Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised by it (Heb. 12:11).
Throughout Paul’s writings, he instructs us how to live our life as God desires… to walk in the spirit; to live in the spirit; to pray in the spirit – and we are told that when we walk in spirit and truth we will bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Prayer of Habakkuk
Let us become like Habakkuk, an “Embracer of Burdens” – for right in the very middle of the most testing time when it seemed totally lost – in faith, Habakkuk sang his amazing sacrifice of praise: although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls... Hab.3:17-19
Fruit of the Kingdom
The Church is the nation bringing forth the fruit of the kingdom – through Christ, and the Word of God describes in detail the gospel of this coming glory of Christ – a kingdom when the perfect Man..
Supreme Authority
Christ would have set up His kingdom had Israel repented – but they would not. Israel failed to bring forth the fruit – and the kingdom of heaven was taken away. That part of the kingdom was given to the Church, a people bringing forth the fruit, for before Israel’s earthly inheritance is to realise the heavens must be subdued – so that earth and heaven will BOTH be under Christ’s supreme authority.
Opposing Forces
The lust of the flesh does not refer to any physical activity of sin, (which is the fruit of sin). It refers to the inner nature and origin of sin, (which is the root of sin).
Fruit is not produced by making fruit an object, nor by thinking of fruit; it is the outcome of having the Lord Jesus as one's object, of thinking of Him.
He is the one True Vine who precedes and produces fruit. -H.S.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousnessRomans.12:7-8 ff
from fruit to more fruit to much fruit, until purity of heart and godly righteousness become the inner clothing of your heart – and the outward garment of your being. And still the fires of affliction and the furnace of adversity are heated.
So that you may be fruitful; so that you may bring forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
Fruitful Reward
Jesus told us in John 15, be fruitful and multiply. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.
The mighty deeds' may mean the greater works,' but death-fellowship means much fruit.' You might toil all your life, and only do so much, even with the wonderful deeds; but if you are willing to die with Him there will be effortless multiplication.
There is no limit to the fruit that comes out of death.
Fruit of Faith
The fruit of faith may indeed produce spiritual feeling and truthful sentiments, but the fruit and result of faith must never be confused with faith itself.
The fruit of a life that looks to Christ in all things is one that walks as He walked. And Christ walked in spirit and truth by obediently listening to the Father’s voice. Christ lived a life in submission to the Holy Spirit – He lived a spiritual life.
Romans 7:4 ‘Married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
Those that submit to His correction and rest in His love and focus upon Him – they are the ones that will bring forth twenty, fifty, and a hundred percent fruit.
Cautionary Tale
A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withering and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die – because it wasn’t tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it couldn’t bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it couldn’t stand erect and have as fine fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it wasn’t tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on through all the garden.
It is the most blessed and most wonderful thing to be able to recognize that there is a growing revelation of Jesus Christ within; you see more and more of what He means from God standpoint, and as that is so, there comes this increase of the Lord Jesus... the fruit of the Spirit love.
An increase of the revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart is an increase of the love of the Lord Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit.
Spiritual Fruit
Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is :-
Common Suffering
Suffering is an experience common to man. The child of God is not exempted from suffering, nor was the Son of God immune from pain - knowing that suffering produces the fruit of the Spirit.
The answer comes through the Holy Spirit’s experiential revelation: except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and, die it abides alone, but if it die, it brings forth much fruit – and therein is the Father glorified.
Fruit of Christ
The natural life with its many preponderances must be laid underneath His grace. The self-life must die, so that our soul may be purged and sweetened in His... until its temperament, disposition and constitution is transformed into His likeness..
until the fruit of Christ; which He desires in all His own become a lasting reality - until I am nothing in my life – and He is all and He is everything.
terrified creatures. The eyes of both were opened, but what a ghastly sight they discovered, for they found they were naked: wretched; miserable; poor; blind and naked. Yes, they knew they were naked – sad fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Precious Fruit
Since His substitutionary death, sin is not the real barrier between man and God: but what think ye of Christ – for whoever believes in Him is not condemned.
Forgiveness is the precious fruit on the Tree of Life to all that accept His forgiveness.
And what patience Paul had to develop, as he waited years to be called into service. So how do you develop this rare and precious fruit, bestowed by the Spirit of God?
Oh Lord, we cry – develop in me that blessed fruit of patience… - Oh, Father, that in all things I may be clothed with this rare robe of righteousness.
Embracer of Burdens
Let us embrace in the Spirit, the burden of our Lord for His despairing people, and become like Habakkuk, an “Embracer of Burdens” For you see, right in the very middle of the most testing time when all seemed totally lost, in faith, Habakkuk sang his amazing sacrifice of praise: although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines – the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat.
Living Truth
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous – nevertheless afterwards it revealeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness- unto them which are exercised thereby.
Now for the time being no discipline [child-training] seems to be pleasant; it is painful; later on, however, to those who are trained by it, it yields the fruit of peace which grows from upright character (Heb. 12:11, Wms.).
How shall we face the Owner of the Vineyard, if we have neglected our own lives; if we have not entered into that which God has shown us; if we must say, when He asks us about the lack of fruit and the neglect which is so sadly evident: Lord, I was so busy tending Thy Vineyard, that my own vineyard I have not kept' (S.S. 1:6). -C.H.MacI.
Very little abiding growth and fruit can be known by the believer until he accepts the fact of identification (Rom. 6:6), and to it responds by an attitude of faith (Rom. 6:11), thus yielding himself to the Holy Spirit for the life of the Lord Jesus to be manifested in and through him (Rom. 6:13). -G.W.
Deeper Revelation
But deeper revelation of this heavenly realm is given to us through Paul.. a heavenly kingdom rejected by Israel at the first advent of Christ.. a heavenly rule that was taken from Israel and given to another nation – a nation that would bring forth the fruit thereof….
prepared by the Spirit to bring forth the fruit He requires; saved Jews and Gentiles, participating in a spiritual battle and heavenly war.. a bride for Christ, prepared as co-regent with Him in His heavenly kingdom – the one new man in Christ – the Church.
A person whose ancestors for three or four generations have all been Christians, may inherit their virtues; but although affecting his life for good, they do not count before God as righteousness, for they are not the fruit of the directly imparted divine life.
As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.John 15:4
Only as we obey Christ’s command to abide in Me, do we bear fruit to God’s glory.
Abiding Obedience
Obedience, righteousness, and maturing in the faith are inextricably linked together. And fruit, more fruit – much fruit is the joyful product of abiding obedience..
We have the Spirit of fruitfulness in all goodness, righteousness, and truth:- for the fruit of the Spirit consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.
I am going to bear this fruit.
If you saw all the branches of the vine every day groaning and agonizing, and writhing in order to bear their fruit, you would see something which is altogether unnatural.
You will see them abiding there and bearing fruit.
Confidence is an essential and inevitable fruit of this knowledge, and in those who know Him there is a quiet restful strength which speaks of a great depth of Life.
There is no way of deliverance from the law and its bondage, into that liberty for which Christ set us free except to believe, and to keep reckoning, that we died to the law with Him, and are now risen, and joined to Another, the Risen One - even as Romans 7:4 asserts: Ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.' -W.R.N.
Word of Truth
In John chapter 15 the Lord Jesus tells us to: abide in Me, and I in you. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Divine Sustainer
Just gaze on, Jesus the true Vine and divine Sustainer, Who pleads:-abide in Me, Rejoice in the Father, the heavenly Husbandman – the surety of our growth and fruiting, Who removes those unfruitful areas in each precious life… to bring forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
It requires an absolute venture of faith; but beyond it, God says, much fruit.' And the way to it is into the ground and die' - it is the only way; His way.
Good Fruit
Good fruit will only be forthcoming from a good seed – and Christ is the First-Fruit. Fruit that is brought forth from Christ will produce more fruit and much good fruit - and herein in My Father glorified – that ye bear MUCH FRUIT.
This man “brings forth his fruit in his season.” Psalm 1:3 Only the one that remains by the rivers of supply will be satisfied.
Only the one that abides in Christ, the true vine will bring forth fruit..
more fruit… much fruit, to the glory of the Father.
Abundant Fruit
Prolific fruit, high-yielding fruit – abundant fruit in its own season.
Spiritual Fruit
This is the man that brings for the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit; Love in times of Hostility; Joy in times of Pain; Peace in times of Trouble; Long-suffering in times of Frustration; Gentleness in times of Oppression; Goodness in times of Evil; Faith in times of Testing; Meekness in times of Irritations; Temperance in times of Temptation.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,That brings forth fruit in its season,Whose leaf also shall not wither;And whatever he does shall prosper.
And in the matter of service, in witnessing and helping others, we must watch and wait for the hungry, needy heart – if there is to be abiding fruit. The true value of anything is known only when it is wanted.
Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. 7:4).
Pleasure of Sin
The pleasure of sin maybe sweet for a moment but its bitter taste is never-ending. The seeds of evil are vanity and the buds of iniquity bear the bitter fruit of sin, for the wages of sin is death….
Fruit of Humility
Humble yourself under the mighty hand the Lord, like the little maid of Nazareth, for the meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD. Rejoice in the Lord always.
There may be a measure of truth in this kind of reasoning; for, if there be life in my soul, fruit will be apparent; but this is not to give me peace any more than the evil that is in me is to hinder my having peace. -J.N.D.
Christ Rejected
And then the cross, the rejection, and Israel had her King crucified. And the kingdom of heaven was taken away.. and given to a people that would bring forth the fruit thereof.
Matthew 21:43 The Church was created to bring forth the fruit that Israel failed to produce.
Some people add works of the flesh, works of the Law – self-imposed rules or Church regulations and a variety of ‘add-ons’ to the basic gospel of salvation by grace – through faith in Christ Jesus, while others insist on actions relating to eating or drinking – places of worship or times and seasons – spiritual fruit or gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Every waking moment and as I drifted to sleep I pondered in these words: Christ in me and I in Him; abide in Me and I in you; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine – neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
It is done in a better spirit, with deeper motives, and bears fruit far out in the future, when all mushroom performances have been dissipated forever. -G.B.W.
No one's walk is perfect, but the Spirit of Christ who dwells in us is perfect, and as the believer yields to the Father as one alive from the dead, the desires of the flesh are not fulfilled, and the Spirit brings forth His fruit in him. -H.F.W.
