John 15:8 (KJV)
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
The picture of bearing fruit goes back at least to Psalm 1:3 (KJV):
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
I think also of Proverbs 11:30 (KJV):
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
It seems obvious, then, that the Lord wants Christians to bear fruit. I think the question is, what does that mean?
Some would say it means the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV) says:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
My crowd has always been quick to point out that this is the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of the Christian. My crowd would say the fruit of the Christian is souls won to the Saviour.
And I believe we ought to be soul winners. We ought at least to strive to be.
It is not my intent at this point to try to define the fruit. I believe a case may be made for both the fruit of the Spirit and soul winning.
True soul winning wouldn't come from us anyway. It would have to come from the source of all spiritual life flowing through us, which is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, without the fruit of the Spirit, we wouldn't be true soul winners anyway.
And then there is fruit itself. Think of the sorts of things we consider fruit. Some of it is really a berry. Some of it is sweet. Some of it is not—so much so that we think of it more as a vegetable.
Likely, because we are all created so uniquely by the Lord, the fruit we produce is equally unique. Perhaps so much so that some would judge our fruit as not being fruit at all.
I think the point is a genuine life with the Lord. Do we just exist, or can we honestly say, as Paul did in Galatians 2:20 (KJV):
“…but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”?
#John15v8 #BearingFruit #ChristianLiving #SoulWinning #DailyVisitWithGod
Christ Living Through You: More Than Just Existing
Are You Just Existing, or Is Christ Living Through You?
The Christian life was never meant to be merely a name we claim. God desires that our lives bear fruit that brings glory to Him!
Take a moment today to examine your walk with the Lord. Is His life being seen through yours?
Don't settle for simply existing as a Christian. Seek to live a life through which Christ can work!
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