As I begin this pastor’s message, I would like us all to consider two scriptures. Jesus Christ Himself gives this instruction, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:8). In Luke 3:9 we find: “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.”
We just celebrated the Passover season in which we rehearsed that Jesus was crucified for our sins so that we could come into a relationship with God—but that is only the beginning of the true Christian journey. Our relationship with God, just like human relationships, requires absolute commitment, mutual trust, and continual effort. Jesus had a lot to say about the necessity of spiritual growth and the consequences of failing to bear fruit. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’” (Luke 13:6-7). A fig tree that doesn’t produce fruit in a vineyard is not serving the purpose that it was put there for—if it fails to meet that expectation, you are better off cutting it down and planting a productive tree in its place.
God takes our spiritual growth seriously; it is not only expected of us, but also in fact required of us. We need to be sure that we are fulfilling the expectation for which God has planted us. (Psalm 1:1-6; consider also Jeremiah 17:7-8) As such, the question of bearing fruit can express a worry that some periodically have: What does it mean to bear fruit, and how can we be sure that we are doing so?
In the broadest sense, to bear fruit as a Christian is to become like Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit" (John 15:5). The word "abide" in this context means "to remain" or "to stay with." So, if we are able to faithfully persevere, to continue walking with Him, then we have assurance from Christ Himself that we will bear fruit. This takes us back a step further to a more fundamental question: How do we know if we really are with Him in the first place?
One sign that we are bearing fruit is that we are endeavoring to walk as Jesus Christ walked. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6). Jesus lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to God's law—that is how He walked. John goes on to say: "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). We should also strive to obey the commandments of God as Jesus did.
In Romans 7:12 we are reminded that the commandments are holy, righteous, and good; they teach us the difference between right and wrong, good, and bad, holy, and profane. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul famously identified nine broad characteristics that accompany the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is a danger in reducing this message to that of simply “trying to be a good person.”
After all, what is good? What is true love, and how is it defined? Exactly what do we need to control when it comes to self-control? It is only from the law of God that we can learn how to show true love, both to God and to others. The law of God teaches us what kindness is, it reveals the way to live a genuinely peaceful life, and it guides us in restraining the desires of the flesh.
The fruit of the Spirit that Paul spoke of is not a set of feel-good concepts that are left up to our own interpretations, imaginations, intuitions, or feelings—rather, it is the revealed wisdom and will of God that is expressed in His commandments. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” (John 15:9-10). One sure sign that we are bearing fruit is that we are endeavoring daily to walk as Jesus Christ walked. This means actively pursuing obedience to the law of God—striving to observe and live by the full intent and purpose of His law. If we truly internalize the spiritual intent and purpose of the law as we obey, then we will bear fruit by taking on the qualities that Paul described.
This walk that we are now one is not one we can complete on our own. Jesus said, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). A branch must stay firmly attached to the trunk to stay alive. We cannot bear fruit solely from our own effort, and we are not expected to! In the same way, God cannot force you to bear fruit if you are not willing to, it can only come from a joint effort. Our part in that joint effort, as we have seen, is to commit ourselves to living by God’s laws.
Whenever we look at our lives within this context, we must also be reminded that God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is God’s glory to be merciful to our weaknesses and to make us perfect through the resurrection: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown is corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43).
There is so much power and encouragement in God’s word; “I thank My God upon every remembrance of you . . . being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:3-6) It must be understood we cannot do this on our own and we are not left on our own. It is a source of great comfort and encouragement that God is on our side in this struggle, and that He deeply desires for us to succeed in bearing fruit. In Hebrews 11:6, we are told that God “rewards those who diligently seek Him.” If we are seeking out God’s help and submitting ourselves to Him, then we have no need to fear because He is always faithful to uphold His promises.
This is where mutual trust and commitment are necessary in our relationship with God. The fact that we cannot achieve perfect obedience to God’s law does not mean that we should just give up and stop striving. Rather, it means that we should renew our commitment and give our best effort and have faith that God is able to make His strength perfect, even in our weakness. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16) God’s desire to help us bear fruit is found even in the parable of the barren fig tree.
Remember the owner of the vineyard said to the keeper, “Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?” Rather than leaving us to dwell on that discouraging and hopeless prospect, the parable goes on to show the keeper intercedes for the tree's life, asking for another year: “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down” (Luke 13:7-9). The owner (God the Father) and the keeper (Jesus Christ) have the same goal: to help the tree to produce fruit. Within this parable stands a warning for anyone to whom God has given His spirit thereby revealing His truth: Do not delay producing good fruit (1 Peter 4:17-19; 2 Peter 3:3-10)! "'A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say'" (Luke 6:45 NLT).
We need daily communication with Him through prayer, bible study and meditation. We need the spirit of repentance (see Matthew 3:8) and humility in order to “walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). We need to stay intimately connected to the true vine and His body, the church to truly “bear fruit in old age” (Psalm 92:14), to “run and not grow weary” (Isaiah 40:30), and to not “grow weary in well-doing” (Galatians 6:9). God knows what He has entrusted to each of us and what He expects us to do with it (Luke 12:48). Our responsibility before God is to be “faithful with little” so that He can trust us with much (Matthew 25:21). Our responses to and care for little things can reveal a lot when it comes to the fruit in our lives.
Let’s take the time as we move towards the Feast of Pentecost to consider what fruit is being produced in our life. What are the little things demonstrating? (Mathew 25:21) With that question in our minds take this time to read Matthew 25:14-24. Not all are expected to produce the same fruits, but all are expected to be equally faithful to the gifts God has entrusted to them. Interestingly the one who was unfaithful to what God gave him failed to produce fruit based upon his reasoning that God is unfair. He allowed fear to invade his thoughts. What does it mean to bear fruit, and how can we be sure that we are doing so? Little things do indeed reveal a great deal when analyzing fruit, which is why the great God looks at them. The little things can even reveal cracks in our foundation that may need attention! Scripture reveals that in our lives storms come. "Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock" (Luke 6:47-48; also consider 1 Corinthians 3:12-14). Jesus reminds us all, “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16).