What Does It Mean to Bear Fruit?

We often hear the analogy of "bearing fruit," but have you ever wondered what this actually looks like in the life of a believer and where the term comes from?

We find this term in two key passages of Scripture. The first passage is Matthew 7:17-19, which says "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." From this passage, we learn there are two kinds of fruit. The first is fruit that is born of the Spirit, which is good fruit. The second type is fruit that is born of the flesh, which is bad fruit. We also learn that those who do not bear fruit are thrown into the fire, which is important to note.

The second passage is from John 15:5-6, where Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." Here again, we see this idea that those who abide with Christ will bear fruit. We also see, once again, this idea that those who do not bear fruit are cast into the fire. It's clear there is an intensity to these passages we don't want to miss. Those who do not bear fruit will have no part in heaven with Christ but will spend eternity in hell apart from Christ. It's exceedingly important we get a handle on this concept of bearing fruit.

Let's break this concept down into three parts, our internal, external, and eternal fruit. Internal fruit is probably the most commonly referred to of the three types of fruit. This is the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-24, which says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." This is the internal fruit born from being indwelled with the Holy Spirit as we put to death our flesh. What results is holy and eternal purity, which can only come from God.

The second type of fruit is external fruit. This fruit is often not talked about, as many Christians fear that doing so will stand opposed to our justification by faith alone. However, these works are not the means of our salvation, but rather the outcome of our salvation. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Part of the result of our faith is that we will now accomplish the will of God by fulfilling the works He prepared for us before the beginning of time. This is where the gifts of the Spirit given to us in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4 come into play. This is also why it is important to be a part of a local church, as well as the work of edifying other saints and making disciples.

This leads us to number three, which is eternal fruit. There is an interesting mention of fruit in Romans 1. Verse 13 says, "I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles." What is Paul talking about here? The context indicates that he desired to proclaim the gospel both to the Greek and the barbarian, both the wise and the foolish. This is in obedience to the Great Commission of Matthew 28, which calls us to go out and make disciples. We are to proclaim the excellencies of Christ to all. A remarkable fruit that we can bear is to be the vessel God uses in bringing sinners to salvation through the proclamation of the gospel.

How does your life match up to this list? Are you seeing an internal purity manifest in your heart and your mind? Are you seeing the church built up and the gospel advanced through the use of your gifts? Are you seeing people in your life come to know Christ because of your faithful proclamation of the gospel? If so, you should have great confidence and assurance that you are indeed abiding in Christ.