Sad Fruit
The point where man tried to raise himself to the pinnacle of moral existence, was the point man lost the very ground of elevation given to them by God – their innocence.
The eyes of both were indeed opened – but what a ghastly sight they discovered, for they found they were: wretched and miserable – poor and blind and naked. Yes, they knew they were naked – sad fruit of the tree of knowledge.
We speak of a calm and heavenly frame... and there may be something of this kind as a fruit of it... but spirituality is not a nebulous, mythical, or abstract thing.
The walk of the believer should ever be the natural result of realized privilege, and not the constrained result of legal vows and resolutions - the proper fruit of a position known and enjoyed by faith, and not the result of one's own efforts to reach a position by works of law.' All true believers are a part of the Bride of Christ; hence, they owe Him those affections which become that relation.
Root & FruitThe cross of Christ severs us from the root of sin – the essence of sin. The blood of Christ disposes of the fruit of sin – the acts of sin.
just like the ox. It was to be a time when the people of Israel would build houses and inhabit them – a time when they plant vineyards and eat of the fruit and enjoy the work of their hand. It was to be a time of safety when spears would be fashioned into pruning hooks and nation shall not lift up sword against nation – neither shall they learn war any more. It was to be a time of abundance when the wilderness would become a fruitful field… the desert was to blossom as a rose – the crooked places were to be made straight.
Last Prophet
John was Israel’s last prophet who was to call the nation of Israel to repentance as the time to set up the kingdom of God had finally arrived – their Messiah had come… but the nation of Israel rejected their Messiah and crucified their King and so the kingdom of God had to be delayed for a time – during the church age, and given to a people who would produce its fruit – and so Israel was set aside – for a time…
Even though there seemed to be no glimmer of precious hope, Habakkuk summed up deferred hope in his astonishing prayer: Though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat..
God reveals that faith and spiritual fruit is perfected through sufferings… but He also reveals that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
So Paul says: ...becoming conformed unto His death, which means: to have the ground of death continuously and progressively removed; and that, again, as we have said, is the fruit of living union with Him.
for the fruit of the Spirit takes time to grow and to ripen in the life of a believer – just as the fruit on the tree requires sunshine and storm to yield its produce.
that His Church might become the wife of the Lamb. He relinquished all His heavenly glory, so that she may sit with Him on His throne. He ate the bitter fruit of sin and death for her – for you and me!
Christ’s Prayer
Christ did all this so that His Body might eat of the sweet fruit of the Tree of Life.
In the Cross of the Lord Jesus God has said finally: 'You in your natural state cannot serve Me, and cannot bear any fruit to My glory!
It is possible to go out and work, labor, and die of the strain of trying to serve Me and yet it still remains true that you cannot, out from yourself, by any natural resources whatever, bear fruit unto Me.' The only thing that can ever get through to God's end, and that can be in Life eternal, Divine, heavenly Life is that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit.How sweeping that is!
Seven 7-fold Work
There is a sevenfold work of the Spirit of God at our salvation, which can be resisted:- 1) He convicts us of our need of a Saviour (John 16:8-9) 2) He regenerates the forgiven sinner, giving a new life (Titus 3:5) 3) He baptises the new believer into the body of Christ (1Cor.12:13) 4) He indwells the new believer permanently and forever (1Cor.3:16 1Cor.6:19) 5) He anoints the new believer (2Cor.1:21 1John 2:20-21) 6) He earnests a first-fruit pledge of full fruit (Eph.1:14 Rom.8:23) and 7) He witnesses with an assurance of son-ship (Rom.8:16).
As constant communion with the Vine gives fruit – more fruit and much fruit..
so too can the believer only bear fruit when in constant communion with Him.
And remember and by much fruit is the Father glorified.
Focus on Obedience
We are imputed with Christ’s righteousness, which directs our focus upon obedience. We are sanctified by grace and obedience is the root and fruit of sanctification.
True Satisfaction
Were florid path strewed with diamonds and gold and the finest of silken thread... were buildings constructed of the most delicately carved marble and oaken beams... were panniers of the most delicious fruit and sweetmeats to grace the richly plenished table... were brimming baskets-full of delicate blossoms to perfume the breezy air – the heart would remain deeply dissatisfied were God excluded from the scene.
The work of God in the lives of His people is designed to make them partakers of His holiness.' He undertakes their training in His school with the intention that, however difficult in practice the course may be, it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness' in the lives of those who undergo it.
The bud, the blossom, or fruit, most fragrant of Christ, is the one which nobody knows what it cost me but Himself; and where one had hardly noticed it; like the beautiful wild flowers in the hedgerow, contending with bushes and briars, to shed their fragrance on the unthankful or unthinking traveller going by.
The common conception of sanctification is that every area of the life should be holy; but that is not holiness, it is the fruit of holiness: holiness is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Men may be saved through hearing the Word of God that it contains but, unless they get purer light later, their dependence for life and service will be primarily upon human strength, and not upon the power and demonstration of the Spirit.' Paul (in spite of the Corinthians' demand for it) refused to permit any human wisdom to enter into his ministry for that reason - because he wanted purely spiritual fruit: converts who have seen the power of the Spirit and expect to know it in their lives and service.
No; but that ye bear much fruit.' Leave the birth of the souls to the Father, and if you are fruitful He will do it through you. -A.M.
No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised by it (Heb. 12:11).
The branch of the vine may bleed from the drastic pruning and feel stripped of much glory; but more and better fruit is the vinedresser's vindication.
Fruit of Suffering
The fruit of suffering and training is the drawing closer and nearer to Christ. The outworking of sufferings are the benefits this closeness to Him gives to others. The learning and knowledge of Christ in a life, is through the school of suffering. The exercise and outworking of Christ in a life, is enhanced and refined through trials. Paul reckons we should embrace trials: for the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in us.
He knows even the pain we must endure, will produce for us eternal fruit.
Suffering now produces the fruit of righteousness for later.
Fruit of Wisdom
James tells us that, the wisdom that is from above is first pure; then peaceable; then gentle; then willing to yield; then full of mercy and good fruit – without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Witness to Jews
The Baptist’s message in Matthew was one of judgement that called for penitence. He is calling for all Israel to repent of their sins – to turn to God and His Messiah. The lost sheep of Israel were to bring forth the fruit – which called for repentance.
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
The latter is not easily learned; the former is the fruit of light; the latter is never acquired but as there is practical grace and love - the activity of the Lord Jesus' nature in me by the Spirit. -J.B.S.
May we never doubt the supernatural ability of our great and awesome God, and trust Him in every area of life so that we too may become spiritually fruitful for His sake and produce fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred-fold.
The abiding He speaks of is a reciprocal relationship - it is engaging in a mutual abiding: Abide in Me, and I in you, and the result of this beautiful affinity is a fruitful life which will produce an abundance of fruit that will endure through life and into eternity.
When we abide in Christ and He abides in us, the fruit of the Spirit is the product that will flow through us - and the fruit that Christ produces through us will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
He gave them a glimpse into the future where the Holy Spirit of Christ would be with them and dwell in them and that the fruit they produced would be from HIM and glorify HIM - just as the fruit that Jesus produced was from His Father and glorified His Father in heaven.
Christ is beautifully portrayed as the true Vine and believers are pictured as branches that are attached to the Vine, supported by the Vine, nourished by the Vine, and through Him, much fruit is produced.
The unseen life that feeds, nourishes, and produces abundant fruit on each of the branches comes only from the roots and central stem of the growing Vine - the true and heavenly Vine without which, each weak little branch would quickly wither into barren unfruitfulness.The fruit that Christ's life will produce are the many sons that He is bringing to glory – the Church which is His Body.
And each member – each branch that remains in Him is enabled to bring forth fruit, more fruit, much fruit, simply by remaining in Christ and living their lives as He did – living and walking and praying in the spirit.
But note - while the command to 'abide' is given to every branch, it is a choice of the will that has to be made if abundant fruit is to be the result: Abide in Me, and I in you.
For just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you produce spiritual fruit unless you abide in Me.Day by day, we are to remain in Him and He in us; we are to abide in Him and He in us; we are to rest in Him and He in us.
When we are able to submit to Christ, as He commanded, then we will produce the fruit of righteousness that gives glory to our Father in heaven through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
and Israel was the one whom Isaiah described as 'the choicest vine.' Israel was chosen by God to be a fruitful vine, and they were expected to bring forth good fruit for His glory..
tending to the true Vine, in order to bring forth the fruit of righteousness through Him.
Indeed the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control..
against which there is no law - fruit which is only produced in us as we abide in Christ and He in us.
and our mission is to do His work on earth and bring forth the fruit of righteousness.
And as branches on the true Vine we are likewise one with Christ, and are reminded many times that producing the fruit of righteousness it is not through our own efforts but only we remain in HIM and as His Word abide in us.
Not only will we produce fruit of righteousness but abiding is closely linked with the prayer of the righteous man..
and He enables us to produce good fruit to the glory of God.
doing the will of the Father and bearing much fruit to His glory..
We are to display the fruit of the Spirit in the bond of peace and we are to demonstrate the gracious characteristics that only come from above, in our everyday life and pattern of living.
It is manifested in the fruit of the Spirit being produced, and the character of Christ being reflected in a life.
Righteousness, peace and inner joy is the gracious fruit of the Spirit that is formed in someone who is submitted to His leading and guidance. The kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, peace, and joy, which proceeds from the one that is walking in spirit and truth.
The principle of generous sowing and abundant reaping reminds us that we are destined for rewards when God carries out His good work in our lives, and we die to self and live for Him.God is the One Who multiplies the seeds we sow, to bring forth much fruit; some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred-fold.
This confident, future hope of the glory of God is the eternal fruit of today's patient endurance in our present sufferings – and so let us rejoice in our suffering KNOWING the glory that will be revealed.
This is the glorious song of ecstatic praise and great rejoicing that Israel will sing in harmonic unison in that future day, when the saved remnant of God's chosen people will eat of the fruit of the land of Israel in peace and security.
through time and into eternity - And because we are in Him we are enabled to bear good fruit to the glory of God.
The unsaved cannot bear fruit for they are not in Christ.
Only those that are positioned in Christ by grace through faith can bear fruit to the glory of God.
Only those that are born from above can produce the spiritual fruit of righteousness..
