Where Tammy and I live, we’ve been living here for six years. In the yard behind us is a mulberry tree; in the second year, our yard underneath it was covered with ripe fruit. Since then, it has not borne fruit, not even a hint that it would.
I was curious what caused the tree to stop bearing fruit, so I did some research. I learned it could be due to a variety of factors, including a lack of sunlight, incorrect pruning, over-fertilization, pest infestation, disease, severe drought, or a late frost.
I quickly ruled out two for sure, and a third potential cause of no fruit: insufficient sunlight, over-fertilization, and possibly a late frost. That leaves four likely causes: pruning, pest infestation, disease, or severe drought. Since I’m not an Arborist, I had to shoot from the hip, using some logical deduction.
As I contemplated the factors available, I could not help but see a connection between the unfruitful tree and its potential causes, and between the life of a Christian and the potential causes of unfruitfulness. That’s when I stopped considering the tree and could only see the correlation between it and the Christian, which led to this writing.
Out of the seven things that could cause the tree not to bear fruit, only one does not affect the life of a believer: over-fertilization. However, under-fertilization does. The remaining six will most definitely take a negative spiritual toll on a Christian's life. Let’s look at the six using scripture.
[ Light ] Anyone who has spent time in scripture understands that light is a major topic. We know that God is Light; that light causes darkness to flee. We’re to walk in the Light; Christians are to be the Light of the world. The word "light" is used over 200 times in the Bible.
[ Pruning ] In John 15:1-8, in v.2, John writes, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” To be bountifully fruitful in the Lord requires Him to prune His disciples.
[ Disease ] Spiritual illness is talked about extensively in the NT. You can barely turn a page without reading about the difference between the spiritually healthy and the spiritually ill. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
[ Infestation ] The New Testament writers spent considerable time warning against being corrupted by the world. Paul said, “Do not be deceived, Bad company corrupts good morals.” James wrote, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Peter wrote, “ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” John wrote, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world…”
[ Drought ] It’s appropriate to open the discussion about how drought affects the Christian by going back to the time of the Exodus. After Israel went through the sea, into the wilderness, the people quarreled with Moses, saying, “Give us water that we may drink.” The Lord told Moses to strike the rock, and Moses did, and water flowed out for the people to drink. Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the rock was Messiah. “...and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ…” In John 4:14, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “...but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” Four times in Revelation, the phrase “water of life” is used in reference to God. In Revelation 22:1, the “water of life” is said to be flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Sinners live in a constant state of spiritual drought, and the only way to quench the thirst is to drink from the Rock, our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
[ Late Frost ] If you’re an American and grew up in this country, most likely you were taught to work hard for a certain period of your life until you could retire. That’s something to look forward to if God blesses us to live long enough. Retirement from a vocation is appropriate, but it’s not the Biblical view when it comes to Kingdom work. God’s people never retire from the work of the Lord. In scripture, we see God’s faithful serving Him until death. We are to persevere in the faith and not grow cold in faithfulness to our Lord.
In Hebrews 12:1, it reads, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The heartfelt words from Paul to Timothy make me teary-eyed every time I read them. Paul wrote, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
In the NT, when you see the words “endurance,” “steadfastness,” “patience,” “patient,” and “patiently,” the Greek word is (ὑπομονή). (BDAG defines it as the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, and perseverance.) (Louw-Nida defines it as, to continue to bear up despite difficulty and suffering—‘to endure, to bear up, to demonstrate endurance, to put up with.’ Endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.)
Aging is a blessing from God and an example of His grace. A longer life means more opportunity to march on in Jesus for the sake of His Kingdom. Jesus is our Lord, Savior, King, and High Priest. He sits at the right hand of our Father now, reigning over His Kingdom.
In the NT, the word “fruit” is used 56 times, “fruitful” 2 times, and “unfruitful” 6 times. Within the 56 occurrences of the word “fruit”, it’s found 28 times in the phrase “bear fruit.” The same Greek word is used elsewhere in the NT to mean “grain,” “crops,” “harvest,” “descendants,” “yielded,” and “what has been collected.”
