The title of this blog represents the progression on fruit bearing found in John chapter 15. In verse 5 of this chapter Jesus compares Himself to the vine and us as professing Christians to the branches. Then in verse 2 he says that “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He (God) takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.” There you have mention of no fruit, fruit and more fruit.  In verse 16 Christ continues this emphasis on fruit by stating a number of important truths about the Christian life, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”  One, he tells us that He is the one who initiates our relationship with Him – He chose ut. Two, He tells us that as those who are chosen by Him He expects us to bear fruit and to continue to bear fruit that is solid and genuine – it remains. Verse 8 enlarges on our Lord’s fruit bearing lesson by stating, ”By this is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” ( John 15:8)

Fruit bearing, according to John 15:8, serves two purposes: one it glorifies God and two it demonstrates that we are really disciples of Christ. In other words, it fulfills the main purpose for which we have been created and redeemed: it glorifies God; it puts the glory of God on display. And more than that, verse 8 asserts that it also manifest the fact that we are really Christians. It does not make us Christians; that is all of God’s grace. But it does demonstrate the reality of our profession of faith.

So the questions are: do you want to really fulfill the purpose for which God made you and redeeemed you? Do you want your life to be a theater in which the glory of God is clearly and vividly displayed? Do you want to fulfill the purpose for which He saved you? Do you want to prove to be Christ’s disciple?  Well then Jesus says you can do all these things by bearing fruit, more fruit, much fruit.

But you may ask, what is the fruit I am to bear that will accomplish these purposes? An answer comes from a message I heard yesterday which was preached by my good friend Pastor Lance Quinn at The Bible Church of Little Rock. Lance used an acrostic to define the fruit that fulfills the fruit bearing lessons of Jesus in John 15. I simply give you his outline. In the message , he said that the fruit God wants us to bear is:

F  = Fear of God – Psalm 128:1 -3;Ecclesiastes 12:13;    

R = Righteousness – Psalm 92:12 – 15;

U = Understanding of God, His Word, His purposes, etc. – Proverbs 3:13; 4:5; 5:1; 8:14; 16:22;

 I = Integrity = Psalm 15:1,2; 25:21; 41:12; Proverbs 10:9; 19:1; Job 2:3; 27:5

 Trust in God = Jeremiah 17:5 – 8; Nehemiah 1:11; John 15:4.

There is, of course, much more to this fruit bearing for which Jesus chose us than we’ve noticed in this blog or even in Lance’s whole message, but this is a start. I challenge you to go further by using your concordance and checking it out for yourself by looking up the many references that talk about the source of our fruit bearing, the nature of the fruit we’re to bear, the requirements for fruit bearing and the results of our fruit bearing and the awful warning to those who make a profession of faith but bear no fruit in their lives.

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