- What does it mean to bear fruit?
- Dictionary meaning of bear fruit/ bearing fruit
- Biblical meaning of bear fruit/ bearing fruit
- Examples of fruits Christians should bear
- Bearing fruit and apostasy:
- Example of how to bear fruit
- What would be the result of bearing fruit?
- Conclusion
- Food for thought
It is the expectation of every farmer that his crops would bear fruit. A plant that does not bear fruit is not fit for the garden, neither is it fit for anything. In time, the farmer will run out of patience with the plant and will count it as unworthy for his farm and will cut it off, and replace it with a plant that will bear fruit. Every year, cocoa farmers purge their farms of unproductive cocoa trees, cutting them down and replacing them with productive cocoa trees. The joy of the farmer is to see his cocoa trees blossom and bear fruit in their season; and with joy, he goes to harvest the cocoa pods when they are ripe.
Bearing fruit is much as important to God as it is to the Ghanaian cocoa farmer. And we know this because Jesus Christ emphasized bearing fruit in his teachings to such an extent that it cannot be overlooked by Christians.
Dictionary meaning of bearing fruit or bear fruit
In today’s English, if one’s plan, or effort, or decision, or policy, or investment, etc. bears fruit, it means it produces a successful result or a good result or the intended result. E.g.: They are glad to see their science project bear fruit.
Though there is a slight difference between the dictionary meaning and the biblical meaning of bear fruit, the two are not too far away from each other.
Biblical meaning of bearing fruit or bear fruit
The meaning of bear fruit or bearing fruit can be found in one of the parables of Jesus; specifically, the Parable of the Sower.
Jesus said that a sower went out to sow seed in his farm. Some of the seeds fell on the wayside and they were eaten by birds. Some of the seeds fell on stony places and they germinated, but because they had no root, they withered quickly when the sun scorched them. Some of the seeds fell among thorns, though they germinated and grew, the thorns also grew with them and choked them such that they could not bear fruit. And some of the seed fell on good soil and they germinated and grew to maturity and bore fruits. Luke 8:4–15; Matthew 13:1-9; Matthew 13:18–23
According to Jesus’ explanation,
- The seed stands for the word of God.
- The seed that fell on stony places refers to those who hear the word and immediately receives it with joy, but they endure for a while, for when persecution arises on account of the word, immediately, they fall away.
- The seed that fell among thorns refers to those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word such that they do not bear fruit.
- The seed that fell on good soil stands for those who receive the word of God, and understand it and bear fruit, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Matthew 13:23).
The good soil was the only soil that was able to bear fruit. It was able to bear fruit because it received the seed. The good soil could not bear fruit on its own, independent of the seed. In the same way, fruit-bearing cannot occur without the seed, which is the word of God. First, one needs to have the word of God, and, by the word, he will be able to bear fruit. So we understand that we bear fruit from the seed, which is the word of God.
Therefore, bearing fruit refers to doing good works such as honesty, modesty, love, etc. by applying the word of God in your life. Or. Fruit-bearing is the good deeds that result from the application of the word of God in one’s life.
Examples of fruits Christians should bear
Every Bible reading Christian knows that the Bible teaches forgiveness, hospitality, honesty, modesty, etc. and what is popularly referred to as the fruit of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). These are the kind of fruit God desires from Christians.
The fruit you are expected to bear is in the teachings of the Bible, by walking in obedience to God’s word, you will bear the good fruits expected of you.
Bearing fruit and apostasy
We are never the same once we give our lives to Jesus Christ. Though we are still God’s creation, upon giving our lives to Christ, we are no more regarded only as God’s creation but also as sons and daughters of God. For it is written, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)” Through Jesus, a Father-child relationship is built between man and God; God regards the Christian as His child and the Christian regards God as his Father.
Apostasy is the situation where this Father-child relationship between God and the Christian is broken such that God does not regard him anymore as His child. Apostasy is the worse thing to happen in a Christian’s life, and it is sad to say that many onetime Christians are now apostates in the sight of God. In the Bible, we see that Jesus’ sermons reveal a strong relationship between bearing fruit and apostay.