It appears that fruit (καρπός) and bear fruit (καρποφορέω) are significant topics in the NT. Let’s take a look and see why. (BDAG defines it as: fruit ((καρπός) as a product or outcome of something in a physical sense.) (Louw-Nida defines it as: To make. To cause results to exist. To produce results.)
Many Bible passages speak of bearing fruit.
In Eph 2:8-10, Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
In Eph 2:8, the Greek word translated as “grace” is (χάρις). Χάρις is not always clearly differentiated in meanings. It’s used 155 times in the NT, with a variety of usages, depending on the Bible version. In the ESV, it’s used as follows:( grace 121x; favor 12x; thank, thankfulness, thanks, 10x; gracious 5x; credit 3x; concession 1x; gift 1x; blessing 1x; and gratitude 1x.) The common English meaning “umerited favor” is not from classical Greek but is an appropriation from classical Greek and is designated as God’s relationship toward sinful humanity. In classic Greek, χάρις was used to indicate goodwill, favor, pleasure, or delight. However, in the NT, χάρις is translated in many ways, as mentioned above. If you’re interested in linguistics, especially historical linguistics and etymology, a deep dive into the study of χάρις is very interesting.
In Eph 2:9-10, some may read a contradiction; however, such doesn’t exist. In v.9, Paul’s statement that being saved is “not a result of works,” followed by saying in v.10 that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works,” can sound contradictory to some. Understanding what appears to be paradoxical simply requires a deeper understanding of scripture. Many believers have stumbled, and continue to stumble over this teaching.
God didn’t have to offer us salvation, but He wanted to provide a way of escape because He loves us. The love God has for us is why He became a man in Messiah Jesus. Because humans have a sin problem, and that problem leads to death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). For God to save us, His wrath had to be blocked, and only an unblemished sacrifice could do that.
In so doing, God reached out through His Son with the gift of salvation in His hand. He doesn’t force us to take it, but He desires all of us to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and come to the knowledge of the truth. Those of us who accept the gift should be joyful beyond compare for being rescued from the judgment on the day of the Lord. Walking in Him is living for Him. He loved us and saved us from an eternity of separation from Him; we should be zealous to love Him in return. Honestly, Christians should be the happiest people on the planet.
Jesus makes it clear what the love of God is and how we are to respond to His love. In (1 John 5:1-3), John writes, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” In (John 12:46-49), Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”
If the word is our judge, and keeping His commandments is love, then coming to the knowledge of the truth is crucial for the life of a Christian. God’s not a grandpa with a pocket full of candy; He’s the mighty, sovereign God of all creation. He is worthy of all glory, honor, praise, and reverence. What He says goes, not what we want to cherry-pick from what He has commanded. Over a dozen times in the Book of John, Jesus links loving Him to obedience to God’s will. We would be wise to heed His words, to cling to them as if our lives depended on it. Jesus is the only way to get out of this world alive.
In Colossians 1:9-10, Paul wrote, “... And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”
Everything in this writing, I ask you to study it prayerfully for yourself, and I encourage you to study without a preconceived or established denominational doctrine as your filter. I must tell you how important it is to be ever prayerful in your studies. Study in the Spirit of God. Don’t do it on your own; if you do, you’re leaving much wisdom and knowledge behind. God wants to be a part of your study of His word. Appeal to Him for wisdom (James 1:5) and be lowly in heart as you walk in the light of His word.
In my studies, I see God’s people loving Him with ALL their heart, ALL their soul, ALL their mind, and ALL their strength. That’s a bunch of ALLs, and they mean more than meets the eye. That’s a lesson I’m working on and hope to complete soon. For now, let’s take a look at what James says about works, because I believe he’s dealing with a similar, if not the same type of error, we face today.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO: JAMES 2:14-26
James is addressing a problem. Some recipients of the letter have accepted the notion that an intellectual faith is sufficient. Keep in mind, James is writing to a Jewish-Christian audience. The Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah obviously came from the Law of Moses. They had to have been excited to leave the law of works behind and enter into the Law of Liberty in Christ. Imagine being tied to a system that required work at every turn. If you were a faithful Jew, your daily life was keeping the law. Imagine now that you hear the Gospel of Jesus and about the free gift of salvation, and it’s not a detailed, works-based religion. You might take things to an extreme to your own undoing. You might take the freedom in Christ to such an extreme that you do nothing at all. Maybe you even begin to consider yourself above loving your neighbor as yourself, or maybe you never did consider your neighbor at all. You simply go about your life, waiting for Jesus' return, and forget that a believer's life is one of discipleship. It is a race we run with zeal in and for the Lord. Whatever the reason that brought you to a place of stagnation and dead faith, it needs to be corrected. That’s what James is doing in this context.