We who are saved by faith are dead to the Law and its consequences because we are part of the body of Christ - and when we abide in Him and He in us we bear much fruit to the glory of God.
We praise God that we have been made one with the Lord Jesus Who was raised from the dead so that we might bring forth the fruit of righteousness - to His praise and glory,
The simple lesson of these scattered seeds demonstrates the importance of having a teachable spirit so that believers may bring forth much fruit, to the glory of God.
Jesus was the single Seed Whose death brought forth abundant fruit.
The Lord Jesus is the perfect picture of a single grain of wheat which can only become fruitful under certain circumstances: For unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
However, without first falling into the ground - alone, and then dying... it is incapable of bringing forth any fruit.
Not only had he seen the risen Lord Jesus and been commissioned by Him to carry the gospel to unconverted Gentiles, kings, and the people of Israel, but Paul argued that the fruit of his ministry within their church community, should provide sufficient evidence for the legitimacy of his apostolic claims.
Her attractiveness was the fruit of righteousness, and a humble heart that trusted the Lord and obeyed His commands.She displayed an inward life which was God-centred.
Jesus had only been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but this was the point in His ministry when He would start to turn His attention toward the nation that would bring forth the fruit of righteousness.
Only by grace through faith can we experience the beautiful fruit of the Spirit in our hearts - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
It points out that one's labour is in vain without God's providence, and that work which is undertaken independently will be fruitless, while those who honour the Lord in their undertakings will prosper.The second part of the psalm proclaims that children are a gift of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is a reward.
The One Who fashioned furniture in the humble carpenter's shop, was the eternally existent One Who flung stars into space, and Who formed, fashioned, and filled the empty void with a carpet of living plants, fruit, flowers, and trees.
David, the shepherd king of Israel, was described as a mighty and virtuous man, a man of battle, intelligent in word – and Jehovah was with him.Ruth, the grandmother of David, was known as a virtuous woman in Bethlehem, and the good seed in the parable of the sower, is identified as one who, having heard the Word of God, holds fast to it in a just, noble, and virtuous manner, having a worthy heart that brings forth much fruit to the glory of God.Perhaps the best known passage that outlines the exemplary life in virtuous living, is the woman described in Proverbs 31, where a vast array of noble, godly, gracious, and wise attributes are listed.She is a woman of faith, who serves God with her whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The beautiful fruit of the Spirit comes out from the Holy Spirit and is perfected by Him, and each facet is a jewel that beautifies the life of a believer.
Each grace stands alone and yet together, the fruit of the Spirit unites into one perfect gemstone which is rooted and founded on God's love.
When God's love is the first and foundational fruit, it is interesting to note that joy is the first pretty face that peeps out from the radiance of His love.
The joy of the Lord was the fruit that caused Paul to rejoice, As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, for in all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
when you reap the harvest of your land, they were instructed, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field; nor gather the gleanings of your harvest; nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard.
Paul goes on to say: Faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven, the fruit of which is the gospel growing throughout the whole world.
Indeed, since these dear believers heard the gospel and truly understood the grace of God, the natural result was that they were bearing fruit and shedding the gospel abroad.
Prayer is the fruit of a humble and helpless heart that comes before the Lord in loving trust.It is the means of two-way fellowship between the Lord of heaven and earth and His helpless child, and it is a most precious tool that God has given to each of His children.
And although the gifts and calling are without repentance and the lost sheep of the house of Israel will one day be settled in the earthly Jerusalem enjoying the fruit of the land, His heavenly flock will reside in the heavenly kingdom, eating the fruit of the tree of life.
The Wave Offering was a sheaf of the first-fruit of the harvest.
Until that first-fruit sheaf had been waved before the Lord, in thanksgiving and praise, no one was to partake of the new corn.
And no-one could partake of the First-fruit offering until it had been 'waved before the Lord'.
Jesus was the First-fruit of all who will one day rise from the dead into newness of life... and He had to present Himself to the Father in heaven before anyone else could partake of Him.
But as God's blood-bought children, we are beloved of the Father Who disciplines those He loves so that we will be trained through the sufferings of this world, and afterwards enjoy the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The lovely characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit stand in sharp contrast with the ugly features produced by works of the flesh.
The fruit of the Spirit is an inner grace that is produced in a believer who is submitted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that the life lived becomes a lovely reflection of Christ's singular nature and godly character.
The heavenly fruit in Galatians 5 is only produced in a person who is continuously being cleansed from all sin and walking in fellowship with the Father.
The fruit of man's sinful nature bears nothing but rotting sadness and sour pain, and the ethical character and political correctness of a believer who is straining to live-up to certain socially acceptable moral standards, in their own strength, will similarly produce nothing but the bad fruit of the old sinful, Adamic nature.
Spiritual fruit can never be produced through man's effort.
The fruit of the Spirit are not 'works' that are done for God, however good and commendable they may be.
The nine graces that together comprise the single, fruit of the Spirit, combine to display a perfect portrait of the Lord Jesus, Himself.
Each of the nine individual qualities that are listed as the fruit of the Spirit, have their genesis in the fountain-head of God's sacrificial LOVE.
The triplet of love, joy, and peace, demonstrates an inner quality that permeates the entire disposition of the one that is producing this fruit of the Spirit, as they grow in grace and are being conformed into the image and likeness of Christ, through the power of the indwelling Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is not made up of nine, unrelated character traits, where one Christian shows one particular attribute while being severely lacking elsewhere.
They are not nine separate fruits of the Spirit that may, or may not be manifested in a believer's life, but one indivisible FRUIT.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
While the fruit of the Spirit is a discrete list of nine, specific godly qualities, which can be individually defined and described separately, they must be recognised as one integrated and interlinked whole - such that when one quality is absent, then all qualities are absent.
The only way that the fruit of the Spirit is manifested, is through a life that is consecrated to God and submitted wholly to the Spirit.
While some people are adept at perfecting certain of these spiritual characteristics in their own strength, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, can only be genuinely manifested in a spirit-filled man or woman.
It is only as we grow in grace, become mature in the faith, and keep a short rein of sin in our lives, that we will produce the spiritual fruit that exemplifies the spirit-filled believer.
Only as we live and walk and pray in spirit and in truth, will our lives produce this singular fruit of God's Holy Spirit, and we will be equipped to say with Paul, It is not I who live - but Christ, Who lives in me.
Our dependence upon His person and His provision is what He is seeking from all His children, if we are to grow in grace and produce good fruit to His praise and glory.
Those who diligently seek Him, produce the beautiful fruit of the Spirit, so that they grow in grace and mature in the faith, which pleases our Heavenly Father.
All believers from Adam onwards are saved by grace through faith in God's Word and all believers in this Church dispensation are considered to be a kind of first-fruit in God's eyes.
The literal meaning of first-fruit is the first portion of the harvest that is given freely to the Lord, and we are to be cheerful givers unto the Lord.
Here in James we discover that the spiritual meaning of first-fruit is to give Christ first place in our lives.
which is connected with the resurrection of the dead, whereby all who have believed by grace through faith are considered to be the 'first-fruit,' for we all belong to the Lord and will all one day be resurrected from the dead - but as Scripture states, this will happen to each person in the proper order.
Christ was the first of the 'first-fruit' from the dead.
This means that Christ was the first man to ever rise from the dead with an immortal body and all who trust in Him for salvation will also be a kind of first-fruit from the dead..
Christ was the first-fruit from the dead and those that came out of their grave on that same resurrection morning are also called 'first-fruit 'from the dead.
Indeed Scripture tells us that the 'first-fruit from the dead' will be raised in a particular order, as laid out in Scripture.
We who are the Body of Christ are God's 'first-fruit' for we have trusted the Lord..
and at the resurrection and rapture we will be the next 'first-fruit' from the dead - for we will all be changed into immortal beings in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye..
And at the end of the tribulation the old testament saints will also rise from the dead, and they too will be God's 'first-fruit'.
so that we would be a kind of 'first fruit' among His creatures.
This passage also helps us to understand that God's will and purpose for all of His blood-bought children is that we bring forth much fruit to His praise and glory, and that we experience His joy in our lives.
Abiding in Christ and sharing in His suffering produces much good fruit, and is the means to lift us high above the storms of life.
That I may know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, is the heart cry of all who desire to produce much fruit to the glory of God.
The one who can take up their cross daily, renounce the things of this world, and leave the old self nailed to the Cross, is the one that understands what it means to abide in Christ, to fellowship in His suffering, to bring forth much fruit to the glory of God, and to experience abundant life and fullness of joy.
But it was also on this third day that God started His creative act of filling the earth with all kinds of plants and grasses, vegetation and foliage, seed-producing herbs, and fruit-bearing trees.
Each plant, shrub, tree, and flower was given the inner seed of life to reproduce after its own kind, in preparation for that day when God would give every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth, and every tree that has fruit with seed in it as food for mankind.
Unlike the gifts of the Spirit which are only temporary, the fruit of the Spirit is everlasting - for love never fails.
Unlike the spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge which will pass away and cease forever, the spiritual fruit of love is eternal - for love never fails.
A Christian should be more concerned with the development of personal character, growing in grace, maturing in the faith, and the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, than engaging in a ministry of activities, however valuable it may seem to us or to others.
If we permit the old sin nature to mount the throne of our life, we dishonour the Lord and will reap the bitter fruit of sinfulness, but if we keep the old man nailed to the Cross and live for Christ alone, we will reap the everlasting fruit of righteousness: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life.
But we are children of the light and children of the day and we do not belong to the night or to the darkness, for the fruit of the light consists in every kind of goodness, uprightness and truth.
The warm gentleness and tender-hearted forgiveness in Paul's chapter on love, in 1 Corinthians 13, identifies LOVE as the foundational fruit of the Spirit, from which all other gifts and graces grow.
Having been saved by grace, we are living in the light of the Lord and the fruit of His light is discovered in all that is good and righteous and godly and true.
Our union with Christ has brought us into the light of His grace and truth, and the fruit of the Spirit should be manifest in all we say and do.
Let us walk in the light as He is in the light so that the fruit of His love will be displayed in all we are.
First: The Lord Jesus; the first-fruit from the dead: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
It is the fruit of our lips and the yielding of our inner being which flows out to Him from a broken heart that has been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, which brings honour to His name.
