“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”-{John 15:16},
” My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “-{John 15:8 NLT}
As apple trees produce apples or orange trees produce its kind so those who have been:born again to a living hope and have been gifted a new spiritual heart produce new life, the life of Christ. Where once we produced in our lives that which was natural and without thought at the heart of our character such as mentioned in Galatians 5 the “fruit” of the flesh.
” My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “-{John 15:8 NLT}
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”-{Gal 5:17-21}
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.'”-{Luke 6:43-47}
WE produced what we were , people who were dominated by sinful lusts, self centered and even the “good” we often did was rooted in self-centeredness as at times it made “us” feel good about ourselves. It was never done out of love for GOD because we had no love for God, unless things got bad, then we tried to manipulate, bargain, try to bargain influence with Him,crying out to Him to get us out of the hole we were in or difficulty we faced, or sinful mess we were in or to help a loved one.
IT WAS NOT Until, like Paul we too were confronted by the Lord and convicted of our sin and turned to HIM and “threw in the towel,” like someone in the corner of a boxer would throw in the towel to quit, give up, did we throw in the towel of self rule and quit living our lives on our terms and turn to GOD, conscious we had sinned against Him as He is our Maker and rightful Owner and has rightful ownership to our lives and we submitted to His Son to rescue us from the penalty of sin, the control of satan, the wrath of God and asked Him to forgive us and cause us to follow Him did we experience this new life. A life where our ambition changed, to now one of desiring to please Him; a new goal to to know Him and a new boast- in the cross of Christ. We begin to love and desire the things He loves and desires and hate the things He hates. We are what the Bible calls, “New creatures In Christ.” Changed with our standing with God and being changed in the way we see life and do life according To His Word. We are not perfect this is why we need Him to continually work in us and He does. He has promised “He who began a good work IN you will complete it… God is at work IN you both to desire and do for His good pleasure.”-{Read Phil 1;6; 2:13}. We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son!-{Col 1;12-14}. We are now children of God. And with it He imparts the Holy Spirit to empower us to live this new life. For apart from Him it would be like having a car without an engine. On the outside looks fine but no power to move. Apart from the Spirit of God we have no power to live the Christian life. “But God… has given us EVERYTHING pertaining to life and Godliness.”-{Read 2 Peter 1:3}.
Just as tress produce after its own kind so now we produce after our new nature and produce what the Bible calls “FRUIT. You don’t see an apple tree shaking, groaning, striving, stressing to try and produce apples. It is the natural outcome of the nature of the tree. So the new life, Godly fruit is the natural outcome of being connected united with Christ. His Spirit produces in us what is “natural” to Him…the fruit of His life in us!
“So then, you will know {recognize} them by their fruits.-{Matt 7;20}. There is a definitive difference from the pattern of peoples lives whether they are truly followers of the LORD Jesus versus those who are not. The follower of Christ’s life is not a life of sinless perfection, but there is a new direction their lives which are evident! It is an”either,” “or.” Either the fruit of the flesh, the self life apart from God producing it’s natural tendencies or the fruit of the Spirit producing Spiritual characteristics, which there is no law against, as it is loving!
“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” -{Luke 6;45}
” My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. “-{John 15:8 NLT}. God is glorified when we bear spiritual fruit and He says as we do we “prove,” what? “… to be My disciples.” We PROVE we belong to Him, there is evidence, and God is glorified!
Lets look at some of the Spiritual fruit that the Life of Christ produces and a evident in a new life.
1. The Fruit Of REPENTANCE.
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;”-{Matt 3;8}. This is the beginning of a new life. The realization of one’s sin and rebellion of sin and a change of mind about self God and submitting to Him as Sovereign King to rule over you and save you
John the baptist preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance before and after the cross. And commissioned Hid followers after HIS Resurrection to go forward and preach likewise, “…and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”-{Luke 24;47}. Note the necessity of repent ace for forgiveness. No repentance, no forgiveness. Peter preached repentance,”…“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”-{Acts 2:38}. Paul preached repentance. While many want to “accept” Jesus, they do not want Him to rule over them and will not repent which in the book of Revelation is to fail to Glorify Him through refusing to repent towards Him. Still rebellious internally against Him!
We too were once like that “But God…” convicted us and granted us, and those who obey His command to repent, He sets spiritually free and it begins with you doing a U turn… u turn from self rule to God and submit to Him and submit to His Son to rule over you and save you from self love, self rule, the penalty and power of sin, the wrath of God and the control of satan! Repentance and faith is where life begins… and then the fruit of repentance, of a changing life is evident as it is producing a new life. For example if I asked you,” when is a thief no longer a thief ?” you may say when they stop stealing… But God says,“He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.” When they stop stealing and start working in order to give to the one in need! That is the “FRUIT OF REPENTANCE.”Instead of living to get they are living to give lovingly for His sake!-{Read Eph 4:28}.
2. The Fruit of The SPIRIT.
“… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”…”If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”-{Gal 5 22-25}
This speaks of character and conduct under the control of The spirit of God and in compliance with the WORD OF God. Two little girls were sitting in the back of a car and one of them was fighting and being mean and the mom who was driving said something about Jesus to her… the other little girl said,”she must have got a bad ‘JESUS” Jesus did say “not everyone who calls Me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of HEAVEN and depart from Me I never knew you!” There is visible evidence that a person is New in Christ and it is what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives. It is not instantaneous but their is evidence we dd not get a “bad” Jesus- counterfeit, but the Jesus of The Scriptures! We do have New power to no longer live our old way of thinking and deeds! “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.“-{Read Gal 5:16; 2 Cor 1:3}
3. The Fruit Of GOOD WORKS.
“so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God “-{Col 1;10}. Deeds of kindness the evidence. Kindness means to be useful, serving others. For OTHERS benefit! We were created in Christ for “good works”-{Read Eph 2:10}. “ Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.” -{Titus 3:14}.”…who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. ” -{Titus 2:14}. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. “-{Gal 6:10}.” Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” -{Matt 5:16}. The purpose of doing good? That others may glorify your Father in Heaven! As you have opportunity DO GOOD!
