Fruit revisted

[B-A-C]

It is amazing to me, how often the Bible talks about fruit. My Bible has the word "fruit" 47 times in the new testament alone.
In over half of the verses, it's Jesus Himself speaking.

Isn't it interesting, that it was fruit that got us all in trouble in the first place ( Gen 3:6; )
The Bible also says there will be fruit in the new Jerusalem. ( Rev 22:2; )

The thing about fruit... well all of the parables of Jesus in general, everyone understands the concept. Just about all of us have seen fruit trees at one point
or another in our lives. Fruit never appears immediately on a tree, but always takes a little time to grow.

The first time we see the word fruit in the new Testament, it's John the Baptist speaking here.

Matt 3:8; "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

John was speaking to some Pharisees who wanted to be baptized here. He calls them a "brood of vipers" (snakes). Not the most flattering comment
But have you ever stopped to consider what that verse means? Bear fruit... in keeping with repentance. Repentance seems to be a dirty word in some churches today.

Matt 3:10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John says some trees (the ones that don't bear fruit in keeping with repentance) will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus says the same thing in the passage below.

In Matthew chapter 7, near the end of the sermon on the mount, Jesus says...

Matt 7:15; "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matt 7:16; "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Matt 7:17; "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matt 7:18; "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Matt 7:19; "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matt 7:20; "So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Even today, the world is full of false prophets and false teachers. Fortunately they are usually easy to spot. How can you tell which is which?
Jesus says by their fruit.. "you will know". We can know, we don't have to guess. Again, the trees that don't bear good fruit, are cut down and thrown into the fire.

What kind of a tree are you? Do you bear good fruit? Is it evident to people around you? In verse 17, Jesus says bad trees bear bad fruit.
Where does this bad fruit come from? Did Jesus or God cause this tree to bear bad fruit? Some churches teach that He does.

John 15:1; "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2; "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:3; "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
John 15:4; "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5; "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 15:6; "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
John 15:7; "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:8; "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
John 15:9; "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:10; "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Jesus is the vine, the root. He is the source of nourishment for the tree. A tree can't live without water and nutrients from the ground.
So the question arises, if a tree can't bear any fruit without Jesus, and some trees bear bad fruit... is it Jesus's fault? Or is it the trees fault?

According to the passage above, we have to abide in Jesus in order to bear fruit. ( verse 4 )
Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Certainly we can't bear good fruit on our own. Now the interesting thing about this passage, is that
some branches are "pruned" (cut back) so that can bear "more fruit". A little fruit is good, a lot of fruit is better.
This passage ultimately goes back to the commandments. We can only abide in Jesus if we keep the commandments. We can only bear
good fruit if we abide in Jesus. If we don't bear good fruit, the tree is cut down and thrown into the fire. Pretty simple.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Jesus is speaking to some Pharisees here. Jesus never pulls any punches.

Matt 12:33; "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
Matt 12:34; "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
Matt 12:35; "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Matt 12:36; "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
Matt 12:37; "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Again, either a tree is good or bad. You can always tell by the fruit. You are known by the kind of fruit you produce.
Some "Christians" produce the fruit of hypocrisy, lying, lust, course jesting and foul language. Jesus says our very words reveal what kind of tree we are.
Evil people speak evil things, good people speak good things. What kind of things do you speak?
Jesus says here,we will be held accountable for for every careless word we speak. We will be justified or condemned by the words we speak.
You can tell what kind of tree someone is, by the words they speak, and by the fruit they bear.

Matt 21:18; Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.
Matt 21:19; Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.
Matt 21:20; Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?"
( Also see Mark 11:12-14; )

I don't want to read too much into this passage, but still... every word that is in the Bible is there for a reason. Is it possible that Jesus causes some trees to wither and never bear fruit?
(more about that later)

Matt 21:42; Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?
Matt 21:43; "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
Matt 21:44; "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."
Matt 21:45; When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

Jesus is quoting Psalms 118:22-23; here.
Verse 43 is very controversial to some people. The kingdom of God will be "taken away" from some people (who aren't bearing fruit) and given to other
people, who are bearing fruit. The Pharisees were supposed to be the leaders of the church, God's shepherds over the people, but they weren't really
bearing that kind of fruit.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Some people really struggle with the passage below, to others it is pretty straight-forward.

Luke 13:6; And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
Luke 13:7; "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'
Luke 13:8; "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
Luke 13:9; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"

Again, it's Jesus speaking here. Talking about trees and fruit again
Now the fig tree in this verse isn't just any fig tree in the wild. This was a fig tree in a garden. It was being cultivated.
The owner of the vineyard come for three years.... looking for fruit. He knows that sometimes a tree takes a little while to bear fruit.
But now three years later, there still isn't any fruit. He asks... why? To me this is very similar to the parable of the talents, the master asks the wicked servant..
"why" didn't you do something with what I gave you.
He asks... why is this tree even taking up space on the ground, what is it good for? He says "Cut it down". (Where have we seen that before?)
But the vine keeper (Jesus) says no, let's water it, and dig around it, and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year... great... but if it doesn't... chop, chop.

