A lot of people are confused between the fruit of the Spirit (Holy Spirit), and the fruit of a Christian. Fruit always means reproducing after its own kind. For example, an apple tree produces apples, an orange tree oranges, etc. So the fruit of a Christian is another Christian, just like when people get married and bear children, they are bearing fruit by reproducing more people. Genesis 1:27-28 says for example, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiple and replenish the earth. That is why children are called the fruit of the womb, where children are formed by God. (That is one of the reasons why homosexuality is so wicked and vile, they cannot bear fruit as God commanded.) So, therefore, it only makes sense that the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. As a matter of fact, that is the only way anyone in the world can ever get saved. People hear about Jesus and the gospel because they heard it from another Christian, so you would be that Christian's fruit. People who bear fruit for Christ are winning other people to Christ in many different ways. For example, a person witnessing with his mouth to tell other people about Jesus, preachers who preach about Jesus, people passing out tracts, missionaries going to foreign lands to tell people about Jesus, or maybe even just getting one person saved and then that person wins many to the Lord. Since Jesus came into the world to save sinners, the most nearest and dearest thing to the heart of our precious saviour is getting people saved. But to be able to do that, we have to abide in Christ, for without him we can do nothing the bible says. The bible says we should be bold in witnessing. Ephesians 6:19: And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.
The main chapter about bearing fruit is John 15.
John 15:1: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 15:2: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (purgeth means the Lord will draw us even closer to him and cleanse away sin in our life, and we will bear more fruit for him)
John 15:4: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 15:5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.
John 15:8: Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (The only way to be a disciple is to be concerned about the one main thing Jesus came to earth for, and that was to save souls from a burning hell.)
John 15:16: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
The fruit of souls being saved will remain because they will be saved for eternity. Just think of the joy of abiding in Christ and being used to win someone to Him, the joy of saving a soul from going to the Lake of Fire and instead now having eternal life. John 15:11: These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Not every Christian in the world bears the same amount of fruit. Mark 4:20: And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. It is just like when a husband and wife bear children, some have three children, some have 19; they are both fruitful. There are some evangelists and preachers who preach the Word boldly and win thousands of souls to Christ, and then there are Christians who bear much less fruit. But the important thing is to just abide in Christ and bear fruit. Some of our fruit we don't even know about in this life, but we will find out in heaven, if we have faithfully tried to get the gospel out to people, like giving out tracts, or writing a blog to tell people about Jesus, or maybe one person you won to Christ could become a great preacher and win many souls. All of these are ways to bear fruit. But Jesus wants us to bear much fruit, so we should try our best to reach everyone we can with the gospel. John 15:8: Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. Jesus wants us to do the same works that he did, for it says in John 14:12: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Of course, the greatest work Jesus did was saving souls.
One section in the bible about fruit that is very often misinterpreted is Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16: Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17: Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Matthew 7:20: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. People will twist this scripture to say you can tell if someone is saved or not by looking at their fruit, like the way they live, act, etc., but that is not true. It is talking about how we can tell if someone is a false prophet or not by their fruits, like if they are winning souls or not, preaching the pure gospel and not false doctrine. The bible says that we are to discern between a true man of God and a false prophet so we can avoid false prophets, but if someone says they are trusting Jesus for salvation, we are not to judge whether they are saved or not by the way they live.
Many people read the above passages about bearing fruit and then they jump over to Galatians 5:22 that says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." But that is not the fruit of a Christian, it is the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one part of the trinity of God, so the attributes of God are reproduced in our hearts. God is love, he gives us peace, is gentle and good and patient, gives us joy because our sins are forgiven and we are heaven bound, etc. When we get saved God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to comfort us through our trials and tribulations. In John 14:16 it says "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, 17: Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. John 14:26: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. So the Holy Spirit comforts us and teaches us. That is the fruit of the Spirit.
So how do we abide in Christ so our life can bear fruit for eternity. The bible says Jesus is the Word. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. The Word made flesh is talking about Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God, so to abide in Christ means we abide in the Word of God. We have to read God's Word and let it sink into our hearts and mold us and make us more like Jesus. John 15:4: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:7: If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 14:23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 15:3: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. So that is how you abide in Christ, by staying in his Word continually, and that is how to bear much fruit for Christ. John 15:5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If we abide in Christ and his word abides in us, the bible says we will bring forth much fruit. Shouldn't that be the goal of every Christian, to bring forth much fruit, not just a little. The only reason God doesn't take us to heaven right when we get saved is because he wants to use us here on earth to get other people saved.
No comments:
Post a Comment