Bearing Fruit – the Purpose of Works (Part 1)
Now that we’ve spent time examining how God’s love is the foundation for works, we should take the next step and see how works are accomplished in our lives. People often view works within two extremes. Some do nothing, but say they are waiting on God. Works play no role in their lives and they tend to become idle, and then drawn away from the Lord by whatever distraction comes along. The other extreme is the belief that we must produce God’s work by our own actions. Some go as far as to believe we are justified by works, thinking human effort is necessary to complete the salvation process.
The book of James is often quoted as evidence that we are justified through our own efforts, because he explains that faith without works is dead. When James says, “Show me your faith without your works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works,” he is not saying that his works produce faith. He is explaining that true faith produces works. It only works one way. Works cannot produce faith, but faith always produces works. When I say faith, I am referring to the faith given to man by God as explained in Romans 12:3. This does not apply to the false faith man conjures up when trying to force himself to believe his own ideas.
Many claim that James is contradicting the Apostle Paul, but if you read the complete teaching of Paul, you will see this is not the case at all. Paul begins by explaining how we are saved by faith. He is addressing the Jewish culture that thought they were meriting God’s favor by keeping the law. Paul is driving home the point that man’s works and efforts through his own flesh cannot merit favor with God, for salvation is by grace (unmerited favor) through faith. After salvation, works are indeed a central part of the Christian’s life. Look again at the passage we studied previously from Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Unlike Paul’s letter of Romans, James is not trying to evangelize the Jews, nor is his letter addressed to the Jewish culture. The book of James is addressed to the church – those who have already received the gospel and understand salvation by grace through faith. Just as there are Christians today who think faith ends at salvation, the church in the first century had the same problem. People were idle, apathetic, and ignoring the needs all around them. James is rebuking the idea that true faith in Christ could be dead and without works. Since James begins with a church that understands faith, he puts his focus primarily on addressing works. Let’s look at how both James and Paul address the same example of faith. Begin with James 2:20-24
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Now compare this to Romans 4:2-10
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
Let’s compare the two and see why they are not in conflict. Paul is specifically using Abraham’s faith as an illustration to confront the idea that man must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses in order to have faith in Christ. Read Acts 15 for a detailed description of the battle he faced on this issue. Paul’s point is that Abraham did not have to do anything to merit God’s favor – he simply obeyed God. His obedience was an act of faith – or works – but the work was not Abraham doing something for God in order to earn salvation, but rather, his submission to God as he believed the Lord and yielded himself to the Lord’s work.
If Abraham had said, “I believe you can raise Isaac from the dead, but I’m not laying him on the altar,” would he have had faith? It would then be a counterfeit faith. It is the faith of the flesh. A faith that claims to believe it’s possible, but need some evidence. It would have been a belief by sight.
This is the very point James is making. Faith is proven to be living by what it produces. Faith through the flesh cannot produce life, for as Jesus warned, that which is born of flesh is flesh, but that which is born of Spirit is spirit. The Spirit gives life, and only the Spirit can produce living faith.
If Abraham had said, “I’m going to offer up Isaac to show my faith,” he would have become a murderer, and his works would have been as dead as his man-made faith. Therefore, as we approach works, we must take the entire scripture into account. We must realize what Romans, Ephesians, and the other epistles are teaching – works cannot produce faith. We must also realize the truth of what James is saying – faith that produces no evidence is dead. If our faith does not produce obedience, it is a man-made faith, rooted in the flesh, and is dead – along with all the other works of the flesh.
The same is true for works done outside of faith. This is why Jesus warned that many will stand before him on the last day and declare their good works that were done in his name, but he will declare, “You are a worker of lawlessness. I never knew you.” Because the works came from the flesh, and attempted to create faith, it is lawless acts along with the other works of the flesh. Jesus warned, “Without me, you can do nothing.” Fruit either comes through Christ, or it is of the flesh.
Take the time to read the gospels. As you do, note how Jesus differentiates between fruit and works. When he taught how to recognize the truth, he didn’t say, “You will know them by their works.” Many ungodly men and women do good deeds. Al Capone was notorious for feeding the poor and giving jobs to the destitute. He was also a murderer who led bands of murderers into wars over money. Any sinner can do good works, but they cannot produce anything of the Spirit. This is why Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit.”
So as we continue on this study, we will examine what it means to bear fruit, and how it applies to our individual lives. The remainder of this study will look at the two things God identifies as fruit in the scripture. One is fruit in our personal life, and the other is the labor that produces eternal fruit unto God.
Fruit in our lives.
Look at Matthew 3:
8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
If someone comes to faith in Christ, there should be evidence of the fruit of the Spirit. It is a challenge to explain how to become Christ-like while insuring we don’t lose sight of the fact that we can’t produce the fruit from our personal efforts. It can be confusing if we don’t understand what the scripture is teaching, but I’m confident that it will be clear once this study is over. The parable of the sower is a great passage to view in our quest to understand works. Look at Luke 8:11-15
11 " Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
14 "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
I want you to take note of Jesus’ emphasis on the word. In each case, how each person dealt with the word of God determined whether or not they produced fruit. Those who forgot the word were destined to a fruitless life. Those who were offended or became angry at God and turned from the word, were also destined to a fruitless life. People who allow the word to be choked by things, activities, sin, and worldliness may have had times when they began producing fruit, but they brought no fruit to maturity.