It seems we have a grace period of time. A time to grow, a time to start to mature, a time to start to bear fruit. Thank God for patience and grace.
But after a while... we are expected to bear fruit. A tree that bears no fruit is just as bad (or worse) than a tree that bears bad fruit. Remember, both
are chopped down and thrown into the fire (the Lake of Fire). Even with the vine giving us water and nourishment from Jesus, we can choose to
simply not bear any fruit at all. Remember the fig tree in Matt 21:18-20; and Mark 11:12-14; Jesus caused that fig tree to wither and never bear fruit again.

... to be continued ..

 

[Dave M]

Praise the Lord my heavenly Father for giving brother @B-A-C spiritual wisdom to share here on TJ, this teaching just made my whole day !!! cant wait to read more

 

[regibassman57]

@B-A-C,

It is amazing to me, how often the Bible talks about fruit. My Bible has the word "fruit" 47 times in the new testament alone.
In over half of the verses, it's Jesus Himself speaking.

Isn't it interesting, that it was fruit that got us all in trouble in the first place ( Gen 3:6; )
The Bible also says there will be fruit in the new Jerusalem. ( Rev 22:2; )

The thing about fruit... well all of the parables of Jesus in general, everyone understands the concept. Just about all of us have seen fruit trees at one point
or another in our lives. Fruit never appears immediately on a tree, but always takes a little time to grow.

The first time we see the word fruit in the new Testament, it's John the Baptist speaking here.

Matt 3:8; "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

John was speaking to some Pharisees who wanted to be baptized here. He calls them a "brood of vipers" (snakes). Not the most flattering comment
But have you ever stopped to consider what that verse means? Bear fruit... in keeping with repentance. Repentance seems to be a dirty word in some churches today.

Matt 3:10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John says some trees (the ones that don't bear fruit in keeping with repentance) will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus says the same thing in the passage below.

In Matthew chapter 7, near the end of the sermon on the mount, Jesus says...

Matt 7:15; "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matt 7:16; "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Matt 7:17; "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Matt 7:18; "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Matt 7:19; "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matt 7:20; "So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Even today, the world is full of false prophets and false teachers. Fortunately they are usually easy to spot. How can you tell which is which?
Jesus says by their fruit.. "you will know". We can know, we don't have to guess. Again, the trees that don't bear good fruit, are cut down and thrown into the fire.

What kind of a tree are you? Do you bear good fruit? Is it evident to people around you? In verse 17, Jesus says bad trees bear bad fruit.
Where does this bad fruit come from? Did Jesus or God cause this tree to bear bad fruit? Some churches teach that He does.

John 15:1; "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2; "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:3; "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
John 15:4; "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5; "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 15:6; "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
John 15:7; "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:8; "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
John 15:9; "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:10; "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

Jesus is the vine, the root. He is the source of nourishment for the tree. A tree can't live without water and nutrients from the ground.
So the question arises, if a tree can't bear any fruit without Jesus, and some trees bear bad fruit... is it Jesus's fault? Or is it the trees fault?

According to the passage above, we have to abide in Jesus in order to bear fruit. ( verse 4 )
Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Certainly we can't bear good fruit on our own. Now the interesting thing about this passage, is that
some branches are "pruned" (cut back) so that can bear "more fruit". A little fruit is good, a lot of fruit is better.
This passage ultimately goes back to the commandments. We can only abide in Jesus if we keep the commandments. We can only bear
good fruit if we abide in Jesus. If we don't bear good fruit, the tree is cut down and thrown into the fire. Pretty simple.
... to be continued ...

Now you are speaking about the "unfruitful" believer doing "unfruitful works." Now you understand that Jesus will condemn a believer that does not bring forth good fruit. I've been saying this all along... Those that don't repent will be cast into the furnace of fire. Wonderful, I' m joyful for your confirmation...

 

[B-A-C]

John 4:35; "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
John 4:36; "Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
John 4:37; "For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.'
John 4:38; "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."

This seems to be a lesser known passage for some. The thought here is... seeds take time to grow into food/fruit/vegetables (whatever the case may be)
Typically many crops take about 4 months to mature. But Jesus says here, the "fields" are already ready. You don't need to wait 3 or 4 months for them
to be ready. They are ready now.

Verse 36 here says... "he who reaps is receiving wages".... "and is gather fruit for eternal life". Whoa, what's all that about.
We can "earn wages" and "gather fruit" for eternal life. Those aren't my words, they are Jesus's.

