Enabled to Bear Fruit

KEY VERSE: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” —Galatians 5:22,23

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Galatians 5:1, 13-26

IN THE PARABLE of the vine and the branches, Jesus referred to the Heavenly Father as the ‘Husbandman’ who cares for both the ‘vine’ and the ‘branches.’ (John 15:1,2) Jesus reflected his true spirit of humility, and emphasized that he came into the world not to do his own works, but his Father’s.

Later in the parable Jesus explained that it was the Heavenly Father who would be glorified by the fruit-bearing of the branches. The branches cannot bear fruit of themselves. They must abide in the vine; and abiding in the vine they are cared for by the Heavenly Father, to whom properly goes the credit for the fruit produced.—See John 15:1-8.

The importance of fruit-bearing is stressed by Jesus, and we might think of the sap which flows through the vine and out into the branches as the energizing power of the Holy Spirit which enables the Christian to bear fruit. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples. That promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, and all who have come into Christ from that time on, have received the Holy Spirit—that vitalizing energy which produces the fruits of righteousness. These righteous qualities are those possessed by our Heavenly Father, and by our Lord Jesus; and as we permit the Holy Spirit to flow through our lives, this ‘fruit’ should become evident in us.

If the Holy Spirit does not transform our lives, then, as Jesus declared in the parable, the Heavenly Father, as the husbandman, removes us from the vine. If we do bear a measure of fruit, then the Husbandman prunes, or purges us that we might bring forth more fruit. This pruning is accomplished by the various experiences which the Heavenly. Father permits to come into our lives.

It may be the removal of certain earthly advantages, of friendships, of comforts, of popularity, of wealth, or other things which might tend to keep our minds and hearts from being centered on the Lord as they should be. The Lord knows just what is needful and best. He knows what to trim away, and he knows what to leave that we may bring forth the most fruit possible.

The branches in a vine do not bear fruit for their own benefit, and this is true of the branches in the vine which is Christ. Jesus explained that the Heavenly Father is glorified by the fruit of the vine. To glorify God is the ultimate motive in all Christian endeavor. We can glorify God only by endeavoring to do his will. An important facet of the divine will was expressed by Jesus when he said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—Matt. 5:16

Here Jesus declares that we glorify God by letting our light shine. Actually, of course, it is not our light, but the Father’s. It is his truth, his light. He has shined into our hearts by the Gospel, and we have made this glorious truth our own—not to hold selfishly merely for our own enjoyment, but to tell it out for the blessing of others. And as we do this, motivated by love, it brings glory to our Heavenly Father.

And this aspect of the Christian life is very closely associated with the matter of fruit-bearing. The Apostle Peter admonishes us to add to our faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness, and love—the fruit of the Spirit, in other words—and then adds, “If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren [Margin, Greek, “idle”] nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”—II Pet. 1:4-8

The Apostle Paul, in commending the brethren at Philippi for sending him gifts, added, “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” (Phil. 4:17) Here the good works of the Philippian brethren in ministering to the needs of Paul, are referred to by him as ‘fruit’. So we see that while activity in the Lord’s work is not in itself the fruit of the Spirit—the fruit that is produced on the branches in the true vine—it is very closely allied therewith, for the branches that bear fruit will inevitably be active in the Lord’s service. They will be doing good unto all as they have opportunity, and “especially to the household of faith.”—Gal. 6:10

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