Christ died once for all on the Cross - therefore let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, which streams forth from a grateful heart that has been washed clean by the redeeming blood of Christ and is shown forth through the fruit of our lips when we give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and grace, and sing praises to the God of our salvation.
Godly love begins to be evidenced in the life of a believer as the fruit of the Spirit is allowed to grow, but it is often through painful experiences and a willing obedience to abide in God's Word that this exquisite characteristic is enabled to flourish.
As soon as an angry, jealous, vindictive, vengeful thought is conceived in the mind, it should be taken captive and given to Christ so that it is not allowed to produce the fruit of unrighteousness, while righteous anger should not be permitted to develop into some sort of self-righteous attitude, which also gives the enemy a foothold in our life.
Treating others the way we would want to be treated, is a divine characteristic that is foreign to the unbeliever and dormant in the carnal Christian - but it blossoms and buds into the beautiful fruit of the Spirit in the life of a believer that is abiding in Christ - and He in us.
But God planted a second Vine; a true Vine, a Vine that will bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
But as we abide in Christ and remain in Him (and He in us), He will do His good work through us so that we will produce the spiritual fruit that only flows from Him.
Remember, our life is hid with Christ and it is only as His new-life quietly works unseen within our hearts, that we will bring forth fruit that glorifies the Father.
As a natural vine-branch should bear sweet grapes, so we who are spiritual vine-branches should bear forth the spiritual fruit that comes from our true Vine: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
He paid the price for sin on our account, freely and without cost, and He broke the power of sin in our life so that He could live in us, carry out His righteous work through us, and produce in us the fruit of righteousness as a living testimony of His goodness and grace.
However, we have a responsibility to produce the fruit of personal righteousness during our Christian life (through a process of sanctification), as we carry out the good work God has prepared for us to do.
One blessing of salvation is the immediate and permanent indwelling Holy Spirit Who develops in us the precious fruit of His righteousness through many acts of faith, as we grow in grace.
It is as we yield our hearts to Him that the fruit of righteous fruit is formed in our life, for His glory and praise.
It is only as we abide in Christ and He in us that the process of spiritual growth can take place and the spiritual fruit of righteousness be imparted.
It is only as we remain in fellowship with our Heavenly Father that we are enabled to produce the fruit of the Spirit to the glory of God.
It was Paul's prayer that the believers at Philippi were filled to overflowing with the fruit of Christ's righteousness.
In Galatians 5, Pauls presents us with a comprehensive list of spiritual fruit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
However, the responsibility to live godly lives and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires, is a choice each believer must make, for the fruit of righteousness can only come through faith in Christ and not through carnal works of the flesh.
Although the fruit of righteousness is manifest in many different ways, it can never be produced in our own strength or by our own self-efforts or fleshly works.
The fruit of righteousness is not a patch-work of religious activities and prideful practices, but is manifested in the one who walks humbly before the Lord, and who aches to do God's will.
We received the imputed righteousness of Christ at salvation, but the impartation of the spiritual fruit of righteousness, is rooted and grounded in godly acts of faith which can only be produced as we allow the Spirit to lead and guide us in all we do.
May we be filled with the fruit of righteousness that only comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory of God and the praise of His holy name.
May we show forth the fruit of righteousness through the praises of our lips, the attitude of our heart, and a life that is consecrated to His perfect will.
May we abide in Him and He in us so that our lives will produce the fruit of the Spirit and we will stand sincere and blameless before Him.
Eve did nothing sinful by looking at the tree with its delicious fruit hanging on its branches.
The garden of Eden contained numerous trees dripping with tasty fruit for both her and her husband to eat, but the cunning enemy came and cast doubt on the veracity of God's Word and the goodness of His character, by asking a loaded and suggestive question, Did God really say, 'You can't eat from ANY tree in the garden?'
She gave in to temptation and fell into sin. She was not only deceived when Satan contradicted God's established Word, but she also disobeyed God's command and ate of the fruit.
She chose to discount God's Word and ignore the consequences of her sin: She took the fruit and ate, and she gave to her husband with her... and he ate.
Her first, foolish step on the slippery slope to sin was lingering near the forbidden fruit where she could easily be tempted.
Eve took the fruit and ate of it, and she gave it to her husband, who was with her: And Adam ate.
But it also points us forward to Jesus the light of the world, Who is the light of life - for we read in the Bible that the fruit of the light results in all goodness, grace, righteousness, and truth
If the spiritual fruit of love is to bud, blossom, and mature in our life, we must keep our eyes looking to Jesus and our hearts submitted to the Spirit, as we humbly kneel before the Father and say, Thy will not mine be done.
Jesus is characterised as the vine-dresser who sought in vain for fruit, during the three years of His earthly ministry, but found none.
Although God ordered Him to cut down the unproductive tree, Jesus interceded on Israel's behalf, and one more year was granted for Him to try to get the tree to bear fruit (to get the nation to bring forth the fruit of righteousness).
They boasted of their strict religiosity and their works-based piety which was an abomination in the sight of the Lord, yet failed to produce the fruit of righteousness He demanded; they refused to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God.
Paul is talking about the ROOT of justification, which is by faith, while James is talking about the FRUIT of justification, which is by works.
Only God can see the heart, so only God can see the root of salvation (faith), but when a Christian is walking in spirit and truth, they will produce the fruit of salvation (good works which God has prepared for us to do).
But both the root and the fruit of salvation are only manifested in a man or woman that is a born-again believer, and not in an unsaved person who is professing to believe in Jesus or pretending to be a Christian.
Only the fruit of saving faith can be demonstrated through the good deeds that are carried out to the glory of God by the spiritual Christian who is walking is spirit and truth - and we are encouraged to walk, day by day, in spirit and truth so that we will produce fruit, much fruit, and more fruit to the glory of God.
It warns of the futility of doubting God's Word and reminds us of the beautiful fruit that comes from a spirit of patience and grace.He warns against conceiving sin in our heart and the devastation that can be caused by an unguarded tongue.
Peace is one of many beautiful characteristics that are manifested as fruit of the Spirit in the life of a believer who is growing in grace and being conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus.
He knows that unless our Christian life produces the fruit of the Spirit; long-suffering, patience, love, and joy, as well as humility, goodness, kindness, and self-control, it will profit us nothing and will not glorify our Father, Who is in heaven.
Paul prays that we will be filled with the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit so that our service may be fortified by the power of the Spirit, producing within us patient endurance and joy in the Lord.
Indeed, it is only through the might of His power that the beautiful fruit of the Spirit can be produced in the life of a believer, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
The wealth of spiritual gifts given to this body of believers, sharply contrasted an absence of spiritual fruit, for godly love was missing both from their church community and from the lives of individual believers.
Let us seek to grow in grace and produce the spiritual fruit of righteousness and love.
It is not only the presence of a pure heart and gracious speech from which flow the fruit of the Spirit that is so attractive, but the absence of an ugly, bitter soul that spews forth hypocrisy, malicious words, and all that accompanies a proud heart and a selfish, self-righteous soul.
Let us choose to focus our mind on that which is right and pure, lovely and of good repute, for all these attributes are the fruit of the Spirit and point us to Christ Who alone is good and true, honourable and pure, righteous, virtuous, and praiseworthy.
He prayed that their love for one another would abound more and more, and that they would be filled with the spiritual fruit of righteousness - for the glory and praise of God.
The abundance of spiritual gifts of which they could readily boast, were sharply contrasted with a significant dearth of spiritual fruit, all of which are founded on LOVE.
It is a spiritual fruit that is expressed in the life of a spiritual Christian.
The absence of divine love is an established, biblical fact in the life of an unregenerate man or the unsaved woman... although they may be well able to exhibit human affection through parental love, sexual love, inter-relational love or cultural love - it can never correspond with divine love which is a spiritual fruit from the Spirit of God that is manifested in a child of God.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are truly wonderful, and we should all desire the gifts of the Spirit, but it is the fruit of the Spirit that is to be much more earnestly pursued.
The gifts of the Spirit are just for the present, but the fruit of the Spirit will remain throughout all eternity.
The gifts of the Spirit will one day be done away with, but the fruit of the Spirit will continue forever.
The temporal gifts of the Spirit are for the current age, but the fruit of the everlasting Spirit will abide through the eternal ages to come.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is the difference between the fruit of the Sprit with His gifts, for the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE; pure, holy, unconditional, everlasting, godly love.
The fruit of the Spirit is personified in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, which fragments into joy, peace, patient-endurance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and these will last forever and ever and into the eternal ages to come, for LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Contentment is one of the unnamed cousins of the fruit of the Spirit, for it has conquered the evil lust of covetousness which can be identified in many ungodly behaviours... like the lusts of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life.
All branches are commanded to abide in Him, and so our privileged position becomes an important day-by-day responsibility, and we are warned that every branch in Christ that does not bear fruit is taken away, but every fruiting branch is pruned by our Heavenly Father to make it increasingly fruitful.
Some contend that it refers to the unfruitful carnal believer who backslides in his Christian walk and does not manifest the beautiful fruit of the Spirit, which is rooted in love, while others point the sombre fact of the discipline of physical death, of which Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 11.
Let us acknowledge the privileged position we have in Christ and make it our important day-by-day responsibility and delight to abide in Him, to walk in spirit and truth, to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and to willingly embrace the pruning knife of our Heavenly Father so that we may bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit to His praise and glory.
Both grain and fruit harvests fail due to the devastating onslaught of this four-pronged locust infestation.
The total destruction of Israel's wheat and barley crops, along with the failure of the entire fruit harvest, causes farmers and priests alike to mourn and lament bitterly.
Humility is a fruit of the Spirit that should be exhibited in every life that lives godly in Christ Jesus, but there is much misunderstanding about biblical humility and what it means to humble one's self before the Lord.
True humility is a fruit of the Spirit that buds and blossoms in the heart of someone who is submitted to God, walking in spirit and truth, growing in grace, and maturing in the Christian faith.
He reinforces his argument with additional examples from nature: These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
Clouds without water suggests these ungodly infiltrators do not feed and refresh the flock of God, but withhold the life-giving teaching of the whole counsel of God, while describing them as autumn trees without fruit, is a big marker of their arrogant apostasy.
Godly living which results in blessings from above, contentment within, and hope for the future, stands in stark contrast to the practice of ungodliness and compromise - which produces the fruit of sorrow and destruction and ends in a man's ruin and death.
