The Vine and the Branches

Use of Parables:

Jesus started His ministry after a lapse of approximately 400 years after Malachi. There had been no prophet, no prophecy, and no message from God during the period. Israel had been waiting desperately for the long promised Messiah. The atmosphere was full of expectancy and there came Jesus. After baptism in the river Jordan by John the Baptist and temptation in the wilderness, Jesus started His ministry. He used a very simple and effective way of teaching the crowd. His audience was made up of village folk with little or no knowledge of the ‘Law and the Prophets’ and the ‘Scribes and Pharisees’ who ‘knew it all’. He came from above (heaven), the crowd were of the world. He talked about the ‘kingdom’ (of heaven or of God) but the crowd knew only the kingdom of Israel. He taught about eternal life and eternity, the people were ignorant of the matter. The disciples that Jesus had chosen to be with Him were not very different from the crowd. First they did not understand much of Jesus’ teachings of the ‘kingdom’ and second they also took it as the ‘kingdom’ of Israel. However Jesus knowingly called them, discipled them, and helped them understand the kingdom truth. “… for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in man.” (John 2: 24, 25) He earnestly desired the disciples knew who He was, had their inner eyes enlightened, perceived the eternal and understood the Father’s plan and purpose. Their calling was meant to follow Jesus, live with Him, gain understanding, grow to maturity and carry on the ministry Jesus had started. To make things easy He taught them in parables; using stories, incidents and objects of daily life. This parable concerns how the disciples can bear much fruit simply by remaining in Jesus. (John 15: 1-17)

Jesus’ Purpose of Coming:

Jesus had come into the world as the Father’s sacrificial gift for the world. (John 3:16) He died on the cross after completion of His earthly ministry opening the door of salvation for whom so ever believing in Him. Jesus did everything the Father had assigned Him to do. He taught the disciples, preached to the crowd, healed the sick, cast out demons, touched the lepers, ministered to the women, made friends and encouraged the common man, showed God’s love, demonstrated kingdom life and expressed Deity in human form. He was assigned to break the yoke of slavery imposed by established religious order and demolish the strong holds of powers of darkness, to make the people free from the shackles of ignorance and prejudice. Practically Jesus demonstrated the freedom Father had intended for man kind. Attending the first meeting at Nazareth He read from Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to peach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18 –19) After reading Jesus told the congregation, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 21b) The prophecy was literally fulfilled in Jesus’ coming as Isaiah had described. He wished the people; especially the disciples understood it. The ministry that followed was only the out working of that prophecy.

Fruitfulness – The Purpose of Creation:

After creating (making) man, ‘God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in numbers; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ (Genesis 1: 28). Man was blessed to be fruitful and increase in numbers – growth has been one of the basics in God’s purpose of creation. It was not only for man but for all the creatures. Earlier on the fifth day of creation, ‘… God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind….God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas and let the birds increase on the earth.” (Gen. 1: 20 -22) The blessings pronounced both for man and animal/ birds reflect God’s basic design: they are all meant for physical multiplication – increasing in numbers, growth. The same principle applies for vegetation as well; they are self propagating. Fruitfulness, increasing in numbers or growth has been the central point of creation. God intends every living being to bear fruit and multiply; grow in numbers and fill the earth. Looking at the surface it sounds as if God is concerned with numerical growth only but the blessing covers every sphere of ‘man’; Body, Soul and Spirit. He desires increase, growth, abundance, prosperity and overflow for man, the crown of creation. He intends man achieves everything God has ordained for him.

Bearing Fruit:

In Jesus’ days farming was very common in Israel. People knew the tools and the terms used in farming very well and Jesus found it easy to teach the kingdom truth using parables. Sowing and reaping are very common and are still the same today. The farmer starts with preparing the field, sows the seeds, does the weeding, performs dressing and eagerly waits for the harvest. The owner of vineyards knows it very well that dressing the vines and pruning of branches in a timely manner is very essential for better harvest. After doing every possible effort the branches that do not bear fruit bring disappointment, taken as useless and are cut down and used as firewood. A good harvest brings joy to the farmer, rewarding his labor; bad harvest on the other hand brings loss, the investment and labor is wasted. Fruit bearing therefore is very important, both for the farmer and for the plant. The Pharisees and Sadducees earlier who wanted to be baptized by John, but did not bear any fruit in keeping with repentance; John rejected them saying, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 3: 7b- 10) From His people God had always desired good fruits but the Pharisees and the Sadducees never produced that.

