Commanded to Bear Fruit
By Kevin Miller
Recently, I had the opportunity to teach a workshop called “Christianity 101” to a group of teenagers. As I prepared, one concept kept leaping off of the pages of the Bible as I read: We are commanded to bear fruit.
For today’s blog entry, I’d like to simply show you a progression of thought, purely from the scriptures, of what this means and what it ought to look like:
The Command
"Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
– Luke 3:8
"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
– John 15:8
“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.”
– Romans 7:4-5
"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
– John 15:16
“So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
– Colossians 1:10
Consequences
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
– Matthew 7:19
“And if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.”
– Luke 13:9
The Bible is clear on how we bear fruit:
Be a Good Tree
"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.”
– Matthew 7:17
"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”
– Luke 8:15
Hear the Word, Understand It, Accept It
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
– Matthew 13:23
"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
– Mark 4:20
Die to Yourself
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
– John 12:24
Accept Pruning
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
– John 15:2
Stick with Jesus
"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.”
– John 15:4-5
“Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.”
– Colossians 1:5-6
My Take-Away
We are commanded to bear fruit, but that isn’t the road; it’s the result of abiding in relationship with Jesus. Abiding results in fruit – every time.
