All Christians Bear Fruit
Fruit of the Spirit not of the Flesh
John 15:1-8&16
15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Jesus is the vine and His Father is the vinedresser, the person who takes care of the vine. 15:2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. Everyone who is in Christ, by faith in Him, is a branch in the vine. Every branch in the vine that does not bear fruit is lifted up by the vinedresser and placed among the more mature branches. The older mature branches hold the young branch up so that it will grow strong and mature and become fruitful. Likewise, our Father in heaven lifts us up and places us among more mature Christians so that we will grow strong and mature and bear fruit, as only mature branches produce fruit. The vinedresser prunes every branch in the vine that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit. Likewise, as we begin to produce fruit in our lives, our Father removes everything in us that interferes with our fruitfulness, so that we will be more fruitful.
15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. When we believe the words of Jesus Christ, we put our faith in Him and trust in Him for the forgiveness of all our sins. Therefore, we are made clean, and we are accepted by God because we believe the words of Jesus Christ.
15:4-5 “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. “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. We were placed in Christ when we first believed in Him. Likewise, we abide in Him by believing in Him. As the branch in the vine relies upon the vine for its life and its ability to produce fruit, so we must rely upon Christ for spiritual life. The fruit of the Spirit can only come from Him. The Holy Spirit is at work in every Christian to make us to be like Christ, to make us to be loving, kind, good, faithful, and gentle. He also gives us joy, peace, patience, and self-control. The branch gets its life from the vine, the life of the branch is the same as the life of the vine. Likewise, we get our life from Christ and He lives in each of us and produces fruit in our lives.
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. As a branch does not have life unless it is in the vine, a person does not have life unless he or she is in the vine, Jesus Christ. Dead vine branches are worthless, the wood is of no value not even for heating; therefore, they are burned as trash. Likewise, all unbelievers, all who are not in Christ are dead and worthless and will be burned in the lake of fire. All believers in Jesus Christ are in Christ and are not dead, but alive because they have the life of Christ. Live branches are not thrown away and they are not burned. Only the dead branches, unbelievers, those who are not in the vine, are burneded.
15:7-8 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. If we believe the word of God concerning Jesus Christ, we will believe in Him and we will love Him. Furthermore, we will seek to do His will and we will ask Him for those things that are pleasing to Him; therefore, we can be sure that He will give them to us because we will be seeking to glorify Him in all that we ask of Him. The fruitfulness of our lives gives glory to God because it can only come from the working of God in and through us. God, our Father in heaven, desires that all Christians bear fruit and nothing can prevent His will from being accomplished in our lives. All Christians bear fruit.
15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and {that} your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
Jesus Christ has chosen and appointed each of us to bear fruit. Because it is the Lord’s will that we be fruitful, every Christian is fruitful. We can only fail to be fruitful, if the Lord can fail to make us fruitful. The Lord is all powerful; therefore, He will not fail to make us fruitful. Prayer is looking to the Lord to do that which we cannot do for ourselves, it is an expression of our faith and our dependence upon the Lord. Fruit in the life of the Christian brings glory to the Lord and fulfillment to the life of the Christian; therefore, when we pray for that which brings glory to the Lord, we receive that for which we pray. The more the Christian trusts in the Lord, the more fruit he or she will bear.
Fruitfulness begins with faith in Jesus Christ. All Christians are fruitful because they are in Christ and the life of Christ brings forth fruit.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, ©
Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988. Used by permission.
* Bible Studies by Max Swan
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24