May we drink deeply of the living water of life so that we will become like a healthy tree that is firmly planted by streams of water and produces the fruit of righteousness.
There are certain characteristics and identifying marks of the believer who is walking in spirit and truth, and a changed life that is exercising the gifts of the Spirit and producing the fruit of holiness, is a testimony of the inner workings of the Holy Spirit of Christ which is transferred into the outward actions of the individual life.
There is a Man today, seated on the right hand of the Father in power and great glory - Jesus Christ the Righteous Who is the First-Fruit from the dead.
The Old Testament Scriptures prophesied that Christ would be the First-Fruit from the dead, pointing to Jonah as one illustration of His glorious Resurrection - after three days.
Down through the centuries, many have heard the glad tidings of great joy that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, that He died as our sin-substitute, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures, breaking the power of sin and death in the lives of all who believe in His name and becoming the First-Fruit of all who sleep.
He has promised that all who die in the Lord shall never die but have the light of life, when we shall ever be with the Lord.The first-fruit of a tree is the precursor that more fruit will follow.
He is the First-Fruit from the grave and His Resurrection is a pledge and a guarantee that the rest of the harvest will certainly follow.
They forgot His promise to protect them from their enemies, send rains in its season, provide plenteous crops, cover the trees with fruit, and grant peace in the land - IF they kept His sabbaths - IF they reverenced His Sanctuary. Because of their neglect they reaped scarcity, drought, and hunger.
By faith, we have been given all we need for life and godliness and yet do we honestly put God first and give Him the first-fruit of our heart?
Understanding, discernment, and a knowledge of God's great power, were good requests to make, but perhaps a deeper knowledge of God Himself; His character, His ways, His work, His will, and His glory, may have been more beneficial in this young man's life, and would have produced an abundance of spiritual fruit and prevented him from straying so far from the path of peace.
A tree has twiggy branches, deep roots, and colourful leaves - and it produces buds, blossom, fruit, and seeds, in multiple colours and various hues... often producing sweet-smelling perfumes, life-saving medicines, and a vast array of tastes and tints, all of which are formed in their due season.
The ultimate fruit of the Spirit towards which all Christians are pressing is to be like Christ in His humanity - to live as He did, in total dependence upon His heavenly Father.
It is only as we abide in Him, rest in His love; trust His word and look to Him in all things that we can walk in His ways and bring forth much fruit to His praise and glory.
As Christians, we are called to live a spiritual life and not to be carnal; to bear the fruit of the Spirit and not to produce our own works of the flesh; to live under grace and not under law.
A reverence for our Almighty God and obedience to our Father's voice results in an abundance of spiritual fruit and a wealth of spiritual blessings.
They are the budding, blossoming, unfolding and fruiting of the cherished 'fruit-of-the-Spirit' which shine like so many jewelled stars in the crown of our heavenly King.
Here in this passage, James uses the farmer who waits for many months or years for the precious produce of the soil to germinate and grow, to bud, blossom, and bring forth its fruit as an example of the patient endurance that should be evident in each of our lives; a patience that waits expectantly, joyfully, and hopefully in this fallen world, until the return of the Lord for His Church.
When evil is sown and embraced, the fruit of evil is reaped. The people of Shechem chose to exclude the Lord from the lives,following the death of God's servant Gideon, with disastrous results.
The love that we are called to exhibit in our lives is the foremost fruit of the Spirit, which can only be ministered to us by the Holy Spirit Himself as we die to self, abide in Christ and He in us.
Such a person should be a reflection of Christ.. in a life that brings forth much fruit..
The Corinthian Christians were a group of believers who delighted in their outwards gifts and talents... to the exclusion of an inner spirituality which centred on Jesus Christ and which would produce in them, the beautiful fruit of the Spirit... which is rooted and grounded in love.
And like Paul, the prophet Hosea also recognised the deeper truth that is packed within these simple words - that the fruit of righteousness produced in man is only from God, and that it is due to His loving-kindness and tender-mercy, that the trusting heart is able to partake of any righteousness.
Indeed, the fruit of the Spirit that forms in the life of a believer, is a manifestation of God's mercy and grace, working in and through His child, for Jesus said, without Me you can do nothing.
This does not mean that the sin nature is eradicated or rendered inactive, but it does mean that we have the potential to live godly in Christ Jesus and to develop the fruit of righteousness, by grace through faith.
John challenged the people of Israel to produce fruit of righteousness to show, beyond a shadow of doubt, that their repentance was genuine.
Johns words were certainly challenging and his expectation was that totally transformed lives would be manifested through the fruit of a broken heart and a changed life.
The one who abides in Christ will be fruitful but if anyone does not abide in Christ, they will not produce any fruit at all.
BUT anyone who does not abide in Christ, throws away their opportunity to bear good fruit to the glory of God - and that life becomes withered and is discarded.
so that in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we may bear much fruit to the glory of God.
the fruit of the Spirit.
But if we do not abide in Christ and He is not given first place in our lives then we will not produce good fruit to the glory of God.
And Paul warns that their life will be devoid of spiritual fruit and whatever they have done in their life will be fruitless and be burned up.
but devoid of fruit.
He who saves his life shall lose it and he who loses his life for My sake shall find it. A believer saves his own carnal life by not abiding in Christ but living for himself or by trying to produce fruit by his own merit. Such a believer loses the one opportunity he has to honour the Father by denying himself, taking up his cross and abiding in Christ as a true disciple. Instead of growing in grace and maturing in the faith he is thrown aside as an unfruitful branch and his opportunity to live for Christ withers away.
The (spiritual) believer who loses his life for Christ (by abiding in Him) will find his life to be fruitful and will produce much fruit to the glory of God..
Those that produce spiritual fruit by abiding in Christ shall receive a reward.
Those that do not produce spiritual fruit by not abiding in Christ shall suffer loss - Saved; yet so as by fire.
The fruit that these carnal Christians produces is not a spiritual fruit which will be rewarded at the judgement seat of Christ, but carnal fruit such as envy, strife, greed and fleshly propensities, which reflect a worldly lifestyle and will suffer loss and be burned up.
the results will be good fruit-bearing, which brings honour to God, but if the believer chooses not to abide in Christ..
or tries to produce fruit apart from the Vine, it will result in a barren Christian life.
One section concentrates on the value of wisdom and the dangers of folly, while others give advice on things like practical morality, pleasing the Lord, the value of righteousness, the dangers of temptation, and the fruit of godly living.
Gifts must flow from the fruit of the Spirit, which is rooted in LOVE and which overspills into joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.
He is not only superior to men and angels, but He is the Passover Lamb, the Sin Offering, the First-fruit from the dead, and the great and dreadful Judge.
But humility is not only a great grace that needs to be developed in those that are young in years or young in the faith, humility is a fruit of the Spirit that should be the goal of all Christian men and women, however mature in the faith they have become, or however young they are in the Christian life, for God gives grace to the humble as well as wisdom, faith, understanding, and holiness, but He resists and opposes all those that are proud.
Only a heart that has been cleansed by grace through faith in the saving blood of Christ, is enabled to produce the fruit of righteousness - for the good man produces good things from the treasury of a clean heart, while an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of a soiled heart.
It is lurking in broken legal systems and biased justice departments, and it pays lip-service to a form of godliness that is divorced from truth of Scripture and the fruit of righteousness.
The shedding of innocent blood covered Abel's sin, but the basket of fruit, the work of Cain's hand, could never cover sin - and so Abel obtained the testimony that he was righteous – for the righteous live by faith.
This man, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, was calling God's nation to turn from its wicked ways, repent of their sin, return to the Lord, and produce fruit that comes from a repentant heart.
The gospel of Christ is living and powerful, and when this living, God-breathed gospel of God's grace is planted in the heart of a spirit-filled, born-again believer and watered with living waters from on high, that tiny germ of life will begin to grow and develop and bring forth fruit - more fruit - much fruit, to the glory of God.
The Colossian Christians exemplified a little group of believers who were walking in spirit and truth and who had brought forth the spiritual fruit of faith, hope, and love in abundance, and Paul rejoiced to hear that individually and collectively they were growing in grace and in a knowledge of their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
May we who are born of God and know Him as our Saviour and Lord, be consistent in bearing the fruit of righteousness and become increasingly fruitful in our lives as a true and living witness to others.
In order to bring the gospel to these people and to us, Paul himself had to undergo terrible trials - but he found great joy when his corrective training brought spiritual fruit.
Paul wanted his readers in Thessalonica to pray earnestly that his ministry in Corinth would spread quickly and not be hindered, that it would bring forth much fruit, and that the Lord Jesus would be glorified.
And as we earnestly offer prayers and intercessions in our generation, we trust that the gospel of grace would spread quickly and not be hindered, that there would be much fruit, and that our Father in heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ would be glorified.
All he had to do was to simply chose to take and eat of the fruit that hung from its branches, for he could freely eat of every tree in the garden with one exception.
He installed two angelic sentries to guard the way to the Tree of Life: Lest he put forth his hand and eat of its energising fruit, and live forever.
In Revelation, we discover the return of the Tree of Life standing in the midst of the paradise of God: It produced twelve types of fruits, and yielded its fruit each month, while its leaves are given for the healing of the nations.
Whoever's faith is credited with righteousness will be able to eat of its life-giving fruit: Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
In Chapter 11 we read: The fruit of the righteous is a Tree of Life and he that wins souls is wise.
The spiritual fruit of the believer who shares the truth of the gospel with others and points souls to Christ, brings life and truth and hope and salvation to the lost, while in Chapter 15 we find: A wholesome tongue is a Tree of Life, while perversity is a breach in the spirit. Both verses point to Christ as Word of truth, the Nourisher and Sustainer of the soul, for in Him is Life, and He is the wisdom of God and the power of God, for all who believe.
Wherever the Tree of Life is mentioned, we see an important link with faith in Christ Who is the personification of all-wisdom, in Whom dwell the words of eternal life, and through Whom comes the fruit of perfect righteousness.
We are to walk in spirit and truth, abide in Christ and He in us so that in the power of the Holy Spirit we may bring forth much spiritual fruit to the glory of God.
It is a work of the Spirit that can be stifled and quenched by carnality and fleshly behaviour, or one that can blossom into spiritual fruit, as a believer is filled time and again.
