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to
"Living
and Enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit"
and
the second
part of
"The
Vine and the Branches"
By the "branches,"
Christ included all those who claim to be Christians, whether they
really are or not. But what happens to show which branches are
"sham Christians"? Any dead wood that just hangs on the
vine and therefore has no life running through it, and of course no
vital union with the vine, is taken away, "cast forth,"
"withered," and "burned" (15:6. It is as
worthless as savorless salt (Matthew 5:13.)
God has given us all free wills,
so that it is up to us whether we shall "abide" in the Vine
and be living branches, or be deadwood--dead in trespasses and
sins. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, took upon Himself all the
hideous sin of all mankind, and shed His blood to reconcile the holy God
with sinful men. The Bible makes it clear that anyone who does not
believe this is "dead in sins" (Ephesians 2:5). But God
proved His love for us by sending His Son to die for us "while we
were yet sinners" (Romans 5:8-11).
How wonderful that we don't have
to be "dead in sins" but can be quickened"--made
alive--and have all our sins forgiven if we believe that Christ died to
save us and ask Him to be our Savior! (Colossians 2:13; Romans 10:9, 10)
If, as living branches, we
"abide" in Christ, the Vine, we can bear fruit. We
realize that the only way a vine in any vineyard can express itself in
fruit is through its branches. Similarly, the only way Christ can
let the world know what HE is like, is through obedient Christians who
willingly let the Lord's power flow through their lives as freely as sap
flows from the roots of a vine to its branches.
Our memory verses remind us that
we Christians need "purging" or pruning, in order that we may
bear "fruit." Sometimes a branch bears nothing but
leaves. It reminds us of the fig tree that Jesus cursed
because it produced nothing but leaves--it bore no fruit (Mark
11:12-14). Jesus wants us to be more than showy foliage; He
wants us to bear fruit, and, "more fruit", and "much
fruit." Our characters can never become Christ-like until
many selfish habits are pruned, or cut, from our lives. Our
heavenly Father is the Husbandman who prunes us as He sees fit.
But what is fruit? How can
believers "bear fruit"? Let's read our Day Verse
together. Notice it is not "fruits", but fruit-one
well-rounded cluster of nine graces-that Christians are to bear.
This "fruit" must not be
confused with works we do to prove our faith, nor gifts or
talents we are given. Bible "fruit" is our
Christian character, our "Christ-likeness." What we do
for Christ is not so important as how much we resemble Him. And we
resemble Him. And we resemble Him in proportion as we want to
abide in Him. To abide in the Vine is to have Christ's own
powerful heavenly life flowing through us, thus enabling us to share
it. Then we just can't help bearing fruit--being loving and joyous
and peaceful, and everything else that He wants us Christians to be.
Surely we'll all be looking
forward to eagerness to our next lessons to find out more about the
Christ-like character that we may have if we belong to Christ, the Vine,
and are abiding branches in Him. Think of the privilege Christians
have of belonging to God's family! Think of the further privilege
of being able to share Christ's loveliness and strength and wisdom and
power! Think of being able to radiate Christ's very life!
Perhaps you've never before
realized the great privilege Christians have who give themselves over
completely to the Lord. We who love Christ--don't cultivate
a fruitful character through any efforts of our own, but as we
prayerfully let the Holy Spirit have His way with us, He will bear His
own fruit and produce Christ-likeness in us. Let's pray now that
these truths may become very real to us as we progress in our study of
the fruit of the Spirit.
To continue with
"Living and Enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit
and to go to Day 2,
just click NEXT below:
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