Those choked by the word are the ones I want to examine closely. They haven’t rejected the word, nor have they turned from it. These are people who are likely sitting in church each Sunday, maybe have devotion time, and do the normal Christian activities, yet they never produce fruit. Fruit begins to emerge, but it never comes to maturity. So, they too, have a fruitless life. However, because there is immature fruit, they often feel like they have done a service to God. It is a lukewarm Christian. They do enough to justify themselves in their own minds, but never learn what it means to mature in Christ. They try to live the Christian life, but can’t. The reason is because they haven’t let go of the things that choke the word in their hearts. They cultivate the weeds along with the fruit, never realizing the fruit will never be produced in a lukewarm heart.
If you have the Holy Spirit within you, he is working in your life to produce fruit. In fact, the Bible tells us all things work together for our good, so we can be his workmanship in Christ and since God is for us, nothing can be against us (Romans 8:28-30). If this is true, why are so many Christians unfruitful? First, let’s look at what is meant by fruit in our personal lives. Look at Galatians 5:19-25
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The fruit is not what man produces; it is fruit that is of the Spirit. This passage begins by warning us to avoid the works of the flesh, and then tells us how to identify the fruit of the Spirit. It is interesting that the Bible uses works when referring to the flesh, and fruit when referring to the Spirit. This is intended to draw a clear distinction between my human efforts and what the Spirit is producing in my life. Anyone who has the Spirit of God within them has the power to grow fruit of the Spirit. Do you abide in the love of God? Are you always at peace, filled with joy, always patient, filled with kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and always under control?
Don’t we wish? If I answered yes to all these questions, then pride has blinded my eyes. Yet, the fruit of the Spirit is something I long for, hope for, and believe in. At times, I see this growing in my life, and other times, the works of the flesh rise up and try to take over. Romans 7:23 warns us that sin remains in our flesh, and will continuously rise up, war against our minds, and try to bring us back into captivity. The real enemy that causes jealousy, hatred, outbursts of wrath, and all works of the flesh are not those who provoke us. The problem is within me – and within you. Sin is in your flesh, warring against your mind, and drawing you into a lifestyle that will choke the word of God in your life.
Let me explain. If you have read my other topics, you probably know by now I’m a gardener. Gardening is a great illustration for this topic as well. What is the number one enemy of a garden? Bugs are a problem, but nothing can ruin a garden faster than weeds. If I do nothing to root out the weeds, they will quickly take over, choke out the fruitful plants, and leave me with a garden with little or no production.
Some weeds grow below the surface. They remain unseen until shoots begin popping up. I dig beneath the soil and follow a root that will sometimes spread out three or four feet, and is loaded with new shoots preparing to emerge throughout the garden. An interesting thing about gardening is that the longer I wait to weed, the more entrenched weeds are among the plants. If I uproot the sprouting weeds, they are no threat. But if I ignore them, or allow them to grow, their roots will penetrate deep and intermingle with the vegetable plants. I have had times when I was too busy to tend to the garden, and the weeds became so numerous that I gave up, and wrote my labors off as a complete loss.
I do raised bed gardens, and even that can be a real challenge. If weed-blocking fabric isn’t laid to separate the garden from the grass and weeds, an infestation is guaranteed. Yet, if I stay on top of the weeds, I have a sense of peace when I look out and see all the thriving plants. There are times when there isn’t a weed in sight. A few days later, I’ll go out and see my perfect garden sprouting new weeds. And the process of extracting begins all over again. There is never a time when I can ignore weeds or say that my work is done. A perfect garden can be overrun in a matter of weeks.
There is a reason why the Bible compares the Christian life to farming, and our benefit as fruit. When we come to Christ, our life is cleansed, and we become brand new. Our sins are washed away, and we are clean. However, we still abide in a body of flesh. Each day, attitudes, temptations, selfish ambitions, bitterness, and other works of the flesh spring up. I can be flying high and feel above temptation one day, and then have a rotten day the next. Why? The flesh rises up, seeks to war against my mind, and bring me back into captivity.
My daily renewal is to refocus my mind with the word, and my daily responsibility is to identify the things in my life that threaten my walk of faith. The Spirit is working to produce the fruit of holiness, but my flesh is working to produce weeds, which if allowed to remain, will choke my spiritual growth. I must take action to block the things out of my life that I know will take over my heart. Even then, seeds of temptation remain in my flesh. Every day, I must examine myself, and pluck out anything that is contrary to the work of God. If I ignore even the smallest of offenses, it will take root, and become a stronghold as it is rooted deep into my life.
For example, if I become angry, my mind is drawn into the flesh and my natural tendency is to feel justified in my angry reactions or thoughts. After all, someone has done me wrong. Right? Wrong. The Bible warns that I must take heed to not allow any root of bitterness to spring up, for it will cause many to become defiled. It is my responsibility to root out that bitterness – not the responsibility of the one who wronged me.
