.
.
.
Fruit – result or reward, occurring due to growth.
.
John 15:1-8
Verses 1-4 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman (keeper of the orchard). Every branch in me that bears not fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it (to trim in order to improve capacity or quality), that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me..
What robs our lives of energy and triumph is complication. So many things! What if there was just one thing to focus on….one thing that would always guarantee success, and fruitfulness, and abundance, and joy, and wholeness and victory in our lives? Just one thing! One thing to always abide in, in our minds, to always come back to, always dwell on, always focus on. Just one thing that is always right to do! And no matter how many times we did it, how many times we came back to it, how hard we focused on it, it never got old, never got worn out, always improved and grew and sparkled in the delight of our attention and focus? That one thing always got better, was always new, always produced in and for our lives? I have discovered that one thing!. Abide in Christ!See, explore him, discover him, study him, develop his spirit, grow in him, preach him, magnify him, love him, desire him..
Verses 5-8 I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (this is not a teaching on going to hell if you sin. It’s merely emphasizing the futility of life outside of Christ). If you abide in me, and my words abide in you (this is how to abide in Christ), you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples.
.
What glorifies God is the life of His Son, Christ within us, causing our lives to bear a lot of heavenly fruit. It is our responsibility to abide in Christ. It is God’s responsibility to cause our lives to bear fruit. You do your job, and let God do His.
Singing doesn’t glorify God, unless that singing is a result of the life of Christ within us.
Praying doesn’t glorify God, unless that praying is a result of the life of Christ within us.
Saying, “I give God all the glory” doesn’t glorify God, unless that utterance is a result of the life of Christ within.
Going to church, reading the Bible, witnessing, going to fellowship… unless something is a result of the life of Christ within, that action will not bear Godly fruit.
Galatians 5:16-25
Verses 16,17 This I say then, Walk in (en – at rest and continuance in the heart of) the spirit (of Christ), and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that you cannot do the things that you will to do.
.The flesh lusts contrary to the spirit of Christ. Then notice that in the next phrase, the word “lust” is left out. The spirit against the flesh. There are two figures of speech involved in this one phrase, doubly emphasizing the truth being communicated. First, ellipsis, emphasizing the word that is left out. Our mind has to get more involved in order to understand what is being communicated. Our mind supplies the missing word, lusts. And then there is a second figure of speech, irony, where what is meant is the opposite of what is said. The spirit doesn’t lust, does it? Walking in the spirit of Christ is so totally opposite walking in the lust of the flesh!
.If lust means to try to fill that which cannot be filled, with the understanding that the harder you try to fulfill, the faster it leaks out, then what the spirit of God does is fill to overflowing at the slightest invitation.
God is strongly emphasizing here that what His spirit does is not only contrary to what our flesh is capable of, but that its ability to fulfill what it promises is completely super-aboundingly magnificently astoundingly triumphantly surpassingly perfect.
.Verses 18, 19a But if you be led of the spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these…..
.Then some of the works of the flesh are listed, and we won’t get into them here, but you should definitely read what they are.
Notice also, that it doesn’t say Christians are not under the law, it says that if the spirit of God is leading you, thus meaning you are walking in the spirit, then you are not under the law that deals with the flesh.
Then, after these ugly, ugly works of the flesh are listed…..
.Verses 22-25 But the fruit of (genitive of origin – originating in and flowing from, by walking in) the spirit is love (from which all other fruit flows – that’s why love is the greatest of these), joy, peace, longsuffering (when you’re at peace within, it’s not a big deal to lovingly tolerate another’s lack of peace), gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness (when you have faith within, you are more than willing to consider the way another person looks at life, knowing your faith can be added to at any time by such practice), temperance (self mastery), with such the law never concerns itself. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the anxieties and lusts. Because we are alive in (and because of) the spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
.The law (thou shalt, thou shalt not) deals with the works of the flesh… which are ugly!
Whenever and wherever what we do is coming out of our own efforts, we are walking in our flesh, no matter how good our intentions are. Don’t get tricked into trying to be more loving, or trying to be more joyful, more patient with others by your own efforts. You all know my description of my ability to bear fruit. Stick a 2X4 in the ground, nail a couple other pieces of 2X4 at angles onto it, and staple apples to it. That is my ability to bear fruit, by mimicking (terribly) an apple tree! But abide in Christ, and the fruit of the spirit will naturally (supernaturally) grow out of your life, to the end that others can eat of it and be blessed thereby.
.Abide in Christ… and live fruitfully!
_________________________________
..
The book, Give Me Christ … Revelations of the Glorified Christ is now available on Amazon.
You can subscribe at the upper right of this page by supplying your name and e-mail. You’ll be notified by e-mail whenever a new study is posted, every couple of weeks or so. Your e-mail is not shared with anyone else. After you subscribe, add our address to your contact list, so that the notifications are not sent to your junk folder..
See studies:
IN CHRIST – what does it mean?
Pruned by God.
Fruitfulness in Christ – Colossians 1:1-15
HOW to Walk by the Spirit
Flavored by Christ
