Book 2 of Musings Fruit
The fruit to which the New Testament often refers is the moral image of Christ as revealed in godly behavior first in ourselves, and then in those who receive and follow us.
Today one can hear pastors or evangelists using the term "fruit" to mean the number of people who come to the meeting, or the number of people who make a profession of faith in Christ.
This isn't exactly what the New Testament means by fruit.
God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. By this God meant, bring forth more people in like yourselves. God used this expression also concerning the animals, that they should bring forth more animals like themselves.
Fruitfulness, in the New Testament sense, means bringing forth the moral image of Jesus Christ.
People can come to church, and they can make a profession of faith in Christ, and yet never grow into the image of Christ. This means no fruit has been borne- even when thousands attend church and thousands profess faith in Christ.
Fruit has nothing to do with escaping Hell or going to Heaven. Fruit, in the New Testament sense, means reproducing the moral image of Christ.
The Vine God has planted is the Lord Jesus Christ. When a believer abides in the Vine, he or she begins to bring forth fruit, the fruit of the moral image of Christ.
The fruit must begin in the personality of the believer. After a while, the fruit of the image of Christ will begin to appear in those whom the believer influences.
We cannot bear the moral image of Christ by imitating Him. We must abide in Him. Then the fruit comes forth naturally. We begin to bear the Family image.
Christ is as a Seed that is planted in the personality. Seeds do not bear fruit overnight. A period of time is required before fruit appears.
When an evangelist labors in the work of the ministry, people are brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Then it is up to pastors and teachers, as well as all the other gifts and ministries of the Body of Christ, to work with the new believers until the moral image of Christ is brought forth in them.
When we change the program of salvation into a religion, we seek to gain as many adherents of our religion as we can. We want to grow, and grow, and grow in numbers. Sometimes this emphasis on "church growth" is not helpful when it comes to the patient development of fruit in the believer.
I have heard scorned heaped on those "pew-warmers." "They should get out and bring in souls, or stop the abortions"; or do whatever else is of concern to their ministers.
This is not called "feeding the sheep." If the Lord's flock are to grow in Christ until the likeness of Christ is observable in their personality and actions, then they are going to have to be ministered to for a period of time.
I do not say that sitting in church is going to cause the moral image of Christ to come forth in people. We all know of people who have sat in church for many years and never have grown an inch.
I have pondered this, being a professional educator. What is wrong with our churches that people don't grow in Christ? They gossip when they first come to Christ, and fifty years later they still are gossiping. The moral image of Christ does not gossip!
One problem is the emphasis on "going out and getting souls saved." The people do not have the grace to do this, so they just sit and listen to the same exhortation, Sunday after Sunday.
There are some believers whom the Lord calls to the ministry, or to missionary endeavors. But this is not true of the majority.
It the majority of the people of the Christian congregations are going to grow into the moral image of Jesus Christ, then they must be fed the Word of God. Their teachers and pastors must begin to present what is written in the New Testament so the people understand it-chapter by chapter.
The ministers of today, to a great extent (I know from the mail I get from spiritually hungry people) are preaching rapture, rapture, rapture, grace, grace, grace, Heaven, Heaven, Heaven.
The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is unscriptural.
Grace is not an alternative to righteous behaviour.
Eternal residence in Heaven is not the goal of salvation.
So the people are being fed wood, hay, and straw instead of the milk and meat of the Word of God. This is why they are not growing in the moral image of Christ. Fruit is not being borne, although millions of people are attending Christian churches on a regular basis.
Not only must people be fed from the Bible, if they are to grow, but in addition they must be challenged to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. Until a believer does this, he or she is not a disciple; not a true Christian. People who do not follow the Master as disciples will not grow into the moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The members of the congregation must come to realize that they are an orchestra, not an audience listening to the music. Each one must present his or her body a living sacrifice in order to prove the will of God for himself or herself, and then labor consistently in the area the Lord Jesus gives to them.
When people are sitting in the congregation and listening to a trained choir and musical "specials," they will not grow. They will not bring forth the moral image of Christ. They are being entertained, not challenged to overcome sin, to deny themselves, to interact each day with the living Jesus.
The Christian churches in America are filled with sinning Christians. The believers have not been taught the necessity for overcoming sinful behavior. They have not been taught how to overcome sinful behavior. How, then, can the fruit of Christ's image be reproduced in them?
We need revival today. Some are praying for a great ingathering of people in which multitudes are saved, healed, and filled with the Spirit of God. May such an outpouring take place soon! We all desire this.
But this kind of revival will not bring forth the fruit Christ is looking for. Revivals come and go, and much good is done. But lasting revival does not occur until a believer becomes a disciple of Jesus and follows the Holy Spirit in overcoming sin and partaking each day of the Life of Christ. Such is the only true revival. Such is the only source of the fruit for which the heavenly Farmer is looking.
Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. (James 5:7)