Fruit

• What is fruit?

• Why fruit?

• What are the rules of fruit?

• How do the rules of fruit apply to me?

• What is the fruit of the Spirit?

• Who has fruit of the Spirit?

• What kind of fruit do you have?

• What different kinds of fruit do we have?

• How are we fruitful?

• How are we unfruitful?

• How long are we to be fruitful?

• How do we remain fruitful?

• What causes unfruitfulness?

Fruit is what is produced from a source.

There are many different fruits listed in the Word of God.

Fruit can be included in four main categories: 

1)  Plant fruit is all fruit produced from a plant - the fruit tree, the fruit of the trees, the fruit of the ground, the fruit of the land, the fruit of the earth, the fruits of the valley, the fruits of the field, the fruit of the vineyard, the fruit of the vine. 

2)  Offspring fruit - Children are the fruit of the womb, the fruit of thy body, the fruit of his loins.  Calves are the fruit of cattle.

3)  Fruit from humans - The results and effects of what we do, the fruit of our doings, the fruit of our mouth, the fruit of our lips, the fruit of our hands, the fruit of our doings, the fruit of the stout heart, the fruit of our thoughts, the fruit of lies, the fruit of my labour.  

4)  Spiritual fruit of God.  The fruit of the Spirit of God, the fruit of righteousness. 

 

Why call it fruit, why not call it something else?

The Holy Bible, the Holy Scriptures were written for all mankind, not just a few.  God knew exactly how to word every verse so that everyone could understand.

Fruit was used because everyone has seen fruit, tasted fruit, knew how fruit grew, how it was harvested. 

Fruit is not a mystery to anyone.  It grows if it is cared for.  It needs pruning.  It needs water and nourishment to grow.  It is harvested.  It can be devoured by insects and other animals.  It can be tasty.  It can be bitter.  It can be wonderful.  It can be rotten.

Our God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).  God uses language that all people can understand.  Even a child can understand fruit and even a child can understand God's word.

Our Lord God is perfect in all His ways, especially in the Words He chooses to explain Himself to us, explain His love for us, explain His salvation for us.

Before we continue discussing fruit there are some rules of fruit that must be clarified and remembered, that pertain to all fruit.

Fruit is dependent upon its source.

Fruit is what is produced from its source.  An apple tree yields apples, a pear tree yields pears, a peach tree yields peaches, a fig tree yields figs, etc.

In order to live, to grow, fruit must be attached to something alive.

If the tree is diseased the fruit will be diseased.  If the tree is bad the fruit will be bad.  If the tree is dead it will not bear any fruit.

The condition of the fruit is dependent upon its source condition. 

Just as a good tree will not produce bad fruit, a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

The rule of fruit is that all fruit produced is dependent upon its source, meaning fruit cannot be different from its source. 

An apple tree cannot produce figs, because the source determines the fruit produced. 

The fruit does not determine its source, but the source determines the fruit. 

Fruit is the product

The fruit is not first, the fruit is second to its source.  The fruit comes from the tree, the tree was first.  The tree is first and then the fruit.

Fruit is produced from a source.  Fruit is not independent.  Fruit does not just appear, it is grown from its source.  The fruit of all things is from something. 

Fruit is the product of something, not the source of itself.  

There is a source (apple tree) and there is fruit (apple fruit).  Without the apple tree there can be no apple fruit.  The apple is not the tree, but is the fruit from the tree.  If there is no tree there is no fruit.  The tree yields fruit, the fruit does not yield trees. 

Fruit is the same as its source

An apple tree produces apples.  An apple can only be produced by an apple tree.  An apple tree will not and cannot produce corn.

The fruit produced tells you what is its source.  You can be certain it is an apple tree if its fruit are apples.

The fruit of all things will be the same as its source.  The fruit of cattle can only be cattle.  Cattle will always produce other cattle.  Cattle cannot produce monkeys.

Every source is known by its fruit

The fruit is the same as its source and is known by its source.  You can know it is an apple tree, because we picked an apple from that tree. 

We know it is an apple tree because we can see the apples.

