Book 4 of Musings Fruit or Fire

The end of that which does not bear fruit is the fire.

The fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John has some important things to say to us.

This chapter tells of the importance of fruit. What is the fruit the Christian is to bear? The fruit is the moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Notice that these virtues are not the fruit of the Christian. The adamic nature at its best can reveal only the faintest outline of these nine aspects.

Love, joy, peace, and the rest proceed from the Spirit of God. They are of the Nature of the Lord Jesus.

The Holy Spirit of God is given to the Christian to accomplish two purposes. First, the Holy Spirit serves as a second nature to us. Second, to give us power to bear witness. These two objectives are closely related.

We can choose to live in our sinful nature, or we can choose to live in the Nature of the Holy Spirit. If we live in the Holy Spirit, then the Nature of Jesus Christ comes forth in our life as the attributes referred to as the fruit of the Spirit.

If we live in the sinful nature, then the opposite of the Nature of Christ is revealed in our life: hatred, misery, unrest, impatience, harshness, badness treachery, arrogance, and lack of self-control.

The heavenly Farmer, God, is seeking a crop of godly behavior. To this end He has sown the Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of people. When the Nature of Christ begins to grow, the Farmer is pleased and cultivates, irrigates, and nourishes that new growth.

But when, after a period of time, the Nature of Christ does not come forth, then the Farmer cuts that branch off Christ and the branch is thrown into the fire and burned.

This reminds us of the parable of the sower. There were two classes of growth that finally died: the growth that had insufficient roots, and the growth that was crowded out by the cares of life. When plants wither and die, they are thrown into the fire and burned.

Every farmer does this. Ground is a valuable commodity. It is difficult for a farmer to make a profit from his land, and he does not waste space on plants that are not bearing fruit.

Unfortunately, we do not view our salvation as something that profits God. We are intent on going to Heaven where we can enjoy ourselves. Therefore we do not profit from Jesus' words in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. We go on and on about unconditional love, and eternal security, and all the other devices we have invented to assure ourselves that whether or not we serve God, our eternal joy is guaranteed.

Our present gospel is little more than humanistic self-centeredness. We care little or nothing about God's needs and desires. Our focus is on our own pleasure.

Because of the moral weakness of today's American churches we need to turn the focus back to God's interests. God is a Farmer. He is looking for the fruit of the Nature of His Son to spring up around the world.

The Lord Jesus told us plainly that every branch in Himself that does not bear fruit will be cut off from the Vine, and then picked up and thrown into the fire.

I think we should start teaching and preaching about the need to live in the Holy Spirit. If we live in our sinful nature we will reap destruction, according to the Apostle Paul.

If we live in the Holy Spirit, overcoming sin and behaving righteously, we will reap eternal life in the Day of Resurrection.

It is a simple and straightforward as this!

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:6)