, like those that try to determine what kind of dog you are, or describe what kind of tropical fish you most resemble; etc. But I haven't come across any that attempts to distill someone into agricultural terms. Yet, that is exactly how the Bible instructs us to think in regard to our lives as disciples of Jesus. I think the agricultural emphasis is important because it emphasizes where the power of produce resides. After all, it is not the apple that bears the tree. And no sane person would give it credit for such, nor laud the apple for building such a fruitful tree. Mark this, human beings are the most important creatures in the material Universe. I know this to be true because Christ became one and died to redeem us. And as such, we are meant to have an impact on the world. Because we are Fallen, when we do that stuff in our own strength the result, sooner or later, is thorns and thistles. But when we do that stuff in the power of the Spirit of Christ, instead of dead works, we bear living fruit that remains.
What kind of produce you bear then is the hallmark part of fruit-bearing; the signpost in front of your tree that declares plainly whether or not you are Christ's.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. “f anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1-8, NKJV).
Red seedless grapes are good fruit in my opinion, especially when crisp, sweet and juicy. And the thing about them is that they only get that way by hanging onto the grapevine for dear life. They don't grow themselves. Instead, they are cared for and husbanded by the Vinedresser so that they receive the life-giving nutrients supplied by the vine and just hang in there and let the natural increase in size and goodness occur. Can you imagine a grape silly (and delusionally prideful) enough to think that through some exertion on its own, apart from the Vine and the efforts of the Vinedresser, anything remotely resembling a sweet, or useful piece of fruit would result?
So the key points then in this instructive discourse on grapes and vines given by Jesus on the night of his betrayal and arrest are simply these: abide in Him by abiding in His Word (holding it dear, believing it, obeying it), and by so doing you will naturally be fruitful, and in being fruitful you will fulfill your purpose in life: glorifying God. Piece of cake, well, fruit.
This is the benchmark part, the system performance measurement, if you will, that declares to the world and yourself how close you walk with the Lord. In this instance, proximity equates to power.
The reason all this is vitally important is the same reason the word gospel means good news. We are condemned sinners helpless to save ourselves. We can only escape the judgment we deserve through faith in Christ, and once saved we can only live the Christian life by allowing God's Spirit to work within us to bear fruit. If we don't recognize the truth of this, we will attempt to save ourselves and bear fruit in our own strength, and that fruit will inevitably be bad. We will then be "cut down and thrown into the fire."
What Kind of Tree Are You?
You cannot work your way into Heaven, but you can inherit the Kingdom of God (Ga 5:21). Part of that inheritance is the God-given ability to bear fruit. Not surprisingly, the New Testament has a lot to say about fruit (51 separate verses), and establishes it as both a hallmark and benchmark of our faith. By that I mean, the Bible unequivocally presents the following principles: 1) believers bear fruit; and 2), how much fruit is directly proportional to how well you are abiding in Jesus (the Vine), and whether you are walking in obedience. There are a lot of complicated things in life, but this is not one of them.
Here are some of the things God wants us to know and think about fruit-bearing:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20, NKJV).
Here's a question that you have probably never seriously been asked: are you a thornbush, thistle or a fruit-bearer? I've seen a lot of strange social network quizzes lately, like those that try to determine what kind of dog you are, or describe what kind of tropical fish you most resemble; etc. But I haven't come across any that attempts to distill someone into agricultural terms. Yet, that is exactly how the Bible instructs us to think in regard to our lives as disciples of Jesus. I think the agricultural emphasis is important because it emphasizes where the power of produce resides. After all, it is not the apple that bears the tree. And no sane person would give it credit for such, nor laud the apple for building such a fruitful tree. Mark this, human beings are the most important creatures in the material Universe. I know this to be true because Christ became one and died to redeem us. And as such, we are meant to have an impact on the world. Because we are Fallen, when we do that stuff in our own strength the result, sooner or later, is thorns and thistles. But when we do that stuff in the power of the Spirit of Christ, instead of dead works, we bear living fruit that remains.
What kind of produce you bear then is the hallmark part of fruit-bearing; the signpost in front of your tree that declares plainly whether or not you are Christ's.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. “f anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1-8, NKJV).
Red seedless grapes are good fruit in my opinion, especially when crisp, sweet and juicy. And the thing about them is that they only get that way by hanging onto the grapevine for dear life. They don't grow themselves. Instead, they are cared for and husbanded by the Vinedresser so that they receive the life-giving nutrients supplied by the vine and just hang in there and let the natural increase in size and goodness occur. Can you imagine a grape silly (and delusionally prideful) enough to think that through some exertion on its own, apart from the Vine and the efforts of the Vinedresser, anything remotely resembling a sweet, or useful piece of fruit would result?
So the key points then in this instructive discourse on grapes and vines given by Jesus on the night of his betrayal and arrest are simply these: abide in Him by abiding in His Word (holding it dear, believing it, obeying it), and by so doing you will naturally be fruitful, and in being fruitful you will fulfill your purpose in life: glorifying God. Piece of cake, well, fruit.
This is the benchmark part, the system performance measurement, if you will, that declares to the world and yourself how close you walk with the Lord. In this instance, proximity equates to power.
The reason all this is vitally important is the same reason the word gospel means good news. We are condemned sinners helpless to save ourselves. We can only escape the judgment we deserve through faith in Christ, and once saved we can only live the Christian life by allowing God's Spirit to work within us to bear fruit. If we don't recognize the truth of this, we will attempt to save ourselves and bear fruit in our own strength, and that fruit will inevitably be bad. We will then be "cut down and thrown into the fire."