4. The Fruit of SOUL WINNING.
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise ]wins souls.“-{Prov 11;30}. Matthew Henry said, “He that is wise, by communicating his wisdom, wins souls. . . . The wise are said to turn many to righteousness (Dan. 12:3), and that is the same with winning souls here.”
God’s heart is for the souls of people. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”-{Matt 28:19}.”And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”-{Mark 16;15}; ” He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations,beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” -{Luke 26;46-49}. “ For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. “-{1 Thess 1:8}. Paul commends this church for they were known for spreading their faith!
5. The Fruit of OBEDIENCE
” And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. “-{Matt 13:23}. This person unlike the other three mentioned in the chapter who hear the Word of god and do not obey, this one hears, understands, obeys and produces the fruit of obedience as seen what quantity of spiritual fruit is produced as a result! Luke 8; 4-15 also shows the story about a sower went out to sow and scattered seed and the response of what happened, the picture is of the different types of heart response but only one yielded to receive and obey and this one is the one who was saved as their life showed forth the fruit of obedience! “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”-{John 14:21}.
6. The Fruit of RIGHTEOUSNESS
“having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. “-{Phlippians 1;11}. The fruit that a righteous life produces. A Life that is right with God through which God produces righteous motives and deeds. And as the life is “filled,” which speaks of being ‘controlled,’ dominated. Just as the woman who broke the alabaster jar, and the room was ‘filled,’ dominated by it’s smell, so the fruit of righteousness is a life dominated, permeated with right thinking and deeds! It’s one of the characteristics of “a man of God,” he will do right! The bent of the life is doing right from God’s perspective!m-{Read 1 Timothy 6:11}. Paul wants them to be FILLED and FRUITFUL. “…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),” -{Eph 5;8-9}. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace, and the outcome of righteousness, calm and security forever.” -{Isaiah 32:17}
This fruit of righteousness is not from self effort but comes through Jesus Christ and is manifested in multiple deeds of abounding love,{v9}; kindness, good works which the life of Christ in the believer produces and is evident in a life.
7. The Fruit of PRAISE, THANKSGIVING.
“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. “-{Heb 13:15-16}
Through HIM, the Father’s “Beloved,” we are to continually, not sporadically offer up a sacrifice of praise to God for who He is. his greatness, goodness, generosity, contemplating and celebrating Him s we see Him for who He is in the Scriptures. When our twins were bout two years old, we lived in the country, the nights were very dark due to the absence of street lights. On one occasion I was carrying them one at a time from the car to the house. It was a beautiful clear night and the stars were marvelous. As I carried our little boy in I said “look at the stars King Jesus made” and he looked up and said, “wow, wow, wow!” I left him safely in the house and went back to the car for his sister and carried her in and I said “look at the stars King Jesus has made” but she wouldn’t look up. So, I put my hand under her chin to help lift it so she could see, but she would not, and there was no “wow” from her lips because she never beheld the wonder! For some there is no “Wow” from their lips because they have never beheld the wonder of Jesus Christ, they are lost and dead in their sins. But for others, believers we have taken our eyes off Him and let the things of earth crowd out and control our thinking and their is little praise on our lips because we have forgotten the “WONDER” of the Cross of Christ! Think on Him, meditate upon His Word, ask Him through His Word to reveal Himself to you for whom He is. Jesus opened their minds in the scripture to reveal Himself to the disheartened disciple son the road to Emmaues. and the result? Their hearts burned! Look for Jesus in the Scriptures, build up a knowledge of His character to choose to offer Him praise and thanks!! Read the Psalms and look at the reasons the Psalmist gives to GOD for His character and works! And then you choose to praise, THANK Him also! Thanksgiving Glorifies Him-{Luke 17:15-17; Thanksgiving is DOING His Will {Read 1 Thess 5:18}. He is worthy!
Note. Fruit of speech and sacrificial service. Lips and Life! Praising Him because HE IS Worthy. Praising him not because life is a bed of roses but when it is bed of sharp nails and broken glass, when life is painful he is still worthy to be speak well of Praised! The Fruit of Thanksgiving to God . They are a thankful, grateful people rather than a complaining ungrateful people. In Romans 1 , one of the characteristic of a lost person is they are thankful!
8. The Fruit of GOOD SPEECH
” The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.“-{Luke 6;45}.
Note the two types of people and what comes out of their mouth on an habitual basis is because of what is in their heart. It reflects their nature, who they are! The mouth speaks from that “which fills the heart,” that which CONTROLS the heart will come out.
Like a can of coke will pour out coke, not orange juice, what the can contains is what comes out of it, What is in your heart- the root of your life will produce the fruit of what is on the inside will come out and be seen!
“Let no unwholesome {rotten} word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. “-{Eph 4;29}
Your Life is producing, manifesting what is on the inside, who you are living for, either for SELF or The SAVIOR.
SPIRITUAL FRUIT IS MANIFESTED IN…
REPENTANCE, FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT, GOOD-WORKS, SOUL-WINING, OBEDIENCE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PRAISE, GOOD SPEECH.
Fruit is always for the benefit of OTHERS… For Him and TESTIMONY TO HIM FOR OTHERS TO SEE, PARTAKE OF AND BE POINTED TO HIM… AND BY THIS IS OUR HEAVENLY FATHER GLORIFIED!