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A True Follower Shows Fruit
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Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance.
When you bear (produce) much fruit,
My Father is honored and glorified,
and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Are you a true follower of Christ? It is not enough to just say you believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, then you believe enough to do what he commanded: his first and principal command throughout his ministry being, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near;" and the evidence of repentance is to bring forth fruit.
When George Fox was approached by people pleading that they were saved because they believed in Jesus, his response was: where is the evidence of your belief?
Jesus himself said: The evidence of belief of a true follower is to produce much fruit, ,
The fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, joy, self-control, kindness, faith, goodness, and gentleness.
This involves ridding yourself of the sinful nature which includes sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
greed, hatred, discord, jealousy,
fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
So, you must crucify your sinful nature to produce fruit.
Jesus said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23
So, a true follower is one who has crucified their sinful nature and produced fruit.
Even Adolph Hitler said Jesus was his Lord and Savior. But he had no fruit. He was not a true follower. The Roman Catholic priests that killed 9,000,000 people for witchcraft in the Middle Ages said they were believers; they were baptized, prayed every day, took communion, and read the scriptures frequently. They were very holy murderers, because they had no fruit - only BIG thorns; they were not true followers.
If we are not seeking to produce fruit, our belief and faith is dead. As James said, faith without works is dead.
Jesus said, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
If you are a slave to sin, sin is your master; and Jesus can't be your Lord because you cannot serve two masters.
The principal work of a believer is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, which is in you and around you,
as evidenced by fruit - the fruit of the Spirit - love, peace, joy, goodness, etc.
It is never too late to start producing the fruit of righteousness, making Jesus your true Lord and Master.
Jesus said: The Word of God [the words you hear Jesus speak to you, not the Bible] is the seed. And that [seed] which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, [the Living Word, Christ, speaking to you, not the Bible] keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8:14-15. People have heard him speak to them, but were distracted from preserving in further listening by the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life; therefore not producing fruit unto righteousness. But some did bring forth fruit to perfection with patience.
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. . (God scourges and disciplines us before we become sons. )
Jesus said: But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? . (If your teacher and preacher doesn't have this love, gentleness, self-control, kindness, peace, fidelity, goodness, and joy, you are being misled into the ditch and into captivity by a false prophet; this same test can be applied to false christians.)
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. . Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Paul said: No immoral, impure or greedy person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:5. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; greed; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.0
Jesus said: When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified,
and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
So How do we produce fruit? Jesus said: Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
and
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. John 15:4. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;(John 15:4-5) love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.)
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Works without God's Love in us count for nothing.
To produce fruit, is to possess God's love; then your works are faith expressing itself through love. Gal 5:6
Abiding is the key to success as a Christian. Studying the Bible only tells us what we must achieve and avoid.
To know the truth, you have to be taught by Jesus himself, personally, about himself. His living words must abide in you.
To abide in Christ, is to abide in his Light, in his presence, in his living word, (not read the Bible).
To abide is "to remain." We go to him and quietly sit waiting on him; and then we listen for him to speak to us and watch for what he shows us. When the Light appears, we spend time in the Light. His living Word penetrates us, separating spirit from soul, and the Light purifies us by the blood of Jesus. As we repent, we are changed and receive more of His Spirit. As we receive more of his Spirit, he abides or remains in us too. We become the possessors of Christ, not just professors.
For more understanding on the necessity of learning in silence,
see George Fox's outstanding writing on Why Silence? (also on the side bar)
How do we repent?
To start, John the Baptist said:
Think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct.
Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance.
He who has two undergarments, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do it the same way.
[Give to the poor, share from your excess with those who are without the necessities of life.]
Exact and collect no more than the fixed amount appointed you. [Be honest in all your dealings]
Never demand or enforce by terrifying people or by accusing wrongfully,
and always be satisfied with your rations (supplies) and with your allowance (wages).
[Don't oppress people or frighten anyone, don't lie, don't want more, don't complain.]
Jesus said: Change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins. Matt. 4:17
Click here to see 53 New Testament references to repentance.
How do we know from what else to repent?
Paul says: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.
Listen to and obey My voice,
and I will be your God and you will be My people;
and walk in the whole way that I command you.
How do we access the grace of God to teach us what to deny?
Jesus says: For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [not the Bible, his living voice] and does [practices] them, .. is like a man ..building a house securely.. on a rock. . As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. . So we go to him, by being silent and listening; not reading, not talking, not praying, just quietly listening, and thinking his name - which gives us access to the power of God; and when he tells us to do something, like repent, we do it and obey.
We keep quiet to hear him because he said, Do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.
The words we hear are words of eternal life, not the words we read or hear read from of the Bible.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.
So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent.
Jesus came so he could destroy the devil and his works [sin] in us - if we let him.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, [manifested in us] that he might destroy the works of the devil.
A prominent Early Quaker, William Penn, founder of the Pennsylvania, in his Introduction to George Fox's Journal states:
Repentance from dead works to serve the living God consists of three operations:
1) to be shown the sin within you, (your habit, your error, or your desire to sin)
2) to realize it and to have a godly sorrow for it, and
3) a change for the future.
Repentance is the natural result of people turning to the inward light and word:
for by the light comes sight of the sin
with the sight of the sin, you realize your error and wrongness with a sorrow for it; and
with realization and sorrow about the sin revealed by the light,
results in you changing your conduct in life from that time onward- repentance.
Such repentance leads to justification; that is, forgiveness of past sins through Christ, the sole propitiation; and the sanctification or cleansing of the soul from the defiling nature and habits of sin. This justification is complete by: 1) comprehending both justification from the guilt of the sins that are past, as if they had never been committed, through the love and mercy of God in Christ Jesus; and 2) and the person being made inwardly just through the cleansing and sanctifying power and spirit of Christ revealed in the soul, which is commonly called sanctification.
This leads to the prize of the high calling to all true Christians: perfection from sin, according to the scriptures of truth, which testifies perfection to be the end of Christ's coming, and the nature of his kingdom, and for which his spirit was and is given. But this is a not perfection in wisdom and glory in this life, or from natural infirmities or death, as some have with a weak or ill mind imagined and insinuated.
This a redeemed state, regeneration, or the new birth; and unless this work is known, there is no inheriting the kingdom of God.
See How to Benefit from the Changing Power of God for more information.
Here's all the verses in the New Testament that show the refer to producing fruit to righteousness and holiness.
- When you bear (produce) much fruit,
My Father is honored and glorified,
and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.
- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 3
- Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
- "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing. . Abide, spend time waiting on Him, sitting in the Light, and you will produce much fruit. Without His leading and direction, anything we do counts for nothing.
- The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
- "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
- By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
- Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
- A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
- Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
- "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
- Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
- When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
- "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
. (He is talking to the Jews, who would not produce fruit because they thought they were already righteous. But this applies to us to. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. )
- For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
- Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. (The fig tree is the symbol of Israel.)
- Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
- At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
- Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
- "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
- Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
- Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
. Jesus is talking about his three year ministry in Israel, where none, except his disciples, were producing fruit. But it can apply to us too.
- He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
- Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. . You remain in him, by sitting quietly in the Light.
- This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
- You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
- So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
- For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.
- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
- (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) Eph 5:8-10
- filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
- All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
- And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
- But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace, raise a harvest of righteousness.
See How to Benefit from the Changing Power of God for more information.
This web site's purpose is to show how to become
free from sin
by benefiting from the changing power of God through the cross,
which leads to union with God in his Kingdom.
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