The Most Basic Tenet of Christianity - A Lesson in Fruit Production

John 11:25-26 ‘Yahshua said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.  Believest thou this?’

After all the squabbling and arguing is done, the root of Christianity is really the belief that Yahweh sent His Only Begotten Son into the world to suffer, die and be raised again.  The question itself is not that complicated.  Do you believe this?

Mark 1:14-15 ‘Now after that John (the Baptist) was put in prison, Yahshua came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of the Creator, and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of the Creator is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel.’

The gospel is the good news. 

But is saying that you believe the in gospel simply enough to be a Christian?

Matthew 3:7-8 ‘But when he (John the Baptist) saw many of the Pharisees and Saducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.’

Repentance is as necessary to the gospel as the gospel itself.  To repent is to change not only the way one is thinking and believing, but the way one is behaving.  As the next verse in Matthew speaks too, the Pharisees and Saducees believed that being of the stock of Abraham was a wild card, a salvation point making repentance and good fruits unnecessary.

Matthew 3:10-11 ‘And now the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. . .’

Baptism of water is merely a ceremonial obedience to the ways of the Old Covenant.  It alone cannot change you.

Matthew 3:11 ‘. . .He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:  He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’

Yahshua came to John and was indeed baptized with water to fulfill the custom of baptizing.  But customs alone are not enough.  We must be changed by our belief.  “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance.”  There was a warning that came with the baptism.  The ax has been pulled out.  The trees that cannot bear good fruit will be hewn down and destroyed.

At the beginning of Luke Chapter 13, Yahshua talks about those that are believed to be ‘sinners above all.’  Amazingly, we have not changed even today.  Many Christians ignore the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Creator – and thus all equally deserve to die and never be heard from again.  There is no such thing as a ‘sinner above all’ in the human world.  All sin is sin.

Luke 13:3 ‘I tell you, Nay, but, except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish.’

Yahshua repeats it again in Luke 13:5.  And then He begins a parable.

Luke 13:6-7 ‘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.  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 injure the soil with it?’

This, my friends, is the ax being laid to the root.  This is a warning to both the fig tree and the dresser of the vineyard, to make that plant produce some good fruit or else.

Luke 13:8-9 ‘And he (the dresser of the vineyard) answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also until I dig about it and dung it.  And if it bear fruit, well:  And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.’

Yahshua is our dresser.  He is patient with us and wants to save as many trees as He can from those trees that were given to Him to save. 

I believe there is a dangerous teaching in the world of Christianity called ‘Once Saved Always Saved.’

Luke 8:14 ‘And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection.’

If you think that simply believing is sufficient, you will bring no fruit to perfection.  This is the philosophy of ‘Once Saved Always Saved.’   I don’t have to do anything right or different; I just have to believe.

Truth is, if you really believe, you will change and do things differently.

Luke 8:11 ‘Now the parable is this:  The seed is the Word of the Creator.’

Many people hear and receive the seed.  Just reading these hub pages, it is easy to see that many are like the first example – the ones on the wayside.  As Christians we offer them seeds from the Bible but they don’t want to hear it.  The devil comes and takes it away before it can even start to take root.  They are constantly denying the Bible, the resurrection and the Holy Spirit.

The next group receives the word with joy.  They believe they are saved by the word.  But then some hardship befalls them for their belief in this Word of the Creator, and they fall away.  Mind you, they still think they are saved, just compromising a lot to save their butts.

The third group believes they can accept the Word of the Creator and enjoy all the wonderful pleasures of the world without any guilt or repentance.  They live carefree lives and believed they are saved.

Luke 8:15 ‘But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.’

Many people get offended when one person tries to tell another person how to be a Christian.  There are a million arguments they rely on to stiffen their resistance.  As a Christian, remember above all else, to be patient with grooming.  It takes time for a tree to bear fruit.  And don’t blame yourself when, despite all your patient care, the tree does not give forth any good fruit.

1Corinthians 3:6-7 ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but the Creator gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but the Creator that giveth the increase.’

When the owner of the vineyard said to the dresser, ‘Cut down that fig tree’, the dresser didn’t answer, “Come back tomorrow.”  Instead, he said, “Be patient.  Give me some time to work with this one.  Let me have another year.”

Galatians 5:22-23 ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:  against such there is no law.’

There is a higher court, a spiritual court that will judge us after we die away from these flesh bodies.  The only currency in that court is listed above.  These are the only behaviors for which there is no law, and thus no judgment to be condemned of.

John 11:25-26 ‘Yahshua said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:  And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.  Believest thou this?’

Do you believe this?  And if you do believe this, are you prepared to do something about it?  Are you prepared to let the dresser of the vineyard dig around your roots and trim away some branches?  Are you going to keep going the way you have been going and remain an unproductive plant, or will you bear the kind of fruit the owner of the garden wants to find? (Again, see Galatians 5:22-23)

Just because you are a busy person and making things happen in your life, it doesn’t mean you’re fruit it any good or beneficial.  Some people are busy simply being busy, and all they accomplish has no spiritual value.  Everything they are doing produces worldly fruit for which the worldly commend them – but these works of the flesh for the flesh, serve no purpose in the higher kingdom.

Galatians 6:1 ‘Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.’

As Christians, we have to change our modus operandi, or way of working and producing.  If we keep focusing on the faults of others and justify ourselves as better because of their faults –as saved without a chance of falling away – we are walking into a trap.  With meekness, we have to guard our faith.  People talk about being on a heightened state of alert because of terrorism.  You, as a Christian, need to be on a heightened state of alert for all the temptations the world throws at you.  The world wants you to be angry, to be violent, to be lustful, to be drunk, to be hateful, to be foolish, to be proud, and to be sensual.

Galatians 6:2-3 ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.  For if any man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.’

Christians can be a pretty uppity bunch when they believe they are saved.  They can get downright arrogant and mean.  They forget that they are still nothing, and that it is the power of the Holy Spirit in them that makes all the difference in the world.  Pride leads them down dark and destructive paths.  They feel the anointing of the Lord should give them a pass to do anything they want and be justified and right.  They can walk with their heads high and order out every evil spirit from their personal life, even when it really isn’t an evil spirit at all; just another human soul they should have been mentoring too or caring for.

Jude 1:12 ‘These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds they are without water carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.’

Look around you.  The world is tired.  Most of the people in it are hurting.  They are lonely and sick, they are homeless and hungry.  If they have not lost all hope yet, it is slowly going away.

Your job as a Christian is not simply to believe on the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and get on with your happy life.  No!  You have to help others believe it too.  You have to walk the walk He walked.  You have to carry the pole He carried.  Although you are still alive, you must become dead to the world, so the Holy Spirit can move you and use you to do His good will.

John 12:24-25 ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:  but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.’

Hate your present life enough to let the Lord use it.

Amen