FINOYB

The letters on the screen in front of you may not make much sense now. But they will soon. What I want to talk about today is a topic that is very personally important to me.

We talked last time about how God’s plan for our live is in fact God’s purposes contained in Scripture. One of the results of that purpose is to produce what we all know of as spiritual fruit.

How would you define spiritual fruit? Where do we go in Scripture to find out?

John 15.1-17

John 15:1–17 ESV

1 “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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

John 15 has proven to be one of the more beloved chapters in Scripture, and for good reason.

Personally, I loved this section. And many Christians have spent more time in this chapter than any other portion of Scripture. Unfortunately, I think many who also value it have missed a critical point Jesus was making in that renowned conversation.

Jesus told his disciples to abide, and if they did, they would bear fruit, and it would glorify God the Father.

Doesn’t sound very complicated.

So what are we to take away here? The goal?

The point? Is it to produce fruit? Or something else?

It is to

ABIDE.

The Abiding Life

It is the profoundly simple, yet also complex set of verse that can make or break everything for us.

What Jesus is getting at here with the concept of abiding is he wants us to understand abiding in a way that captures three essential qualities of the spiritual journey:

identity, intimacy, and obedience.

When we abide, we root our identity in Christ, we remain intimate with him, and we do what he asks. And when we accomplish that, fruit-bearing is the natural result.

Now, while the message is fairly straightforward, the point is easily missed if we don’t slow down and examine closely what the text is saying.

Sadly, far too many church leaders attempt to use this passage as a formula for their strategic growth plans.

The assumption: if we abide, we will bear fruit.

Translation: if we remain in Christ, if we make him our home, “this thing” will grow.

The problem is that (in this particular passage) Jesus doesn’t distinguish between good fruit and bad fruit, nor does he say that we’re responsible for the fruit. He simply suggests abiding, and that the result will be fruit-bearing.

What does this mean?

How are we to view Fruit?

Fruit is none of your business.

FINOYB

“Fruit” being, anything resulting from your obedience to Christ.

All outcomes, all consequences resulting from your obedience, is none of your business.

I’ve found that church leaders tend to struggle with this concept because of the difficulty in separating what we believe is obedience, and what we believe should be the results of that obedience. However, what Jesus seems to be suggesting here is that his followers have one job: abide. Not bear fruit.

Disciples are in the abiding business, not the fruit-production business.

Fruit, in the end, is not our responsibility; it’s the Father’s.

To expound a bit more, the line, “Fruit is none of your business” is an axiom I think every person in ministry (especially pastor’s) should seek to grasp!

The results, the outcomes, the consequences of my ministry are fruit. But As a branch, my only job is abiding well and then doing what the Vinedresser asks.

“Come To Me”

This is one of those concepts I wish I could download into every pastor and ministry leader’s heart, especially those under the pressure of increased numerical results.

Chasing fruit is exhausting, and it never satisfies, because as soon as the results are attained, the bar rises one notch higher, and the fruit becomes that much more the goal.

Over time, even with good intentions, obedience to Christ becomes less and less satisfying, and the weight of ministry becomes more and more debilitating.

Maybe this is why Jesus also said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

He didn’t say, “Come to ministry.”

He didn’t say, “Come to the next church growth conference.”

He said, “Come to me,” because abiding in him is the only place we find true rest for our souls.

While this concept has completely transformed my life and ministry, learning to release fruit is one of the hardest disciplines I’ve learned. But it’s worth it. Not merely because it has caused my ministry increased fruit, but because it has freed me from the weight of ministry I was never intended to carry.

So may we be continually and wonderfully wrecked by this transformation.

May our ambition to abide be ever satisfied with our obedience to Jesus.

And may we hold dear to this truth, that fruit is none of our business.

I have heard over and over that the only fruit we must bear is bringing people to Christ. And that the sum total of a Christians success is wrapped up in how many times we have prayed the sinner’s prayer with people to accept Christ. Newsflash! We are not the one who saves people! Christ is!! Through the power of the HS. We are just a conduit. We are just a branch to the tree. Not the vine!! Not the vinedresser!!

I am convinced that one of the current greatest threats to the American Christian Church is the idea of performance based religion. And I think that is part of what plays into a number cases of spiritual abuse we see played out in churches time and time again.

What Does God Want? What the Gospel Isn’t

a lot of people you’d meet in church struggle with the gospel. The reason is because they are caught in a performance trap. You or someone you know may be able to define the term gospel, and perhaps even the content of its meaning. But the idea that believing what Jesus did for you is the sum total of what’s necessary for everlasting life just doesn’t seem right. Surely we have to do something. Otherwise, how could we deserve it?

What Does God Want? What the Gospel Isn’t

Salvation is not about performance. It never was, never will be, and never can be. We can do nothing to put ourselves at the level of God, to make ourselves fit for his presence. We lack God’s perfect nature. We are like God, created to image him, but by definition we are less than God, and God knows it. That’s why his solution was Jesus, not you.

It’s absurd to think we can bridge that gap or fill that void by doing this or not doing that. God never learns anything new about you when you fail. He’s known you all along and still loved you right where you were and are. Romans 5:8 says it best: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Did you catch that? While we were still sinners. You do not need to perform at a sufficient level to prod God into loving you. If you give that some thought, it’s really good news. God is never disappointed with you, because He never has false expectations of your behavior. God has loved you all along. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

We can boil this down to two thoughts. Salvation—membership in God’s family—cannot be earned. It can only be received, by faith (belief). God offers it because he is gracious and loving. There is no other reason, nor can there be.

Why do we feel the need to add performance to our salvation?

Because of the performance trap, we need to have a clear grasp of the fact that salvation and discipleship are not the same thing. Many believers unconsciously begin to add their own works or performance to the gospel because of guilt for their sin. The result is spiritual bondage, not the abiding life Jesus wants us to have (John 10:10; 2 Cor 1:5; Eph 3:20).[1]

Our motive for imitating Jesus is not to keep God loving us so we’ll be saved in the end. That which cannot be achieved by performance cannot be lost by performance. Salvation has nothing to do with our own worth or merit. It has everything to do with what someone—Jesus—did for us. “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). We can take no credit for salvation. Jesus gets all the credit.[2]

[1]Heiser, M. S. (2018). What Does God Want?(p. 68). Blind Spot Press. [2]Heiser, M. S. (2018). What Does God Want?(pp. 67–68). Blind Spot Press.