Based on the word of God, human beings have two bodies:  one natural body and one spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44).   We are flesh and spirit.  We have a body of flesh and we have a body of spirit.

Human beings have basically two types of fruit:  1)  Fruits of the flesh from our carnal, natural body, and 2) Fruits of the spirit from our spiritual body.

Just as we know it is an apple tree, because we picked an apple from that tree, God says that people are known the same way, by the fruit that we produce - good or bad.

A healthy vibrant tree will produce good fruit, and cannot produce diseased fruit.  A diseased tree will have diseased fruit.  A diseased tree cannot produce good fruit because it is diseased.

God tells us that a corrupt wicked person produces corrupt wicked fruit.  A corrupt person cannot produce good fruit, because they are corrupted.

The fruit of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.  The fruit of the Spirit of God is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

We are to seek the good things of God.  We are to pursue and wholeheartedly seek the things of God.  We are instructed by the word of God to be careful what we seek, what we put into our hearts and into our minds.  We are to think on the things of God, not what is in this world.  We are not to focus on our problems or the cares of this world, we are to be and remain ever focused on Christ Jesus.

We are to be concerned and committed to take on the fruit of the Spirit of God, in every way, in every situation, every day.

People who abide in the Spirit of God by salvation have the fruit of the Spirit.  

Do not be deceived:  Without abiding in God you cannot have the fruit of the Spirit of God.  The fruit of the Spirit of God is produced by God and shown to the world through His faithful children.

The fruit of the Spirit is not automatic, we must purposefully seek God, learn from God, abide in God to produce the fruit of the Spirit of God.

Without being attached to the vine no one can bear fruit.  Jesus Christ is the vine, we are the branches, the children of God.

Every person bears fruit.  Our lives, the effects and results of our lives is our fruit.

God tells us that every human being produces fruit, either good fruit or bad fruit.

The word of God is very specific as to what kind of fruit you have.

God tells us that we are known by our fruit (Matthew 7:16).  People know who you are by seeing your fruit, by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7:20).

Those abiding in God produce His fruit.  Those absorbing the values of this world, following the selfish ways of the world produce worldly fruit.

The fruit of our lips and mouths

The fruit of our lips and mouths is what comes out of them.

Good words, song, praise, thanksgiving, blessing, whistling, humming are the fruit of our lips and mouths.

The fruit of our lips and mouths is also bad words, evil words, wickedness, blasphemy, lies, cursing, condemnation, deceit, gossip, slander, vanity, pride, murmurings, hatred, bitterness, arguing, anger, complaining.

The fruit of our thoughts

Our thoughts are our unspoken words. Head words.  Mind words.  The fruit of our thoughts are our unspoken words.  The fruit of our thoughts can be good or evil.

The Word of God teaches us that sin is not necessarily a physical act, but sin can be thought or acted out in our mind.

All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17), regardless if it is performed physically by us or performed in our minds. 

The fruit of our doings

The fruit of our doings is the results of our life, the good and the bad. 

We all have a choice in this life to either live for God or live for our self.  We will all stand before God one day and give an answer for how we lived our life.

This is not some great mystery, even a child is known by his doings.  Even a child knows when they are being good or bad, and so does everyone around them.

Our actions, the things we do, how we live our lives, are the product of who we are and what we believe, and are based on our belief and trust, or lack of belief and trust, in God.

If we believe and trust in the God of the Word, we will live our lives to God, for God, loving God, according to His word, because we know Him personally and love Him.

If we don't believe and trust in the God of the Word, we will live any way we want, because we don't know Him.

The fruit of our own way

People who reject God, choose their own way.  God promises all who choose evil over good, will eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices (Proverbs 1:31).

People who do evil bring evil upon themselves.  God wants everyone to share in His love, to be blessed by Him, but He does not force Himself on anyone.  God loving, gently, and mercifully calls every person to Him.  God does not want anyone to perish, die without Him (2 Peter 3:9).  God calls all people to Him so that He can give them His love and His eternal life (John 3:16). 

Many people choose their own way, they refuse the eternal life of God.  God does not promise to call you forever.  There is a point in time that He will let you alone, you will be left to eat the fruit of your own way, the life you chose apart from Him.