Verses 14-17 should give any Bible student pause. James is asking a rhetorical question, one he expects the reader to answer honestly with wisdom. One that he will answer for them. He begins by asking them if an empty faith can save them. Then, he gives an example they may be familiar with, since at that time, there were so many poor people. It didn’t matter where one went; they would witness many people who had very little, and some who went without the necessities of life. Just to drive the point home, in v.15, the phrase poorly clothed is from the Greek word (γυμνός) meaning naked; stripped; bare; lightly dressed; inadequately dressed. James is speaking in the extreme when he says that some may say to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled.” We actually have plenty of scriptural evidence showing the oppressive treatment of the poor. In v. 17, James pronounces the truth: just as you see a neighbor in need and do nothing, so is your faith in relationship to that situation. He tells them that the faith of such a person is dead without works.
V.18: James introduces an imaginary character of opposition. The opponent states, “You have faith and I have works.” James responds, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” The opponent’s statement insists that some have faith, while others have works. James insisted that works witness authentic faith; it’s not simply an intellectual process.
V. 19 Could there be a better example in all of the NT of anyone believing in the existence of God, who does not honor God? I don’t think so. Demons don’t have any chance of redemption. They know their time is short. They fear Jesus (Mt. 8:29; Mk. 1:24) with all of their being, to the point that they shudder [shudder] (φρίσσω) (BDAG - tremble, quivering, shuddering.) (Louw-Nida - to be so afraid as to tremble, to be extremely afraid.) Imagine getting this letter and seeing your faith is being compared to that of demons.
V. 20 James asked another question. My paraphrase, do you have to be shown by your own history? You [foolish] (κενός) (BDAG - Pertaining to being without something. Empty. Being devoid of intellectual, moral, and spiritual value. An empty jar.) (Louw-Nida - Pertaining to a complete lack of understanding and insight-foolish, stupid. That faith separated from works is useless.)
Then, he gives his readers Abraham and Rahab as two examples of exactly what he’s talking about. If you’re unfamiliar with the accounts or haven't revisited them in a while, I encourage you to do so. The context of Rahab begins in (Joshua 2:1), and the context of Abraham's offering of Isaac begins in (Genesis 22:1). I hope you will examine the entire context.
V. 26 The body - spirit = dead and faith - works = dead. In Genesis 2:7, God had formed (אָדָם) ('āḏām - man) from the dust of the earth. When God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, man became a living being. We are all sons of 'āḏām. Without the spirit, the body is an empty shell. The body separated from the spirit is a corpse destined to decay. Faith separated from works is a decaying faith. From Matthew through Revelation, faith and deeds are blood relatives.
Just like the mulberry tree needs specific things to bear fruit, so does the Christian. There are many differences between a tree and a human. The greatest is that the tree won’t stand before its maker on the day of the Lord. God in Christ provides everything we need to live a life of Godliness. He desires all humans to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God expects his children to love Him and keep His commandments. He expects us to love our neighbor, to care for the poor, the widows, the orphans, the oppressed. He demands we be people of charity and hospitality. There is a reason God tells us that the first and greatest commandment is, “And you shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.” These four ALLs refer to our entire being. God made us in His image. We are to be imagers of Him, we’re His representatives on this earth. We’re in a spiritual battle to grow the Kingdom of God. We are to be imitators of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our King, our Savior, and our High Priest. That’s why we exist, and that’s why God sent Jesus to die on a cruel cross for the sins of all those who will believe in His name. In His name is a lesson for another time.
(1 John 5:2-3) - By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
JESUS DIED FOR US. THE MOST WE CAN DO IS LIVE FOR HIM!