1. The allegory of the true vine and its branches
1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1-2)
As far as bearing fruit is concerned, in a sermon, Jesus referred to Himself as the true vine; and referred to His disciples as the branches of the true vine. The vine nourishes all its branches. And having been nourished, it is the duty of each branch to bear fruit such that if any branch fails to bear fruit, he is counted as unproductive and is cut off or removed from the true vine.
You can easily discern the meaning of this allegory in the sermon; any Christian who is not bearing fruit or has stopped bearing fruit is in danger of being removed or being cut off from Christ such that the relationship between him and Christ is broken – apostasy has occurred. And once he is cut off from Christ, he has lost the power to be a child of God and he is no more regarded as a child of God. Hence, you can only defend your position in Christ by bearing fruit.
2. The parable of the barren fig tree in the vineyard
6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Luke 13:6-9
In the parable of the barren fig tree, the vineyard refers to the kingdom of God; that is Christianity. The trees in the vineyard stand for Christians. Jesus referred to unfruitful Christians as a barren fig tree planted in a vineyard, which was in danger of being cut down because the owner of the vineyard saw it to be useless.
The parable of the barren fig tree confirms the allegory in John 15 that the unfruitful Christian shall eventually ruin his relationship with God permanently and he shall be removed from the body of Christ or the kingdom of God – that is apostasy.
Example of how to bear fruit
Every man is a sinner by birth and also by choice; that is, you are a sinner because you inherited a sinful nature from Adam and also you have willfully disobeyed God several times. In the course of your life, the Gospel was preached to you – may be by an evangelist, or a pastor, or a Sunday school teacher, etc.
Having heard the gospel, you decided to give your life to Christ and you did so by praying the sinner’s prayer to accept Jesus into your life. That is the first act of bearing fruit. In fact, by accepting Jesus, you have borne the first and the most important fruit you needed to bear.
Having accepted Jesus, you became a child of God and Christian. And you loved the Lord. You started attending church to fellowship with other Christians and you enjoyed reading your Bible.
As you read the Bible, you came to Matthew 5:28, where it is written, “…. whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Having read this word of God, you applied it; that is, you stopped deep stirring at women and lusting to have an affair with them and you stopped giving yourself over to nude fantasies that arise in your mind. Having done that, you are bearing fruit.
Another day, you got to Matthew 5:44, where it is written, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Having read this verse, you applied it in your life by starting to love, pray, and do good to your enemies. That is bearing fruit.
Another day, you got to Matthew 6:14, where it is written, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:” Having read this, you applied it by forgiving those who have hurt you, stolen what is yours, insulted you, abused you in one way or the other, etc. That is bearing fruit.
This habit of practising what the Bible teaches should continue on and on for a lifetime.
What would be the result of bearing fruit?
The result of living by the teachings of the Bible is bearing fruit. And the result of bearing fruit is what? Taking the above example of how to bear fruit into consideration, any Christian who reads the Bible and obey its teachings bear fruit such as forgiveness, humility, chastity, love, mercy, self-control, etc. And we see clearly that a holy life is in the making. The fruits one bears; love, mercy, peace, forgiveness, etc; cumulate to make one’s life a holy life, pleasing to the Lord. So holiness results from fruit-bearing; and fruit-bearing results from obedience to the word of God; and we acquaint ourselves with God’s word by studying the Bible.
Conclusion
Bearing fruit is the mark of a true Christian. The good news is that the very act of receiving the gospel and accepting Jesus to become a Christian is bearing fruit. This act of bearing fruit should not stop after becoming a Christian. It should continue for a lifetime.
Food for thought
- Are you bearing fruit as a Christian?
- If not, what should you do to bear fruit?
- How would you continue to bear fruit for life?
- How would you help church-goers who are not bearing fruit to bear fruit?