Both, John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2) and Jesus (Matt. 4:17) called for repentance. Their message was the same; ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’. In the process of man being made in God’s image which had begun at creation, Jesus’ coming ushered in the concluding age. Call to repent was to introduce new life in Jesus, which is the eternal life. Man needed to enter into eternity through repentance and receive salvation and new birth. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death”. (2Cor.7:10) Repentance originating with godly sorrow begins at heart and leads to salvation as the person receives Jesus by faith as personal savior. It starts with a person’s confession of sins and repentance from them. As a person makes this decision, in an instant the Holy Spirit works a miracle in his spirit. His sins are forgiven by Jesus and his spirit is liberated by the Holy Spirit from the bondage of sin. (John 3:6) The person is born again – a miracle has just taken place in his heart, this liberating moment brings in peace and joy which cannot be fully expressed, this is from heaven. This new life with a change of heart brings about a very different but fruitful life style well pleasing to God.

Trees and plants bear fruit; it is very natural for them, God ordained in creation. A good harvest always brings joy to the farmer. A tree or plant not yielding the expected harvest is useless and bears the farmers wrath. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees of a similar end. The Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ days were prominent members of society, gained respect of the people and were highly esteemed. But their life style was not pleasing to God. They did not do what they taught. They had been using the established religious order for their personal gain and glory. How do we find the church leaders today? Can we draw any parallel between the leaders today and the leaders in Jesus’ time? We can easily describe the Pharisees and Sadducees as, “They were ‘lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power’ as Paul had later written to Timothy (2 Tim 3: 2 -5) and had instructed him to ‘have nothing to do with them’.

Good Trees and Bad Trees:

Jesus talked about good trees bearing good fruit and bad trees bearing bad fruit. He said, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” (Matt. 12: 33) There is a fundamental difference between trees bearing good fruits and bad fruits. They are either good or bad from their root. To bear good fruits for a bad tree is normally not possible. The tree needs a total genetic change, in other words it must be changed into a good tree. The good tree mentioned here bearing good fruits represents the born again disciples who with renewed mind and changed attitude perform good works and try to live a life well pleasing to the Father. The bad trees bearing bad fruit are the people who have not accepted Jesus as their savior, do not know eternal life, have no experience of new birth and so live to please the flesh. However it is possible forevery person to be renewed; as the person puts his faith in Jesus and receives the forgiveness of sins, he becomes totally new at heart. This newness affects every sphere of his life, starting with pure thoughts resulting in good works, works that please the Lord. A born again disciple desires to please the Lord, an unregenerate person is ruled by inherent sinful nature and works of the flesh are evident there. A born again disciple is still troubled by the sinful nature within, but at new birth its power in his life is destroyed; Jesus starts living there with His Spirit. Now it depends on the person whom does he want to please, the Lord or the flesh. Yielding to the desires of the flesh inspired by sinful nature results in temptation and sinning. Pleasing the Lord starts as a yearning at heart and the disciple finds it easy to pay any and every price associated with it. Actually every act of obedience is costly and it is very painful for the flesh. But this is the only way for spiritual maturity leading to the conforming to Christ’s image. Obedience brings one victory after another over the lustful desires and the sinful nature is taken over by new life bearing good fruit. “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5: 17) This brings glory to God and is well pleasing to Him.