And when we walk in spirit and truth, we will grow in grace, mature in the faith, produce spiritual fruit, and live a life that honours our Father in heaven.
Perhaps he simply believed Mary's report of the empty tomb; maybe he believed that Jesus was somehow alive (only a few days earlier he has recently seen Lazarus brought back to life, and maybe he really did believe that the Lord Jesus had indeed been resurrected from the dead, the first-fruit from the grave as Jesus had already taught them).
He reminded them how he was the one that brought them the good news of the gospel and of the spiritual fruit that had formed in their lives, due to their salvation.
Having listed the ungodly characteristic that should not be exhibited in a Christian's life, Paul continues to list the different fruit of the Spirit, which should be manifested in the life of all those who walk in spirit and truth.
Love is the preeminent fruit of the Spirit from which all other virtues flow.
John the Baptist had identified Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world, and the mighty signs and wonders He did, authenticated His Messianic claims, and should have produced fruit worthy of repentance.
For three years, Jesus had been calling His people to turn from their sinful ways and bring forth the fruit of righteousness which was consistent with a repentant heart that mourned over sin.
One day the man came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
He expected it to bring forth much fruit and provide food for a world of hungry souls.
Jesus was identified as the hard-working husbandman Who tended the fig tree for the three years of His earthly ministry, giving it sufficient time to produce good fruit.
It was as Christ's ministry was drawing to its close that the Owner came looking for fruit - fruit that was rightfully His.
He looked for the fruit of repentance, but did not find any.
The long-suffering God of Israel Who sent His only begotten Son into the world to bring His chosen nation back to Himself and bring forth much good fruit - found none.
Because of their failure, the kingdom that Christ had been sent to establish would have to be postponed for a season, until His erring nation repented of their sin and started to produce the fruit of righteousness.
The barren fig tree represented the generation of Jews who rejected their Messiah and refused to produce the fruit of righteousness, which is grown from a repentant heart that mourns over their sin.
There will be another generation of Jews who will bring forth the fruit that God desires from His chosen people.
In Isaiah we discover: The Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and adornment of the surviving remnant of Israel.
Godliness is not something that we conjure up ourselves. Godliness is the spiritual fruit of a life that is lived in willing submission to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
He reminds us that spirituality and godliness is manifested in a life that is emptied of self and is filled with Christ - a life that is walking in spirit and truth and in dependence upon the Father - a life that produces the beautiful fruit of righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit.
IF there is any fellowship of the Spirit (and there is), then we are to walk in spirit and truth, living in dependence upon the Father, and bringing forth the fruit of righteousness by His power within.
Let us walk in spirit and truth and in utter dependence upon our Heavenly Father, and let us live a life that produces the beautiful fruit of righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit, to His praise and glory.
Grass and fruit trees, green foliage, and different herbs sprang forth, before the Lord placed all the starry lights in the heavens, together with the sun and the moon.
Every born-again member of Christ's Body and their Christian leaders, should be united in heart and manifesting the fruit of the spirit in their lives for the glory of God, and each one should be using their spiritual gifts for the benefit of the whole Body of Christ.
Because we are His children and chosen by God, we are members of His family and will be part of that great Body of believers who will hear the trumpet sound and be raised incorruptible as the first-fruit of the harvest of souls that have a spiritual inheritance, which is kept for us in heaven.
Sometimes they come cloaked in the enticing wrapping-paper of ungodly temptations, and sometimes they are the fruit of ungodly harassment and unfair treatment from a Christ-rejecting, God-hating, Christian-despising, sinful world.
Christ Jesus was the first fruit from the dead, and His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection broke forever the power of sin, death, hell, and the law, in the lives of all who would trust in the only begotten Son of God.
Purity, understanding, patience, kindness, sincerity, and love are just some of the spiritual fruit that are likely to blossom in the life of a believer who suffers such hardships for righteousness' sake.
Disciples are those that are enabled, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, to produce spiritual fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This fruit is only produced through a life of obedience, a life that abides in Christ, a life where Christ is permitted to abide in us.
The destructive and devastating doctrine the Galatians had started to embrace, was the fruit of a poisonous vine and not the truth received from the Lord Jesus.
He comforts and corrects us and bestows spiritual gifts on each child of God and He causes spiritual fruit to bud and blossom in the life of those that are walking in spirit and truth.
Sadly, such people who return to the world, show they are not part of the Body: By their fruit, you will know them.
Having been saved by faith, let us confirm our election and our calling by walking in spirit and truth, and trusting in the unchanging Word of God so that we will live our lives as He intended and produce fruit to His praise and glory.
We rejoice that Satan, sin, death, hell, and all that is evil is thrown into the Lake of Fire, and we stand in awe of the coming of the King of kings with His armies of heaven, the unimaginable beauty of the New Jerusalem, the sparkling River of the water of Life as clear as crystal, and the return to earth of the Tree of Life with its 12 luscious fruit (which has been guarded by cherubim since sin entered the world, lest fallen man should eat of its fruit and live eternally in a fallen body).
His arm is ever-ready to provide the help we need, and His ear is always open to our cry, but He wants us to approach Him through earnest prayer and cheerful praise so that our faith in Him and our trust in His Word may germinate, grow, blossom, and bud - and bring forth much fruit to His praise and glory, as we journey through life to our promised heavenly home.
Gentleness is one of the fruit of the Spirit that is manifested in a life that is abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, trusting in God, demonstrating His love to others, and obeying His Word.
The fruit of gentleness is an attribute that should be evident to all people, both those that are saved and the unsaved.
In this passage, we read of Timothy - whom Paul loved to describe as his 'son in the Lord.' We discover that he exhibits the qualities, character, and fruit of the Spirit, that each one of us are called upon to produce, through the power of the indwelling, Holy Spirit.
Whether it was a field of corn or fruit on the trees, God's people were to leave some of their crops for the foreigner, the widow, the fatherless, and those that were less fortunate, or unable to fend for themselves.
The godly attributes of this virtuous lady are unattainable in our own strength, for the works of the flesh, whether good or bad, are rooted in the fruit of the old sin nature and are unacceptable to the Lord.
But she who desires to be holy and virtuous, gracious and good, can only achieve this spiritual fruit through the power of the indwelling life of Christ.
The fruit of the Spirit can only be produced in the one who trusts in the Lord with all her heart and does not lean on her own understanding.
The beginning of wisdom and the fruit of virtue and can be discovered in the one who presents her body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto the Lord.
Today is the day that we are to live our life as unto the Lord and to produce spiritual fruit which will verify that we are truly members of His holy household, and citizens of heaven.
The fruit of a holy reverence for our Lord develops our deeper understanding of His beautiful attributes and eternal character and will burst forth into praise and thanksgiving, worship, and reverential love from those that fear Him.
May we be willing in all things, to say: Thy will not mine be done. May we actively depend on Him to produce in us the fruit in righteousness in our daily lives.
He had recently received an encouraging report about these believers through Timothy, who brought good news about their developing faith and the spiritual fruit of love they were now bearing.
Having rejected: 1) The prophetic warning of John the Baptist to turn from their sins and produce righteous fruit. 2) The heavenly witness of the Father and the Spirit at His baptism. 3) The undeniable testimony of His messianic signs as proof of His heavenly calling, the leadership of Israel were further berated by Christ.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of living water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever they do prospers.
They will not be anxious in a year of drought nor will they cease to yield fruit, more fruit, much fruit, to the glory of God and to their own eternal benefit.
Those that search the Scriptures daily are not only wise, but truly blessed of the Lord: For blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates therein day and night. He will be like a tree securely planted by streams of life-giving water, which yields much fruit in its season, to the glory of God.
Although we are able to see tiny glimpses of the coming dispensation of grace during Christ's earthly ministry, where the Body of Christ (which is the Church) would bring forth the fruit of the gospel of God, Christ's pre-Cross ministry was in general directed towards His chosen people, Israel.
But when these gracious qualities of virtue and strength, excellence, dignity and honour are displayed in the life of a Christian, it is simply the fruit of the Spirit being shown forth in the man or woman of God, who is humbly submitted to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
God the Father is the eternal Vinedresser Who will prune away all the old, dead, unproductive parts of our life so that we may bring forth much fruit to His glory.
Pruning may be painful, but the rewards are very satisfying, The discipline of the Lord is designed to cause His children to bear fruit, more fruit - and much fruit, to the glory of God.
He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End Who has become the First-fruit from the dead and the Federal Head of a new Creation.
We read in Numbers 13: Thus they told him, and said, 'We went into the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
He prayed that they would bear fruit in every good work and daily increase in their knowledge of God and their love for their Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is looking forward to the time when they will hear their Messiah's call, respond to His words, proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the world, and become a fruitful fig tree that brings forth the fruit of righteousness.
Such fruit of the Spirit should be evident in the lives of all Christians, but there are also many traps to avoid and snares to circumvent, and Paul's final words of instruction to this younger brother in the faith was to recognise and avoid many of the heresies, unbiblical teachings, and legalistic rituals, that were infiltrating the Christian Church of his day.
May we become like those that are on fire for the Lord and in love with our precious Saviour, exhibiting the characteristics of Christ in our daily life, walking in Spirit and truth, bearing much fruit-of-the-Spirit for His praise and glory.
Gracious thoughts and purity of heart is a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in a life that is governed by God and walking in spirit and truth.
Humility, grace, peace, and love are the precious spiritual fruit that should be evident in the life of all God's children who have gained wisdom and been given godly understanding.
And as we trust in the promises of God and depend on Him alone through all the eventualities of life, we may bear much fruit to the praise and glory of our Heavenly Father.
For if these godly qualities are ours and are increasing in our life, we will not be rendered useless but will bear much fruit, to the praise and glory of our Father in heaven.
When Adam disobeyed the Lord and ate of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he was endowed with an understanding of what was good - without the ability to do good.
It is only the man or woman who humbly and reverently recognises the manifold mercies of God's towards them, and His amazing grace in sending His only begotten Son to become the substitute for their sin, who is permitted to bear this fruit of the Spirit.
He is the man who rests in Christ and he is the one in whom the Lord Himself abides, for he produces the beautiful fruit of righteousness at the right time and in the best way.
May we be like the tree in Psalm 1 that is planted, grows, prospers, and produces the precious fruit of righteousness, receiving God's never-failing supply of nourishment and limitless refreshment from His streams of living water.
