Devotion - Brearing Fruit

In John 15:5, Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing".What does it mean by fruit in the Bible. In the scriptures, "fruit" refers to three things:

1. Character. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law". Fruit here refers to the character of a believer that he acquires as he goes through the process of sanctification in his life. More often than not, we always associate "being filled in the Spirit" to speaking in tongues and miracle gifts". I don't deny that but we cannot neglect the transformation that must take in the life of a believer who is filled in the Holy Spirit. Both are two sides of the same coin and must go hand in hand. Col 1:10, "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God". One of the evidence of a person who bears the fruit of the spirit, in addition, to displaying the above qualities, is that he is not bound by law but by GRACE.

2. Conduct. In Mathew 5:14, Jesus said, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven". Good deeds are another evidence of a believer who is in Christ and bearing. In James 2:14, James asks, What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"If our office colleagues or friends cannot see a difference in our lives than we have failed in this area. Eph 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works". When was the last time we did something good and people glorified God.

3. Converts. In his Upper room discourse, Jesus said in John 15:5, that when we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. He amplifies this statement in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:22, "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me..". Others will come to know who Jesus is. It is important that we don't neglect the Great Commission. Our lives must impact our families, the community, the nation and regions beyond.

So fruit bearing has three aspects. One cannot be over-emphasized at the expense of the others. The three must be held in equal equilibrium if christian maturity is to reach maximum cogency.

"A tiny group of believers who know the gospel keep mumbling it over and over to themselves. Meanwhile millions who have never heard it once fall into the flames of eternal hell without ever hearing the salvation story"

K.P. Yohannan
Founder and President of Gospel for Asia.