The Divide:

As in all the parables here also the disciples are described as two kinds of branches: one that do not bear fruit and the other that bear fruit; one that do not meet the Father’s expectations and the other that are pleasing to Him. There is a divide in the ‘kingdom’ from the beginning. There was Abel and there was Cain, one was pleasing the Lord, the other could not. There was Noah and his family and there were people of that age, whose every thought was evil – they all had to be destroyed by flood. There has been Abraham, God’s friend, and Lot his nephew; both had started together but Lot chose the green plains and settled, but Abraham followed Him to the end; there was Isaac and there was Ishmael, there was Jacob and Esau, there was Moses and the Israelites, There was King David and King Saul, there were the patriarchs, the people of faith who had decided by faith to live and glorify the Lord. The new life, the forgiveness of sins, the faith in Jesus and the obedient Christian life are exclusively for all who so ever desire so. Obedience is actually very costly and very painful for the flesh and always needs a price to be paid. On the other hand sin is pleasurable and the flesh enjoys. But there is a difference of life and death. Deliberate choice needs to be made deeper inside to pay that price. There is always a narrow gate and a wider gate, there are wheat and tares, there are 5 wise virgins and five foolish ones, there are servants making profits of five and two talents and there is a servant making zero, there are sheep and there are goats, there are the ones who are led by the Spirit and there are the ones who gratify the desires of the sinful nature, there are those who know their citizenship is in heaven and there are those who continue living in and for the world. In all the parables such people are warned of the coming judgment. Although the Father expects every believer to partake in every blessing promised, there needs to be individual commitment to obey, there has to be a desire to please the father, there must be a willingness to remain in Jesus and be fruitful. The way a person decides to live now will affect the destiny. So making every decision is important and needs to be taken seriously. “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:10)

Fruit bearing and attitude:

In Psalm 1 man is likened to a tree. “He (Man) is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1: 3) In this illustration ‘tree’ is like a man; ‘streams of water’ is the source of nutritional energy for the tree representing Jesus; ‘yielding fruit and evergreen leaves’ are the good works of man resulting in ‘prosperity’. A tree can be divided into three parts to make the illustration easy: the roots, the stump and the leaves, flowers and fruits. The roots of a tree are like the thoughts and attitudes in man. Roots are underground, not seen but vital for the trees’ stability, strength and fruition; so are the thoughts and attitude of man. The stump of a tree is like the character of a man. The leaves, flowers and fruits are like the works of man. The roots provide the life giving nourishment to the tree through the stump to the branches. The thoughts and attitudes are the unseen elements deeper in man shaping his character. Someone has said, ‘It is not what you think you are that you are, but it is what you think that you are.’ Some one’s action/ works are simply the visible expression of his thoughts and attitudes. As the fruits of a tree correspond with works, either good or bad; so is the man’s work, the result of his attitude, good or bad. There is a saying, ‘sow a thought, reap an attitude; sow an attitude, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; so a character, reap a destiny’. Thoughts and attitudes are the influencing factors which result in actions. Jesus talking about ‘adultery’ said, “…I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5: 28). Adultery as well as any other work of the flesh originates in thoughts and if not overcome there pushes its way to manifest action. As there needs to be good tree to bear good fruit, so it needs to have a renewed mind and a changed attitude to produce good works in a man’s life. It is essential therefore, ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ;’ (Phi. 2:5) The attitude is the basic foundation on which Christian’s life starts bearing good fruit – showing forth good works pleasing to the Lord. The works whether good or bad are like a tree bearing fruits, good or bad and are important for our destiny. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10) Our Christian life begins with faith in Jesus resulting in new birth which brings in a total change of heart and mind. With this change a change of attitude is essential. Before salvation a man is ruled by inherent sinful nature, easily yielding to satisfy lustful desires of the flesh, manifested as works of the sinful nature. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” (Gal 5:19 – 21a) The born again disciples are encouraged to live by the Spirit. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature”. (Gal 5: 16) in order to be able to overcome the desires of the sinful nature. “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom 8: 12 – 14) Being born of the Spirit are the children of God but being led by the Spirit are the sons of God. One needs to grow from childhood to adulthood. It needs discernment to differentiate between the desire of the flesh (sinful nature) and leading of the Spirit. When it comes to making choices, our desire plays a very important role and help in making decisions. We have the ‘will’, a God given faculty in our being by which we make choices and come to decisions. What do we desire in the first place? A deep desire to please the Lord helps the man to choose to be led by the Spirit, making it easy to (although fighting the good fight against desires of the flesh) put to death the misdeeds of the body. The psalmist yearns, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42: 1,2). The psalmist’s desire is expressed in his thirst for God. ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. We need to practice in the leading of the Spirit and be pleasing to the Lord in doing good works.

