Good Fruit

PIC: seeds-PIXABAY

“But as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and noble heart, and hold on to it tightly, and bear fruit with patience.” – Luke 8:15. 

Remaining in the Vine… the analogy of the vine and the branches in John 15

John 15:1-11 ^{Amplified Bible (AMP)}

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

“I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].

³ You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. ⁴ Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.

⁵ I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.

⁹ I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you].

¹⁰ If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

¹¹ I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.  – John 15:1-11    Amplified Bible (AMP)

Jesus taught that He is the Vine.  He said:  “I am the Vine; you are the branches….”  – John 15: verse 5 ^AMP

“I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].  – John 15: verses 1-2

He explains that it is of upmost importance that we “abide” or remain in Him:  “Abide in Me, and I in you.” – John 15:4 ^NASB.   Read it here in the Amplified version:

⁴ Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

⁷ “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.”  – John 15: verse 7

What is it – to “abide” in the vine? 
Verse 7 explains it: To be abiding in the vine is… “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart]….”

To remain in Him:

1.  First, you must be in Christ.  We must be born again.  There is no “remaining” possible – if we did not get in the vine in the first place.  This is where it starts.  We are grafted into the vine through what Christ did for us on the cross.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]…. –  2 Corinthians 5:17

2.  You must “remain in Him” – be “vitally united“.  Our live style must reflect that Jesus is our Lord of our life, in word and deed.  Is that true with your life?

3.  Christ must remain in you.  “The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit.”

4.  His words remain in you.  His message “lives in your heart”.  We live and move united vitally to Christ inside our soul, living-out His message with all that we are.

5. The result of “abiding” is what everyone on earth really wants.  Jesus said, “¹¹ I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.”  We all want joy, delight – “full and complete and overflowing.”  

Jesus wants us to have joy in our life (v11).  Jesus wants (1) His joy and delight inside us, and He wants (2) our joy to be made as full as it can be.  Wow.

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The Vine and the Vinedresser.  Here is the full passage about the Vine and the Vinedresser.   Jesus is described as “the Vine”.  Father God is described as “the Vinedresser”, the One “who prunes, trains, and cultivates vines” (Google).  This is an analogy to help us understand spiritual truths.

Run the race to win.  Father God is “glorified and honored” when we bear a hefty amount of fruit.  It is by our fruit that we “prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples“.

I am not striving for fruit in order to be saved.  I am not running the race to win salvation.  I run the race to win glory and honor for God.  It is because I am saved that I desire to have more fruit – so that I may thus be giving God more glory through my life. Salvation is not works-based.  It is grace-based.  However, once we are born again — the spiritual result will be fruit:

So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin]
– Matthew 3:8

Another analogy is: We are like athletes on a team. We prove that we are worthy athletes by performing for the team.  If we are born again, then we are on the team.  Now we need to continually strive to run the race to win.

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of ^{[a- Hebrews 12:1 I.e. the people commended for their faith in ch 11. See 11:2, 39.]} witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us”
– Hebrews 12:1 AMP

Are you actively persistent, striving to perform to the best of your abilities (“in Christ”) — as a good athlete?

Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit?
– 2 Corinthians 13:5

The Good Fruit List
This is what God produces in us:

love [unselfish concern for others],
joy,
[inner] peace,
patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting],
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
– Galatians 5:22-23

“love and
unselfishly seek the best for one another.”
– John 15: verse 17

FOR MORE:

Jesus taught that He is the Vine. And we are to be on that Vine – producing fruit. He explains that it is of upmost importance that we “abide” or remain in Him. Where are you “abiding”?
__________

The Bad Fruit List

Bad Fruit

¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].  – Matthew 7:16-20

The Good Fruit List

Good Fruit