When we believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for the salvation of our souls we receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit, which gives us the power to become sons of God. We do not suddenly become sons of God like so many falsely teach. Simply re-read the parable of the sower and the seeds from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke to see this is so. Also remember John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” So far you and I have only received power to become sons of God. We have not yet been made sons of God. Nevertheless, Jesus and the prophets did give us clear instructions so that we could discern whether or not we walk upon that one, narrow path which will result in our manifestation as a son of God. Those instructions include the doctrine of fruit which we are now studying.

The Gospel begins with John the Baptist saying,

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.¹⁰ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.“ (Matthew 3:7b-10 ESV)

John spoke to the religious hypocrites of his day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. I speak to the religious hypocrites of my day, those who call themselves by the name of God and yet teach men to do evil in his name. These are those who call evil good and good evil, who are righteous in their own eyes, and yet are filled with nothing but dead men’s bones. They hold the truth in unrighteousness and teach the doctrines of men in place of the doctrines of God. They do not follow the narrow path of God’s Word, nor do they teach others to do so. They make men into the sons of Hell which they themselves are, thus making men into the image of their father, Satan, rather than into the image of God. As John warned, these shall be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Jesus himself spoke about bearing fruit toward God many times in his ministry. Early on he said,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Here, like John before him, Jesus criticized religious leaders who pretend they serve God, but in reality are false prophets. He told us we could recognize false prophets by looking at their fruit. What is their fruit? Anything dealing with their life, for example, their wife, their children, their dress, their demeanor, their habits, their teaching. A person’s fruit is that which you see concerning him. Is the fruit bad or is it good. Would you eat it, that is, would you want that type of fruit in your life. It is very common, for example, that people consider preacher’s kids to be brats, or to be arrogant. If the kids exhibit these traits what does that tell you about their father and mother? So, examine your fruit. First identify it. What is your fruit? Now determine whether your fruit is good or bad.

If you think your fruit may tend toward what God would judge to be bad, then consider Jesus’ next teaching about fruit:

³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. ³⁶ I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37)

If you can “make” your fruit either good or bad, then you must have some control over your own tree, your own self, right? The nature of your tree depends upon the treasure in your heart. Where is your treasure, on earth or hidden in Christ above? The vast bulk of Scripture concerns building up your treasure in heaven. Our treasure should be the oil of the Holy Spirit which we must have in order to see God. We seek this oil by faith in the holy Son of God. We act upon this faith by works of obedience which God gives us to do as we seek his face. Our actions, like Abraham’s before us, prove our faith. By this shall we be justified in God’s sight. None of us create our good fruit by obeying God or his law perfectly. Our fruit develops by drawing upon and having faith in the sap which feeds and nourishes our tree, the living water of Jesus Christ himself (his flesh and his blood in the spiritual).

Jesus explained this shortly before men crucified him. He said,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.⁴ 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. ⁵ 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. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:1-10, ESV)

Again, examine your own fruit. Be diligent and be honest. What exactly is your fruit? Now determine whether your fruit is good or bad by holding it to the light of God’s word. Jesus said that the word that he spoke would judge us. So shall his word judge our fruit.