Mission Venture Ministries

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16) 

Every true Christian desires to be a fruit-bearing Christian, not one who is “unfruitful” (2 Peter 1:8). 

The promise of Christ in our text is that our fruit will remain, if we pray in His name and seek sincerely to bear fruit for His name’s sake. It is significant that the Greek word translated “remain” is also commonly translated “abide.” 

In the natural world, fruit is the result of a healthy plant producing what it was designed to produce (Genesis 1:11–12). In the Bible, the word fruit is often used to describe a person’s outward actions that result from the condition of the heart. Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a starting place: the fruit of His Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The more we allow the Holy Spirit free rein in our lives, the more this fruit is evident (Galatians 5:16, 25). 

Jesus told us clearly what we must do to bear good fruit. He said, “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. “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” (John 15:4–5). 

As disciples of Christ, we must stay firmly connected to Him to remain spiritually productive. A branch draws strength, nourishment, energy and protection from the vine. If it is broken off, it quickly dies and becomes unfruitful. When we neglect our spiritual life, ignore the Word of God, cease to pray, and withhold areas of our lives from the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit, we are like a branch broken off the vine and our lives become fruitless. We need daily surrender, communication, and connection with the Holy Spirit in order to “walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” 

The counterfeit to bearing good fruit is pretense. People can become experts at “acting like Christian,” while experiencing no real power and bearing no eternal fruit. These hearts remain self-centered and joyless even while they go through the motions of serving God. People can easily slip into the sin of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day in judging themselves by how they think and appear to others by neglecting that secret place of the heart where all good fruit truly germinates. 

When we love, desire, pursue, and fear the same things that the rest of the world does, we are not abiding in Christ, even though our lives may be filled with church-related activity. And, often, we don’t realize that we are living fruitless lives (1 John 2:15-17). 

When we are connected and intentional about our relationship with God, we produce the fruit God cultivates within us. It is God who does the work in us; our fruit-bearing is simply a result of what the Holy Spirit does in us. 

So how do we build our relationship with God? We spend time in the Word of God (the Bible), pray and listen; we worship God alone and with others, we fast, and give our time and talents. Some of the things we don’t do, include avoiding the desires of the flesh described in  Galatians 5:19–21. In short, we actively pursue God and flee from that which is sinful. 

Bearing fruit in the Christian life is not about doing works or trying to be righteous in our own strength. Rather, it is about intentionally growing in our walk with Christ, inviting the Holy Spirit’s work of transformation in us, and actively obeying God in all He calls us to do. And as we seek Him and leave our own carnal desires to do what He wants, we will bear lasting fruit and serve as salt and light to a world in need of Jesus (Matthew 5:13-16). 

Producing fruit requires action, but it is not the action of frantic spiritual activity. Yes, God wants us to “bear fruit” (John. 15:2), “bear much fruit” (v. 8), and “bear fruit…that will last.” (v.16). However, He takes responsibility for providing all we need to be fruitful (John 15:2-3). 

So what actions am I responsible for? I’m responsible for abiding, and as we abide in Christ and He in us, we experience the life and love of Christ flowing into our lives, resulting naturally in fruitfulness. Therefore, being fruitful means moving toward spiritual maturity, becoming more and more like Christ. 

The good fruit that we bear is the mark that is so easily seen by others when we act according to God’s commandments. Good fruit is also referred to as being a light bearer, since we are the only light in this world that some people that we personally know will ever see. So we need to take responsibility in that, making sure that our light is pure and our fruit is good. God will do the rest in working in the hearts of people. By His Holy Spirit, He will work on their hearts and draw them unto Himself as Zechariah 4:6 tells us: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. 

Be encouraged and blessed today and be bearers of good fruit in all you do and don’t be afraid to let God prune you once in a while because He knows what is best for us and for His kingdom. 

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