BEARING FRUIT FOR GOD
LIBERTY AND LOVE #44
The only kind of fruit that can be borne by the Christian is “the fruit of the Spirit.” “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (Ephesians 5:9). We are called to be vessels through which Christ accomplishes his purpose, but the moment I try to do it myself, through my own strength, I fail. I am not here to glorify self, but to glorify God. This is why I must cease trying to accomplish his will and his work in my life by my own power. The fruit of the Spirit represents those attitudes that characterized the Lord. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23).
Fruit is borne through intimacy. In the physical realm, children are the fruit of sexual intimacy between a husband and wife. In the spiritual realm, spiritual fruit is the result of our intimacy with Christ. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). It is by abiding in intimate fellowship with God that fruit is produced in our lives. There is no other way. Any fruit which comes about by personal effort alone will be artificial and will not last nor do any lasting good. This is why the Holy Spirit was given to us—to develop the characteristics of Christ-likeness with us.
The working of the “Holy Spirit” upon the “human spirit” can best be explained this way: When we took Jesus as our Savior, we became “married” to him in a spiritual way. This union is the joining of our spirit with his (1 Corinthians 6:17), and is designed to produce fruit. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Jesus who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4). This is the divine, earthly purpose of our relationship with Jesus. Fruit is to be borne to the glory of God. God saves us for a purpose; we are his workmanship created in Christ for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Nothing less than continual, consistent fruit bearing will please the Lord. Nothing we do in the Christian life of faith is to emanate from us. If it does, it is fake. Jesus said we can do nothing without him (John 15:5). The power is from God, not from us (2 Corinthians 4:7). The matter of winning souls to the Lord, or sharing our material goods with others, or living each day in view of the Lord’s return—these are all things we are exhorted to do consistently, but if they are to continue the way God wants them to, they have to be done in his power and not ours.
We can call God our Father because the Holy Spirit dwells within us, making us “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20). God lives in me, I live in him, and I know it because he has given me his Holy Spirit (1 John 4:13). This is what encourages us to pray to him intimately. We are on intimate terms with the Father because he has already sent his Spirit to indwell us.
Dewayne Dunaway