But when a parent is trying to impart godly discipline from a heart of love for Jesus and for their child, they will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness: For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
The result in the lives of these Christians, was the production of fruit, more fruit, much spiritual fruit.
The gospel of truth that these believers had embraced so readily, is the same gospel that is freely available to all who will trust on the Lord Jesus Christ: For the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, and all who abide in Christ will grow in grace and produce the precious fruit of righteousness.
It was because of their sincere faith in the gospel, their future hope in God's promises, the abundance of fruit being produced in their lives, and the deep love they had for one another, that Paul did not cease to pray for them and to ask that they might be filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
The mature believer is growing from babyhood into son-ship, and correction from God is always designed to develop in His children's character, responsibility, obedience, and fruit of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit also produces the fruit of the Spirit in the life of all who are walking in spirit and truth; abiding in Christ and following His guidance.
For it was as Eve looked and saw that the tree was good for food that sin was conceived in her heart and her flesh began to lust after the forbidden fruit and she disobeyed the Lord's command, and reached out, took, and ATE.
Every aspect of our relationship with Him displays a total dependence upon Him, and we are called upon to demonstrate our discipleship and glorify our Father in heaven by bearing fruit, more fruit, much fruit.
But demonstrating our discipleship, yielding much fruit, and glorifying God, is entirely dependent upon our abiding in Christ.
Glorifying our Father in heaven and bearing much spiritual fruit is only possible as we abide in Him and He in us.
The moment we were born from above, all the advantages of our heavenly citizenship became ours, but it is only as the believer continues to abide in Christ and submit to the Holy Spirit within, that Christ can produce the fruit of the Spirit through his disciple.
In like manner, we are also called upon to glorify our Father and bear much fruit so as to prove that we are Christ's disciples - but it is only possible as we abide in Him and He in us.
On the contrary, God often permits sickness and suffering to display His glory in our lives, which frequently results in our spiritual growth and godly fruit.
The man or woman that has been filled with the wisdom from God is the one that is full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
In these increasingly violent days in which we live, let us take the words of James to heart, relying on the pure wisdom of God to lead and instruct us, enabling us to produce good fruit, being considerate, sincere, merciful, impartial, and peace-loving.
But herbs and grass, fruit and trees, birds of the air, fish of the sea, and every living creature soon filled the earth and were instructed to be fruitful and multiply.
The young Rebekah had kept herself pure in the pagan city of Nahor, and had pursued the qualities of a virtuous woman, which bore the fruit of righteousness, as demonstrated in her kindness to the stranger, her willingness to work, and her beautiful disposition.
And we are to offer up our sacrifice of praise to our Father in heaven so that the fruit of our lips may continually confess His holy name, to His praise and glory.
It has its fruit in a person that remain true to their heavenly calling, and it is manifested in a life of faithful obedience; a life that is lived to the glory of God; a life that faithfully fulfils its heavenly calling.
He explained to them that He was the one and only Way to the Father, the singular Truth of Almighty God, the true Vine Who would produce much fruit through them, and He was the Word made flesh - God incarnate.
Psalm 1 tells us of one who delights in the Lord: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. The Psalm goes on to tell us what blessing flow from delighting in the Lord: He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
We all need love in our lives, but true godly love is not something that we struggle to produce through our own fleshly efforts, but can only be produced in us as spiritual fruit as we abide in Christ and He in us.
We are told that these three, spiritual fruit of God’s amazing grace will continue and will remain and abide into the eternal state - faith, hope, and love.In this earthly life, faith must remain a high priority.
But love is a gift of God, and love is the primary a fruit of the Spirit that will continue to grow and expand, beyond our wildest imaginings.
Our spiritual growth needs to be rooted in the Word of God so that it can become a worthy witness of God's grace and spiritual fruit, which refreshes others in our daily activities - and all should be carried out for the glory of God.
Jesus was pictured as the Vine-dresser, and the lack of fruit on the branches of the tree indicated an absence of the fruit of righteousness from the nation of Israel.
It was when the Owner came looking for fruit and found it was barren that He ordered the Vinedresser to chop it down.
Jesus was the incarnate Word of God about Whom the Scriptures spoke and to Whom the Jewish Law pointed, and although they were a worthless nation, Jesus graciously asked the Father to give His people more time to repent of their sin and produce the fruit of righteousness: He answered and said to Him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertiliser,' as He continued to share the good news of the gospel of God and the coming kingdom.
Israel should have responded to the many calls to repent of their sin and produced the fruit of righteousness, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness.
We are also reminded that as children of God, we are to recognise that the Lord chastens those that He loves... and that the pain of discipline will blossom into the fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.
He wants each one of us to become firmly established in the faith and produce much fruit in our lives - to His praise and glory.
May we all strive after patient endurance, brotherly kindness and godly love, so that we do not lack those qualities of the godly man, which are pleasing in the sight of God or become spiritual blind - but may we abide in Him and He in us so that we produce good fruit, more fruit..
What an astonishing privilege we find within the pages of Scripture – for the Spirit of God determined our fallen and eternally condemned status in the world, but in His goodness and grace, outlined all we need to receive His promised blessing of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, and life everlasting.Scripture is a supernatural document that has been delivered to us all through the pens of the apostles, the prophets, and the life of the Lord Jesus, which explains that we are all prisoners of sin and under the authority of Satan... with death, hell, and eternal separation from our God, as the bitter fruit of our fallen nature.
Abide in Me, and I in you. He explained that unless we remained attached to HIM, we will also become unfruitful, for a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine and draws its strength and succour from the vine.
This was not a teaching for the unbeliever, but a warning to those that are born-again, that if we are to be fruitful in our Christian life and honour our Father in heaven, we will abide in Christ and bring forth much fruit.
But if a Christian obeys Christ's command to abide in Him and He in us, he will bring forth much fruit - 10-fold, 50-fold and maybe 100-fold, and he will hear Jesus say, well-done good and faithful servant.To abide in Christ and to rest in His love is to know, with absolute certainty, that He alone is life’s sufficiency and to act on this knowledge.
We, however, must make sure we are rooted and grounded in the essentials of Scripture and be ready and willing to identify and expose false teachers, for by their fruit you will know them and through a knowledge of Scripture you will be equipped to identify and challenge them.
Death is the bitter fruit for all humanity, and there is no possible way for man to reach out and eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the paradise of God.
Adam was given free rein to eat of every single shrub and tree in that beautiful garden, including the fruit of the glorious tree of life, but there was one exception: Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Having been renewed in the spirit of our mind, the inner fruit of that new life in Christ should, through God's almighty power, be made manifest by a life that is righteous and holy.
Until we humbly confess that in and of ourselves we can do nothing, we will foolishly and unsuccessfully attempt to produce good fruit in our own strength.
This 'sign of the prophet Jonah' is the most amazing sign they could have been given, for the Resurrection of Christ is the sign that secures the resurrection to life of all believers, for He is the First-fruit from the dead.
But when things went well, and they were prosperous and enjoying the fruit of the land they forgot Him, ignored His word, and started to trust in their own strength and abilities.
Spiritual growth is evidenced through the precious fruit of the Holy Spirit, but it takes time to mature and there is a clearly defined process of development and growth if we are to grow in grace and show forth the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The first steps toward spiritual fruit, Christian maturity, and a heart that reflects Christ's love for the Church, are moral excellence in our inner thoughts, righteousness in our outward expression, and purity in the secret motives of our heart.
It is not so much the things that we do or the words that we say that cause us to emanate the fragrance of Christ, but the person we are as the fruit of the Spirit is evidenced within.
We have a positive responsibility to obey His Word and apply it in our everyday life, for when we walk in the unity of the Spirit and live in holiness of heart, we mature in the faith, grow in grace, and produce the fruit of humility, patience, gentleness, and love.
We are to believe and trust Him in every aspect of our lives as, day by day, we grow in Him, mature in Him, and produce fruit in our lives to the good of those around us, and for His glory.
Paul also likens the maturing Christian to a dedicated athlete who trains hard to win the prize... or to a tenacious farmer who having diligently sown some seed, waits patiently for the crop to germinate, grow, bud, blossom, and produce much good fruit.
The apostle had heard news of his generosity and self-sacrificial love during his imprisonment which caused him great joy, for Philemon was also a son in the faith and Paul rejoiced in his spiritual growth and the fruit he was producing.
Christ rose from the dead and showed Himself to many hundreds of witnesses, and His Resurrection is the First-fruit of all those that are asleep in Him.
Let us approach Him in humility of heart and poverty of spirit, for He has promised to fill all those that hunger for Him with good things, both in this life and in the age to come, while those that come to Him in selfish, self-satisfied pride and carnality of soul, will receive the bitter fruit of inner emptiness.
It was pride that caused Satan to fall... and pride is the root which yields many unseemly branches and produces an abundance of sinful fruit.
Rather, let us feed on Christ in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving and allow the beautiful spiritual fruit of humility to blossom and bud in our inner being - so that the lovely character of the Lord Jesus may start to be seen increasingly in our lives - until we come to a measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ to the praise and honour of our heavenly Father.
The urgency of Peter's message in his second epistle is that the Christian's life, which begins with faith, must grow and develop into Christian maturity and produce spiritual fruit which is so honouring to the Father.
This faith matures by means of diligent application of God principles of spiritual growth, which are contained in His Word, and all of which produce spiritual fruit which is so honouring to our Father in heaven.
He started a good work in us and planted an eternal seed of grace within each of our hearts, which will mature and produce fruit, more fruit, and much fruit, to His praise and glory, if we humbly submit to His leading and guidance in our lives.
This should place us on high alert lest we are hood-winked by such deception - for it is by their fruit we shall know who is of God and who is of the devil.
They disobeyed God and produced fruit that was rotten to the core, and so Jesus came as the true Vine - the living Vine.
He came to produce the fruit of righteousness that God required, and after His brief sojourn on earth God chose to use the Church, which would be born at Pentecost, to be His mouthpiece to a lost and dying world.
Originally, Israel had been called to be God's witnesses on earth, but due to their unbelief and apostasy, Israel was set aside for a season and the Body of Christ, which is the Church, was called to produce the fruit of righteousness.
Jesus is indeed the true and living Vine - and His Spirit lives in us day by day, and works through us as we abide in Him, to produce the fruit of righteousness - more fruit - and much more fruit to the glory of God the Father.