The end of sin is death.  If you live your life to sin, living in sin every day of your life you will die in sin, in the life of sin that you do.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED, God promises that the result of a life lived in sin is death for all people, the wages of sin is death.  No one is exempt from the word of God (Romans 6:23).

You will receive eternal life or eternal death based on your life lived now, today. 

Who you attach yourself to now - today - will be who you are attached to after you pass from this life.  Unless you abide in Jesus Christ today, now, in this life, you will not abide in Him after you pass from this world to the next.   Your god in this life will be your god in the next.

The fruit of our hands

The fruit of our hands is our work, the fruit of our labor.

God is the Creator of work.  Working was created by God.  In the beginning, God worked, He created the heavens and the earth, the universe and all that is in it, all the land, the animals, the plants, the oceans, mankind, everything was created by the work of God.

God's works enabled us to live.  The works of God are all around us.  Every day we benefit from the works of God.

As an example, God continually works and He expects all His creation to work.  Every living creature that God created is capable of work and God expects nothing less.

If you want to be more like God, then work.  This is not a mystery, but a fact since the beginning of time.

It is no secret that working is necessary for our physical and mental well being.  Our human bodies require exercise to function properly.  Immobility causes all kinds of problems to the human body.  Our human minds require mental stimulation to function properly.  Working is required for living life as God intended.

God also created rest.  God mandated that we rest every week to refuel our body and our minds.  Rest is required for every creature God created, including man.  God balanced His work with rest, and God wants us to do the same.

In order to be able to bear good fruit for God we must first be saved.  We cannot bear righteousness without first being made righteous through the operation of God called salvation.

We are fruitful when we are faithful to God.  No one is faithful by knowing God's word, but we are faithful by doing God's word.

We must be followers of God, we must walk in love, we must say no to sin, we must not partake in sin with the world, we must walk as children of the light, proving what is acceptable to God, we must not go along with evil people but choose to remain separated to God, we are to walk in God's wisdom not in the foolishness of this world, we must seek God and seek His will and do His will.

If we do not have any fruit for God - love, righteousness - we are unfruitful.

We become unfruitful when we decide to live our lives for ourselves, for our own personal gratification, for our own selfish desires.

We become unfruitful when we allow the world's influences to cloud our thinking, to hijack our thoughts and our morals and values.

We become unfruitful when we permit the world to define our faith and our belief in God.

We all have a choice to walk after God or walk after the ways of this world. 

God wants everyone to follow Him and choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19).

All the days of our lives we are to be fruitful.

Because we love God we remain fruitful all our lives. 

When we love God, we learn about God.  We learn the things of God because we love Him and desire to know all about Him. 

When we learn the things of God and we abide in His love we will do His will (not our own will) and live out the plan God has for our lives and we will be fruitful to God.

All that the children of God do in this life is for God because we love Him.  We give God all the glory and all the praise forever and ever.

Fruit does not remain on the plant forever.  Fruit must be harvested so new fruit can grow. 

Branches that do not bear fruit are cut back, so that the plant can grow more fruit. 

There is a harvesting process of collecting the good fruit and there is a pruning process of cutting off the dead branches and vines that do not produce fruit.

When we maintain good works, live in faith, work out our salvation every day, we can remain fruitful.   

To produce fruit we must be connected to the vine.  We remain fruitful by remaining connected, joined, attached to Christ Jesus, our vine, our life.

Jesus Christ is our vine that we attach ourselves to in order to produce good fruit, the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the spirit.  Just like the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, we cannot bear the fruit of the spirit, the fruit of righteousness without being attached to our vine, Jesus.

When we separate ourselves from God and the things of God it is impossible for us to bear fruit for God.

When we depart from God, get caught up with the cares of this world, instead of remaining in Christ, we become unfruitful.

Things can block God from our lives, if we let them.  We must purposefully seek God.  We must purposefully pursue the things of God.  We must remain in a relationship with God to remain fruitful.

Unfruitfulness is caused by our distraction from God and His Word.  

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