Fruit

Fruit-bearing

Q. In John 15, what does Jesus mean by “fruit”? Can it mean making disciples?

A. The word “fruit” occurs 10 times in 7 verses in John’s writings:

• John 4:36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
• John 12:24 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 15:2 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 15:4 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.
• John 15:5 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 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
• John 15:16 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.

Many commentators relate fruit qualitatively as the “fruit of the Spirit” in Gal 5:22-23. This is certainly true in the sense that a disciple cannot bear the Spirit’s fruit unless he abides in Christ. However, I believe we can also interpret fruit quantitatively as “making disciples,” for two reasons:

1. The word “fruit” itself implies reproduction, in the sense of “fruitful and multiply,” which occurs 11 times in the Bible (Gen 1:22, 28; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 17:20; 28:3; 35:11; Lev 26:9; Jer 23:3; Ezk 36:11).
2. As John used the word in his gospel, he used it quantitatively (much fruit in Jn 12:24, 15:5, 8; more fruit in Jn 15:2).

No one can make disciples unless he/she abides in Christ, and the Father is glorified when we reproduce many disciples.

So my conclusion is that the Lord meant fruit in both a qualitative and quantitative sense, as in Christian character and making disciples.

Becoming a Christian (2 of 2)

(Continued from yesterday)

We have a Chinese saying, “sow melon, reap melons; sow bean, reap beans”.
• Gal 6:7 For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
What is the consequence of sin?
• Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death,
The wages, what you earn, from sin is death. Not just physical death, but also spiritual death, eternal separation from God.

Because God is just, He must punish sin:
• Ex 34:7b He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
• Ezk 18:4 The soul who sins will die.
Otherwise there would be no justice in this world, if sin can escape unpunished.

Man tries to save himself through leading a moral life, religion, and hope their good outweighs their bad deeds. But God knows that we can’t make it on our own, because even our best falls far short of His requirements:
• Isa 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.

So, because He loves us, He paid the price to save us:
• Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That’s why the key is in your relationship with God, as you pointed out in (3). But that’s the most important thing, not #3. In fact it’s the only thing that counts in the final analysis.
• Jn 3:16, 18 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
• 1 Jn 5:11-12 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
As you can see, if you believe i.e. trust in, rely on the Lord Jesus, you have the Son. You are not judged, and you have life. If you do not believe, you have neither the Son nor life. You have been judged already. Whether you are properly related to the Son is the deciding factor. Nothing else matters.

One more verse to bring this full circle:
• Jn 15:5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me they can do nothing.
Our relationship to Jesus is as the branches to the vine. We need to remain in Him and He in us, then we will be fruitful. But without Him we can do nothing. Not less fruitful, but absolutely nothing. Because when the branch is not attached to the vine it is dead. That’s why the first thing we need is a genuine relationship with Jesus, not keeping rules. Once we have Christ, everything else will fall into place – your relationship with others, your obeying God’s laws – they will come naturally.

Now, how do you begin that relationship? We begin by confessing Jesus as Lord, and believing Him as the risen Savior:
• Rom 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Note your confessing and believing must be genuine. You can’t fool God. If you truly believe and confess Him, God’s promise is you will be saved. And God’s promise can be trusted.

You can express your commitment to follow Christ in a simple prayer with 4 steps:
1. Admit you are a sinner, unable to save yourself, but willing to repent.
2. Believe Jesus is the Son of God who loves you to die for you, and was raised to be your Savior.
3. Confess Jesus as your Lord who will direct your path from now on.
4. Dedicate your life to follow Him.
You can say it in your own words. You don’t need any elaborate ceremony, as God knows our heart.

I hope the above is clear. If you want to discuss anything we’ll be glad to talk to you anytime.