The beautiful, spiritual fruit of godly love, can only be manifested in our lives when imputed to us by God Himself - as we walk in humble obedience and total dependence before Him.
We are to ask God for an understanding heart, to practice morality, produce spiritual fruit in His sufficient strength, and trust in the Lord with all our heart.
Joy is a fruit that the Lord produces within our heart, but it is something that the world can know nothing about.
The Joy of the Lord is a precious fruit and a spiritual grace that is given to us from above.
Those who are dead in their sins do not have access to God's spiritual graces, for joy is both a gift of God to the justified and a fruit of the Spirit in the sanctified man.
As one reads through this epistle to the Corinthian Christians, it is evident that although these saints were enriched in all the gifts of the Spirit, they were demonstrably deficient in the fruit of the Spirit.
Although they were gifted with the tongues of men and of angels, prophetic utterances, knowledge, and many benevolent actions, they lacked godly love and did not exhibit spiritual fruit.
Many misquote the first part of this verse as referring to initial salvation: you did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you.. But these words were spoken to men who had already believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and were being chosen and appointed to produce good and lasting fruit - to the praise of God the Father.
These men were chosen to bear fruit that would remain.
He was appointing those who had already believed on His name to bear much fruit.
These men were already saved disciples of Christ when he said this to them..... you did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
They were chosen by Him, and appointed to bear lasting fruit.
In Proverbs we are told that: the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise. Paul outlines the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and reminds us in Ephesians that the fruit of the spirit is, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth - and we are called to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain.
May we abide in Christ and He is us day by day so that in His sufficient strength we may bear much fruit to the praise and glory of God - for when we are living in spirit and truth we not only are fruitful to His praise and glory but will be guided by His Holy Spirit to pray into His will and character.
Like Israel, we too are reminded that righteousness and peace embrace each other and that the fruit of righteousness is God's perfect peace; peace with God and the peace of God.
Let us be ready and willing to yield to his moving in our life and not seek to control His work so that the love of Christ bears the fruit of the Spirit in each of our lives.
As part of God's new creation, we are commanded to live as children of the Light and produce spiritual fruit which consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
Christ is not only the First-fruit from the dead, assuring all who believe in Him will also be physically resurrected, but His entrance into the heavenly realm following His Ascension, prefigures our own thrilling access into the holy place of God and our promised heavenly inheritance.
And in like manner, the Lord Jesus is the full and final representation of the First-fruit of them that slept and no-one (not even those that loved Him so deeply), was permitted to partake of Him or touch Him, for He was not yet ascended to present Himself as the First-fruit offering to the Father.
Only days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus wept and mourned that His people had missed the day of their visitation, and sadly announced, Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.
There are two schools of thought about Christ's announcement that the kingdom would be taken from them and given to a nation that would bring forth fruit of righteousness.
Although believers in the Church age have certainly been called to produce the fruit of righteousness and the Lord is using us to proclaim the gospel of grace to unbelievers, it is the last generation of Jews are the people about whom Jesus is speaking.
However, at His Second Coming, when He returns in great power and glory to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, a redeemed Israel who finally acknowledge Christ as their Messiah and King, will produce the fruit of righteousness through faith in God and Jesus Christ Whom He has sent.
How sweet that name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear, for His name combines the holy and eternal attributes of the Godhead with human perfection, and every single spiritual fruit that God requires from man.
He is the First-fruit from the dead and this is the thrilling truth: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Kinsman-Redeemer, guarantees the resurrection to life of all believers.
Although the bitter fruit of his sin-nature was murder and adultery, David realised that his ungodly acts were sins against the Lord, which had deeply grieved the Spirit of God.
results in a Christ-like life of godly self-sacrifice and the production of an abundance of spiritual fruit - for the benefit of others and to the glory of God.
They were admonished to repent and change their attitude and their conduct - their motive and their minds, so that they could produce the fruit of repentance.
And for three years Jesus sought fruit from His people Israel - but as a nation they rejected Him.
Knowing that grace is given to the humble, we should earnestly seek after the precious fruit of the Spirit which will only develop and grow in the one that recognises that every manifestation of sin is rooted in a proud and arrogant heart: But He gives greater grace.
When the fruit of righteousness is sown in the heart by faith in Christ, we reap a heavenly reward.
Indeed, James points out that the sin of covetousness is so powerful that he allies its fruit with murder, which is rooted in anger, envy, bitterness, malice, cruelty, savagery, inhumanity, and greed.When the covetous self is determined to have its own way, it often translates into hidden manipulations and blatantly evil actions which can even pour forth in the form of pious praying.
We are to put on a heart of compassion and bring forth the spiritual fruit of kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, and we are to bear with one another in love, forgiving each other with grace, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.
Man's countenance is frequently an index of his thoughts, and the fruit of his attitude of mind is often displayed in his words, his ways, his will, and his walk.
It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit being manifested in our lives so that the love of Christ in our hearts, may stream out from us to others with whom we come in contact.
When we abide in Christ and willingly submit to the good work that the Holy Spirit started in our life at salvation, then the love of Christ grows in our heart as spiritual fruit and we are enabled by Him to love one another as He loves us.
The ground was well-watered by four shimmering rivers, and the Lord made sure that every tree that produced luscious fruit was growing in this idyllic place, for the man to enjoy.
God forbade Adam to eat of its fruit for He desired that man would freely choose to serve and honour Him, out of tender affection and a desire to reverence his Creator - Who would walk and talk with him in the garden and commune with Adam in the cool of the evening.
The actions of this couple demonstrate the serious and irreversible fruit that is produced when sin has overtaken the heart of man, for it breaks man's fellowship with the Lord Who made him.
We are not told how they knew that things had changed, but having been tempted by that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and having disobeyed God by eating of the fruit which He forbade them to eat, we read that the eyes of both of them were opened.
From the time that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the wages of sin for every man and woman is death, and their siritual death occurred the moment they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
He would bless them with untold blessings if they obeyed - but if they did not follow His laws, He would have to punish them and use a people who would bring forth the fruit of righteousness..
Habakkuk was able to pray with surety, though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines..
And as the Body of Christ we should humble ourselves and pray, and seek God's face, turn from our wicked ways, and cry out for His mercy, though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines..
Christ was the First-fruit from the grave and all resurrected Church-age saints will become part of 'the First Resurrection', about which the Bible speaks so fully.
The sun, moon, and stars, would usher in the different seasons where spring follows winter and the sultry summer sun precedes the mellow fruit of autumn, as year succeeds to year.
Through us, He wants to bring forth fruit for our eternal benefit - to bring forth 10-fold, 50-fold, 100-fold fruit.
We are also the fruit of His hands and a work in progress.
He is breaking up the fallow ground within our own hearts and He is sowing His seeds of love and grace, humility, kindness, and patience, as He weeds out the thorns and thistles of Self-interest, Self-importance, and Self-dependence - which is the ugly fruit of the old sin nature.
He referred to them as 'ferocious wolves' and explained that the fruit of professing prophets, priests, pastors, or teachers, would help to confirm them as legitimate ministers of Christ or identify them as a counterfeit.
Jesus explained in the previous verse that the way to differentiate between a false prophet and a godly preacher is by their fruit, and explained that a good tree bears good fruit, while a bad tree bears bad fruit. Those who do God's will produce the fruit of the Spirit, while others produce the fruit of the flesh, speaking perverse things to draw disciples away from Jesus: Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Only those who are saved by grace, abiding in Christ, walking in the spirit, and maintaining fellowship with the Father, can bring forth the fruit of righteousness.
We are to identify false prophets by their fruit. Those who walk in truth, rest in Christ, fellowship with the Father, and do His will, produce good fruit.
Unless a professing prophet is doing the will of the Father and producing spiritual fruit, he is probably a savage wolf who will proclaim a false gospel, promote a counterfeit Jesus, and offer a substitute salvation.
But what is the will of the Father for His children and what fruit should be evident in the life of a minister?
The implication in this passage, is that these vicious wolves make a shocking pretence of being God's prophets by referring to Jesus as 'Lord', yet Paul tells us in Corinthians: No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit. The question arises, how can these false prophets name Jesus as Lord, if they are ravening wolves who do not produce fruit of righteous and refuse to do the will of the Father?
And the false prophets and counterfeit professors who produce bad fruit and refuse to do the will of the Father, will one day hear Him say: Depart from Me, I never knew you.
And because of his reverend submission to the Father and unfailing trust in Him, Christ's prayer was heard and Jesus became the first-fruit from the grave - the first MAN to rise from the dead - thus breaking the power of sin, Satan, death, and hell for ALL who place their faith in HIM.
Both James and Paul know that there are certain Christians who, having been truly saved by grace though faith (the root of justification), do not produce good works that are the identifying marks of a Christian who is walking in spirit and truth (the fruit of justification).
May we who have been rooted in Christ by grace through faith when we were saved, seek to be fruitful in our Christian walk, by bearing much fruit to the glory of God - as we abide in Christ and He in us.
And we who trust in Jesus have become the first-fruit of the Spirit, for we were born again as children of God and baptised by Him into the Body of Christ.
He saw the Tree of Life, which speaks of restoration, with its leaves for the healing of the nations, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, and growing on both sides of the crystal river.
Indeed, suffering develops the spiritual fruit of patient endurance, which produces a crop of godly righteousness and peace in the lives of those who have been trained or exercised by it.
Like us, these believers had heard and understood the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ, and Paul longed for them to be filled to overflowing with a knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and understanding so that they might walk worthy of their calling and bear much fruit to the glory of God.
Persecution, false teachers, godly service, fruit-bearing, promised rewards, and effective prayer, accompanied by a life of faith and a total dependence on the Lord, are required of all Christ's disciples, throughout this extended period.
It is only a man who walks in spirit and truth and in utter dependence on the leading, guidance, training, and correction of the indwelling Holy Spirit that brings forth this spiritual fruit of godly love.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much spiritual fruit (godly love), for apart from Me you can do nothing..
Kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and grace were shown to us at the Cross of Christ, and they are the spiritual fruit that Paul tells us can halt and reverse the growth of bitterness in our heart.
Three of the most important Christian virtues are expressed in these three spiritual fruit; faith, hope, and love, and together, they embody the essence of godly living, and illustrate the virtuous way that every believer should seek to live in their Christian life-journey.