John 12:24; "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:25; "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

What is this passage about? If a seed is never planted, it can never grow. Once a seed is planted, it doesn't remain a seed forever, it
turns into some kind of plant. The seed ceases to exist anymore as the original seed that was put into the ground. It is now something new.
Now that isn't a seed anymore, it is a plant... that "bears much fruit" (as Jesus puts it here)

If we try to keep our life. Old old fleshly lustful earthly sinful life with it's sinful habits and desires, we haven't truly died to self.
We have to die to ourselves, we have to "lose our lives" in order to quit being a seed. We have to turn into a tree that will bear much fruit.
This verses has a lot of tie-ins with being "born again". Dying daily, taking up our cross daily and following Jesus. ( Luke 9:23; 1 Cor 15:31; )
If we never die... (to the old self) we can never be born again. We can never be born as a plant that will bear fruit.
No fruit.... no eternal life.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Of course if we are going to talk about "fruit" here. We should probably mention the fruit of the Spirit.

Gal 5:22; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23; gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Gal 5:24; Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Gal 5:25; If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

1 Cor 12 talks about the "gifts" of the Spirit, but this is talking about the "fruit of the Spirit".
What is the difference between a gift, and a fruit? A gift is something that someone else gives you. Fruit is what you produce yourself.
Also something to keep in mind here, the gifts of the Spirit aren't what determines your spiritual maturity. However the fruit of the Spirit
is what determines your Spiritual maturity.

Notice here it says "fruit".. not "fruits". It is singular in every Bible translation I have (I have 16 different ones).
Why is that important? Because you either have it, or you don't. There is no half-way. No one can really say.. "Well I have some of them, but not all of them."
The Bible lists all the qualities of Galatians 5:22-23; as one single fruit. Either you have it or you don't.
Much like John 12:24-25; above.... this says we have to die to self. We have to crucify the flesh (with it's passions and desires)

... to be continued ...

 

[Dave M]

However the fruit of the Spirit
is what determines your Spiritual maturity.

can you elaborate on that a little more?

thanks

 

[B-A-C]

can you elaborate on that a little more?

Sure.
If we use the list of the gifts in 1 Cor 12.....
1 Cor 12:7; But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
1 Cor 12:8; For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;
1 Cor 12:9; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
1 Cor 12:10; and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

I may be able to do miracles, or I may be able to do miraculous healings, or I might even be able to prophesy. But none of those things are an outward evidence (fruit)
that I am a mature Christian. All that proves is that the Holy Spirit has given me power. Now, on the other hand...

Gal 5:22; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23; gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If I am a patient person, who has joy, who has the peace of God in his/her life people will see something different about me.
If I am a kind, gentle, who shows self-control, people will see the evidence (fruit) of this.

Galatians 5 contrasts the fruit of Spirit with the deeds of the flesh, sometimes it's easier to recognize the "fruit" of the flesh.

Gal 5:19; Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20; idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
Gal 5:21; 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.

If I see someone who is still struggling with lust, sexuality, drugs (sorcery), anger, drinking (alcohol).. I know they are not a mature Christian. I can see it by their "fruit".
In fact verse 21 seems to say, that if they keep practicing these things, they wont inherit the kingdom of God.
I could know a person for 3 or 4 years, and never see them heal someone or prophesy... but that wouldn't mean that they aren't a mature Christian.
But I could someone 3 or 4 days, and know if they have love, peace, joy, etc....

It has been pointed out that part of 1 Cor 13 (the "love chapter of the Bible") is similar to Galatians 5:22-23;

1 Cor 13:4; Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
The person in Gal 5:19-22, is not patient or kind, but is jealous.

 

[B-A-C]

Rom 7:3; So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
Rom 7:4; Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Rom 7:5; For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
Rom 7:6; But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

This is perhaps one of the most controversial passages in the Bible, because it is interpreted so many different ways.
Notice here, it starts off talking about marriage... why would I include that verse here, what does it have to do with fruit?

There are people (even some here in TalkJesus) who say if you ever get married again, for any reason, you're an adulterer. But that isn't true.
If your first spouse dies, you are free to marry again. ( Rom 7:3; )
This is talking about the old covenant and the new covenant. We could die to the law.... "so that"... wow, this actually gives us the reason.
We could die to to the law...SO THAT.. we can be joined to Christ. But the verse doesn't stop there... it keeps going, don't miss it.
We can joined together with Jesus (Him who was raised from the dead).. IN ORDER that we might bear fruit for God.

That's the reason we can be dead to the law, and be joined with Jesus... so that we can bear fruit! ( Rom 7:4; )
Either we are bearing fruit for life... or we are bearing fruit for death. ( Rom 7:5; )
Yes we can die to the old "letter of the law", but even so... we need to "serve in newness of the Spirit" (people tend to leave that part out).

.. to be continued ...