Branches—We Must Stay (15:1-11) - part 4 of 4

#4 The fruit. The word "results" is often heard in the conversations of Christian workers, but this is not really a Bible concept. A machine can produce results and so can a robot, but it takes a living organism to produce fruit. It takes time and cultivation to produce fruit; a good crop does not come overnight.

We must remember that only people eat the fruit, not the branches. We are not making fruit to please ourselves but to please others. We should be the kind of people that feed others with our words, “The lips of the righteous feed many” (Prov. 10:21).

The Bible names several different kinds of spiritual fruit. When we win others to Christ, we bear fruit (Rom. 1:13). We are part of the harvest (John 4:35–38). As we become more holy and obedient, we are bearing fruit (Rom. 6:22). Paul saw giving as the fruit of a life dedicated to God (Rom. 15:28). “The fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22–23) is the kind of Christian character that glorifies God and makes Christ real to others. Even our good works, our service, are born of our abiding life (Col. 1:10). The praise that issues from our hearts and lips is actually fruit to the glory of God (Heb. 13:15).

Much of this could be faked by the flesh but would be found out in time. True spiritual fruit carries the seeds of more fruit within it. Man-made results are dead and cannot reproduce themselves, but spirit-produced fruit will go on reproducing from one life to another. There shall be fruit—more fruit—fruit in abundance.

A true branch, attached to the vine, will always bear fruit. Not every branch has a bumper crop, as not every field has a bumper harvest (Matt. 13:8, 23), but there is always fruit where there is life. If there is no fruit, the branch is worthless and is thrown away and burned. I do not think our Lord is teaching here that true believers can lose their salvation, for this contradicts what He taught in John 6:37 and 10:27-30. It is not wise to build a theological doctrine on a parable or an allegory. Jesus was teaching one main truth, and we should not press the details too much: the fruitful life of the believer. Just as an unfruitful branch is useless, so is an unfruitful believer, and both need to be dealt with. It is a sad thing when a believer who was once fruitful backslides and loses the privilege of fellowship and of service. But John 15:6 is about divine discipline, not everlasting destiny. [For believers] "There is a sin unto death" (1 John 5:16).

Our Lord had spoken of peace (John 14:27); now He speaks of love and joy (John 15:9–11). The first three “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are love, joy, and peace. Our abiding in Christ should produce His love, joy, and peace in our hearts. We love Him, so we keep His commandments. We keep His commandments, so we abide in His love and know it more deeply.

In John’s gospel, you will discover Jesus speaking several times about the love of the Father for Him. We so emphasize God's love for the world and the church that we forget that the Father loves the Son. "For the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand" (John 3:35). And shewed Him all things that He Himself doeth (John 5:20). The Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world (John 17:24); He loved the Son at the death of the Son on the cross (John 10:17). The wonderful thing is that today’s believers can experience that same love for themselves! Jesus prayed, “that the love wherewith thou hast loved Me may be in them [the disciples and believers today]." (John 17:26).

We are privileged to be branches in the Vine, and therefore we have the responsibility of bearing fruit. Now we move to the second picture, that of friends.