It is striking how many times in the Gospels it is stated that the fruits of a persons life will clearly identify the beliefs of a person! I am super challenged by these statements, and I hope to inspire you in today’s post to bear fruits as a Christ follower.
Fruits are a product of the Seed
The process that brings about a fruit is truly amazing, and is a testament of a Creator God’s existence! I am simply amazed at this natural process by which all of us benefit from, and I believe there are very similar comparisons between the natural and supernatural processes at work in bearing fruits.
In the natural process, the seed is in the reproductive organs of the plant. Once the plant starts to flower then the process of pollination begins to happen, which kicks the process of fertilization into effect. Once this happens the flowers fall off and the fruit becomes exposed. The fruit is very immature and vulnerable at this point, but it is still a fruit non-the-less. This is where it is critical for that plant to receive all of the necessary elements for successful growth like sunlight, water, nutrients from the soil, and so-on. The final step includes the release of a hormone within the fruit that determines its color, taste, smell, softness/hardness, and so-on. This process is fascinating and replicated in the Spiritual!
When we come into a relationship with Christ Jesus (our plant!), the seed of the Gospel takes root into our being and causes a new creation to take place within us. This seed begins to form and strengthen as we “pollinate” with other “flowering” Christians around us. At this point we are still very immature and need to continue to grow and stay in a posture of humility knowing that we are vulnerable to the attacks of wolves trying to steal that seed from us. As we do so, we will receive the nutrients given by God through the Word, His Spirit, His Church, and our relationship with Him! Once the seed takes full root in our hearts and we begin to grow in our faith, then we will start to show forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives (I will expand on that in a little bit) and it will be evident that we are byproducts of the Supernatural process of being transformed by the Gospel seed being planted within us!
The Gospel is the Seed that produces transformation in our hearts!
All seeds must die before producing life (see John 12:24)! Eph 2:4 says that God, who is rich in mercy, took us from a spot of being dead in our sins and made us alive in Christ. This is great news for all of us who have come into a relationship with Jesus, because the new life we have in Him is producing wonderful fruit for others to enjoy and that will bring glory to God the Father! Also, Titus 3:5 says that when God, who in His mercy (see a theme here? God’s mercy is what allows us new life in Him!), saved us, we became regenerated and received new life in Him!
Our life is completely transformed as soon as we receive Jesus Christ as our savior. 2 Cor 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; what is old is passed away – look, what is new has come! We are made new by faith in Jesus.
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
— Henry David Thoreau
Transformation should be evident by the fruit we bear!
SO, we just read that the old is gone when we have Jesus as our Savior. What is the old? Here is a list of the “fruits” we once produced in our old state: “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!” (Gal 5:19-21). Again in Romans 7:5 Paul says, “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.”
Now listen to what Paul says in 1 Cor 6:11, “And some of you were these things, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (LEB) These are the fruits that we once produced, but once Jesus justified us and washed us through sanctification and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, we are now going to produce another type of fruit!
Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a list of the fruits that we will produce as a Christ follower. Here is that list: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When you look at that list, can you see these fruits in your own life? Please be careful not to look at this list and think of someone else right away. We need to examine ourselves when we see this list. Just the same as if you are choosing fruit at the grocery store, we inspect it and examine the color, firmness, smell, etc. before we purchase it, I want us to examine our own lives in regard to the fruit that we are producing! If we do see a fruit that is lacking in our lives, instead of trying in our own effort to make that fruit come to life within us, just ask the Holy Spirit right now to produce that fruit within you. These are the fruits of the Spirit aren’t they? Well then, if He is the One who produces them, shouldn’t we ask Him for the ones that are lacking in our lives?
“Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends”
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Fruits are a product of the Holy Spirit
We must be careful not to forget that it is God who is at work within us to produce these fruits, not a vain effort of will from us. This is a hard concept to grasp, but I believe that many of us get caught up in defeat too many times because we do not understand this concept. This is a concept/principle that I believe is so critical in our walk of faith – Allow God to transform us without us trying to reform us! See, God wants to make us new creations, He isn’t trying to take the old us and form us into a new us. His work is a completely new life in Him. We get caught up in trying to take the old us and forcing it, or molding it, into this new life we are trying to live in Christ. This doesn’t work, and it causes all sorts of frustration. The Scripture above says that we were these things, but now we are made new! Why would a butterfly ever crawl on the ground like a caterpillar again? Why would we ever want to go back to our old ways? We are new in Him.
This new life was produced by the Holy Spirit, is sustained by the Holy Spirit, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. He is the God who is producing anything good in us, and He is the God who is going to produce a life of fruitfulness in us too! Remember it is the plant (God), not the fruit (us), that produces fruit, and so it is with God and us!
"The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?" Galatians 3:2–3 (NET)
Just the same as us not having anything to do with our salvation, aside from accepting it by faith, so also we do not have the resources to draw from within ourselves to produce the fruits of our salvation. It must be done through the power of the Spirit. You may ask then, ‘Well, how do I allow that to happen?’ The same way we allowed salvation to happen, by faith! We have to trust and believe that God is working in us to produce these things. I believe that it is the one who is pursuing and fixed upon Jesus that is effortlessly producing the most amounts of fruit in their lives. When we focus on fruit/fruitfulness we are going to be very limited in our production of them, but when we focus on Jesus through relying on His Spirit, He will multiply the fruitfulness we are desiring! That is God’s work, we must just remain faithful to Him and grow in our understanding of Him.
I know that it is hard to not “do” christianity, but we must focus on “being” christianity and allowing our Savior to display His power in us as we live out our lives by faith in Him! He will do mighty things through the one that is fully relying upon Him.
God bless you as you rest in Him and allow the Holy Spirit to produce wonderful fruits in your lives! I will leave you with the words of John the Baptist:
Matthew 3:8 (NET) "Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance,"