I have learned (and am still learning) to examine my life each time I have a conflict – large or small. There is always something I could have done differently. There is always hard feelings that I need to release. If I do not, I grow resentful and bitter. This defiles me, quenches the Spirit, and will eventually defile those around me as I spread my weeds to the garden of other people’s lives.
We can see our responsibility to control the flesh, but what is our role in growing fruit? Look at John 15:2-5
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 "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.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
You can’t bear fruit of yourself. There are two roles you play in the fruit of the Spirit in your life. First, abide in Christ. If you read two more verses down in John 15 you will see that we abide in Christ by having his word abide in us. So we have to be in the word, and receive the word in our hearts. We must treasure it and abide by it so we can abide in it. The word reveals what needs to be uprooted. The Bible says that the word of God profits us by teaching doctrine, reproving our incorrect actions, showing us how to correct our lives, and giving us instructions for living godly. So, the first role is to learn how to abide in Christ by understanding the word he has given.
Second, our role is to pluck out the works of the flesh. My role is not to produce fruit, but to remove the things that choke the word. Fruit will never come to maturity as long as I am living according to the flesh. We must learn how to examine ourselves and remove what prevents spiritual growth and maturity. This is not works. At least not in the way most people think of works. It is works in the way James addressed as evidence for our faith. If I believe the word of God, it will be made evident by my actions to remove the things God commands me to remove or to act according to his commandments. But it is not works in the way we think of as something to earn a reward. When I have removed something in my life that hinders the gospel, I have done my duty, but not earned a prize. The prize is the work of God as he produces his fruit in my life.
Jesus said to let your light shine before men. He did not say to make your light shine. His instruction is to not hide the light or put it under a basket. The light doesn’t change. It shines. The light of Christ in our hearts shines, even if our flesh hides it. We let our light shine, not by stoking the flame, or doing something that will make it brighter. We let it shine by removing the things that cover that light. It is our responsibility to remove the flesh so it doesn’t hinder the shining light of Christ, which God reveals within us.
Consider the example of Gideon as explained in the Old Testament. God reduced his army down to 300 men as they prepared to conquer tens of thousands of soldiers that surrounded them. To ensure Israel understood that it was the work of God and not their own efforts or power, he trimmed down the army until there was no way they could even think of going to war by their own strength. God gave them instructions to take clay pitchers, put a torch in the vessels, and carry a trumpet in the other hand. At the signal, they were to shatter the clay pots, blow the trumpet, and shout. God then conquered the army by turning the soldiers against each other.
This story of Gideon is a foreshadow of the work of God in the Christian’s life. Just as Gideon had to shatter the clay pot in order to reveal the light, we have to remove the flesh in order for our light to shine. Just as the battle was the Lord’s, and Gideon’s efforts played no role in conquering the enemy, our battle is not to conquer, but to obey, remove the things that hinder, and allow God to work through us. Gideon had to obey by faith. He had to obey God and perform the commands of the Lord, but the works were not accomplished through his efforts, but by the hand of God alone. This is the same in our lives today as explained in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
Now let’s go back to our gardening analogy. If I pluck the weeds out of the garden, is that fruit? Can I take a handful of weed-free dirt and say, “Here you go, put this on the table and let’s eat?” Obviously, that’s absurd. Yet this is how most people look at serving God. We have only prepared our hearts to receive the work of God. The reward is not in our labors, but in God’s work. It is as Jesus described in Luke 17:10
10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' "
When we have carried out our responsibility, God doesn’t owe us a reward – or payment. We can’t look at God and say, “We have done what has been commanded, now give me what I’ve earned.” We are indebted to him for the redemption of our very souls, so we can never put God in debt to us. As we discussed in the previous study, the reward is the grace of God. He is giving us what we don’t deserve because he wants to bless us. We are removing the sins that easily entangle us so we can remain unhindered. As in my garden, I can’t make the fruit grow. My responsibility is to remove the things that hinder the plants and make sure the soil is conditioned to receive them. The growth of the plants and the fruit they produce is outside of my control. But watering, weeding, and tilling the soil is within my control.
In my life, I remove the things that hinder, water myself with the word, and till my soil with obedience, but the Spirit produces the fruit. My role is to remove the hindrances, root out the works of the flesh as they pop up, and condition my heart to receive the growth God is producing. My role is to surrender myself and subdue my flesh so God will complete his work in my life. Then I have the promise of Jesus that if I do these things, I will bear fruit. It is a promise. But it is a promise that will not be given to those who crowd their lives with things that quench the Spirit and choke the word.
So hopefully we can see that the fruit of repentance is a life changing and maturing in Christ. It is preparing my heart to receive the word of God and walking in obedience. Personal fruit is the fruit of the Spirit, produced by the work of God in my life when I submit to him in obedience. There is another aspect to fruit discussed in scripture. Next we will look at the fruit of our labors.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eddiesnipes
<<Click Here to Sign up for Weekly Messages>>
Return to the Bible Studies Page