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What are the effects or dangers of not bearing fruit?
A person would have to receive and believe in the gospel to become a Christian. On this note, every Christian has borne fruit before. Receiving the gospel and accepting Jesus is the first and the most important fruit to bear, and every Christian has done that already. Bearing fruit does not stop after becoming a Christian; it should continue for a lifetime.
However, not long after salvation, some Christians stop bearing fruit and their life is not any different from those of their unbelieving neighbors. In times past, Jesus and John the Baptist dealt with the topic of bearing fruit. In their teachings, they outlined the consequences and dangers of not bearing fruit, which are:
1. Not bearing fruit makes one fail the purpose of his calling
If you were to see Jesus face to face and ask Him why He called you to Himself to become a Christian and child of God, one of the things He would tell you as the reason and purpose of your calling is found in John 15:16; Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: ……” Now you have learned the purpose for which you were called, that is to bear fruit. Therefore, if a Christ stops bearing fruit or fails to bear fruit, he has simply failed the purpose of his calling.
2. Not bearing fruit leads to unanswered prayers
Christians all over the world pray to God. No matter how long it takes, God answers the prayers of some Christians, but some prayers are not answered. Though God answers the prayers of Christians, He does that on condition. One of the conditions is that we should pray in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14) and the other one is that we should bear fruit. Jesus said in His sermon,
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16 ESV)
Well, we see that bearing fruit is one of the key requirements for a Christian’s prayer to be answered. Therefore if a Christian stops or fails to bear fruit, he forfeits answers to his prayers.
3. Not bearing fruit brings dishonor to God
What we do with our lives as Christians induces the unbelievers to either have a negative or positive perception of God. We understand from Jesus’ sermons that God’s name is glorified when we bear fruit as Christians. Jesus said, “8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8 ESV).”
What if a Christian ceases or fails to bear fruit? How would that affect the way the unbeliever sees God? Paul once told the Jews that because of them, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (Romans 2:24 ESV).
In the same way, the unbeliever loses respect for God when he sees that these same Christians who claim to know God are just as sinful as him. How would God’s name be honored when Christians are embezzling in the company, the organization, or the state? How is God honored when Christians are living in promiscuity? This rather gives occasion to the unbelievers to pass unwholesome comments about our faith and our God.
4. Not bearing fruit excludes one from the body of Christ
Worse yet, if a Christian stops bearing fruit, he shall no longer be part of Christ. Jesus uses a proverbial way to tell us what shall happen to any Christian who ceases to bear fruit. He said, “1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch [Christian] in me that beareth not fruit he [the Father] taketh away: and every branch [Christian] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” John 15:1-2
The vine tree is Jesus Himself, and Christians are the branches of the vine tree. It means every Christian is connected to Christ and is part of the body of Christ. The branch that does not bear fruit is removed such that it is no longer part of the vine tree. It is thus obvious that any Christian who ceases to bear fruit is disconnected from Christ, or is removed from being part of the body of Christ, or is no more reckoned by God as a Christian and child of God.
5. Not bearing fruit leads to apostasy
Before Jesus started preaching on bearing fruit to the people, a similar message had preceded His. John the Baptist preached bearing fruit before Jesus started His. John the Baptist taught that apostasy happens to the believer who does not bear fruit. He said, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10).”
On the same subject of bearing fruit, Jesus told a parable that a man had a fig tree in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. So he said to the vineyard keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ And the vineyard keeper responded, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9.
And on the same subject of bearing fruit, Jesus, our Savior, said in John 15:2 that the branch that does not bear fruit shall be removed from the vine. Though God is very merciful and would tolerate the unfruitful Christian for some time, there is a limit. God will not bear with the unfruitful Christian forever. So what happens? Jesus’ teachings on bearing fruit and John the Baptist’s teachings on bearing fruit conclude that the Christian who is not bearing fruit shall be cut off; that is, he shall be disaffiliated from the body of Christ and shall not be reckoned by God as a Christian; and that is apostasy.
Christians who do not bear fruit, eventually, become apostates. In their state of apostasy, sometimes, they, leave their churches and join other churches they find convenient; sometimes, they abandon their churches and join other religions they find convenient; sometimes, they become atheists; and sometimes, in their state of apostasy, they remain in the church and still call themselves Christians. Needless to say, when the apostate remains in the church, his sin-stained life becomes a snare that lures or demoralizes other Christians into habitual sins and apostasy.
Conclusion
A Christian who has stopped bearing fruit ends in apostasy and damnation. It is the duty of every Christian to bear fruit; God expects it of us. To prove how much He wants us to bear fruit and remain in Christ, He has given us His Holy Spirit and His word – these are the two most important factors it takes to bear fruit. All that is left is our willingness to bear fruit. Christians should rise to their duty and walk in the Spirit and in the obedience of the word to bear fruit.