Introduction

Christianity is a religion of horticulture.

This is just a way of saying that God is a gardener! God is the original horticulturist. But he doesn’t grow the expected fruits. Of course, he is the one who is all-around responsible for the growth of all the pomegranates, avocados, peaches, pears, and plums, but he is also the cultivator of a different and even better fruit, a spiritual fruit. After all, the purpose of a fruit plant is to bear fruit. Well, that’s also God’s purpose and promise in saving us, that we will bear much fruit for his kingdom (John 15:5)!

A Fire Poke

Becoming Christians, we are grafted onto a vine, and the Bible tells us that this vine is none other than Jesus Christ (John 15:1; Romans 11:17,19,24). In this process, God takes us, who are insignificant, fruitless twigs that most farmers would use as a fire poke, makes a slit in his own side, and firmly plants us in there. Now, the reason why farmers graft shoots in the first place is to create stronger more varied fruit plants, and so it is with God (1 Peter 4:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4). We are grafted onto (and into) Jesus Christ, the sustaining vine so that we would become stronger and bear a manifold of fruit (Colossians 1:10). 

And this is a fabulous promise, because not only does this mean we are saved from the predation of God’s wrath, but this also means that now with him as our Father, he begins to change us. In other words, our lives as Christians don’t stop with our faith, but instead, we live by faith from first to last (Romans 1:17), which means our faith is active. And as our faith works through love and grows we are kept from being ineffective and unfruitful (2 Peter 1:8). 

United To Christ

We are not made to bear fruit for the sake of the fruit, however. Bearing fruit is a comforting and clear indicator that we are united to Christ. But when we bear fruit we are also reassured in our conscience and heart that we are children of God. And so, the act of bearing fruit becomes a thing of faith, but also a gracious gift granted from our Heavenly Father to his adopted children reminding us that we belong to him. Jesus says it like this:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5

As we grow and progress in our lives united to Christ, abiding in him, we will bear much fruit, and our love for Christ will deepen, our calling and election will be made sure (2 Peter 1:10), and we will know that Christ does indeed abide in us. 

The Christian Fruit

But what is this fruit? What is the fruit that we bear by abiding in Christ and him in us? First, observe, that fruit is the result of a healthy plant producing what it was designed to produce (Matthew 7:17). So, if a Christian is to produce fruit it must come from a good plant, i.e. a good heart. 

But more pointedly, fruit is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, which is why Paul calls it “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22), and then he goes on to list several varieties of yield: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And these are produced by “walking” in the Spirit, or in other words, having the pattern of our lives be that which is in accord with God’s word, or in other other words, living like a Christian! 

In fact, we show ourselves worthy of the Lord by “bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10), and in so doing we please him, which must be our ultimate aim from now to eternity (2 Corinthians 5:9). 

Conclusion

If we are in Christ and are walking by the Spirit we will bear fruit. There are no two ways around it. Listen again, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…” If Christ is in you, then you will begin to change and resemble him, and first, it will be in your heart, and then it will come through your fingertips. To God be the glory, for all our good works!