Fruit as works:

There are good fruits and there are bad fruits. Good trees bear good fruits and bad trees bear bad fruits. Good trees cannot bear bad fruits neither can bad trees bear good fruits. As are the trees so are the fruits. Jesus used the same example of trees to identify ministries. He said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? ” (Matt 7: 15 -16) Thorn bushes can never produce grapes, nor the thistles can ever produce figs. Works and actions reveal a real person, not the outward appearance. The difference between true prophets and false prophets is there calling. The true prophets and other ministries are genuinely called of the Lord and their works support them. False prophets and ministries simply pretend; never received the calling and their works show it. True and false do not look different from outside. They cannot be recognized by their physical appearance. It is very difficult to single them out. They can only be recognized by their fruit, the outcome of their ministries. Good trees bear good fruits and good ministries bear good works, works that are pleasing to God. Good works are the works that please the Father, done according to His will. (Matt. 7: 21) So how do we define the good works, the works that are pleasing to God? It is written, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”(Eph. 2:10)

There is a very wrong conception about a verse in Isaiah which says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Is. 64: 6) The middle part of the verse is wrongly quoted most of the time and is interpreted as good works no more important for Christians as we are saved by faith. This verse actually means that nobody can approach God and gain salvation on the basis of good works as all our righteous acts (meant for claiming salvation) are like filthy rags before God. A person’s righteous acts can never earn him salvation. As far as receiving forgiveness of our sins, new birth or salvation is concerned, it is only possible by faith in Jesus through grace. No works, no matter how pious, is ever able to buy us our salvation. Salvation is only in Jesus. (Acts 4:12) So works being used as means to gain salvation is useless, it is like filthy rags in God’s presence. It is no good for salvation, but after salvation works are very important forevery believer as they are the basis of our acceptance or rejection for receiving prize as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Paul has described Christian life as a building under construction. It starts at new birth on a rock foundation which is Jesus. As the believer walks in daily life, every decision made, every word spoken, every action performed work as different building materials used for construction of the building. The materials used correspond to our performance in our daily Christian living; from our attitudes to resulting actions – works evident in our practical living. “If any one builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his works will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Cor. 3: 12 -15) The building materials used as gold, silver and costly stones stand for the works done according to the father’s will and are meant to please Him, on the Day (of standing before the judgment seat of Christ) such works stand the test and the disciple is rewarded. Wood, hay and straw stand for the works done for self (pleasure) and are not good enough to stand the test. The disciple is denied the reward (hence suffers loss) but in His mercy retains the salvation. We are encouraged to seek God’s will and live performing such works that please Him and are warned of the Day when our works are tested and revealed.

This revealing of the works with fire is different from burning of the trees (of John the Baptist) or that of the branches of the vine not bearing fruit. Here the works whether good or bad are evaluated for their quality in order to determine the prize as every believer stands before the judgment seat of Christ. “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Cor. 4: 5) The works are going to be brought to light by the Lord and they will be evaluated not by out ward appearance but by the motives behind them. Not what is done will be important but why it was done that was done. God will approve such workers by His praise.

The burning of trees and branches not bearing fruit relate to the last judgment, the lake of fire, the 2^nd death. There is no chance of recovery after this, as the trees and the branches once burnt in fire cannot be recovered again. This is very well explained in Revelation 20: 11- 15). In the last verse it is written, “If anyone’s name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown in the lake of fire”

The Vine and the Branches:

In the parable Jesus talks about three persons: the Father, He Himself and the disciples. Jesus pictures the Father as the gardener, Himself as the true vine and the disciples as the branches. As the gardener the Father expects fruitfulness from every disciple and does not like the fruitless ones. Like fruitless branches of the vine the Father cuts them off. But the fruit bearing disciples like fruitful branches are pruned to bear much fruit. The secret of fruitfulness is to remain in Jesus. As the vine supplies the nourishment to the branches, so does Jesus to all the disciples. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 5)

The secret of successful Christian living is the disciple’s personal relationship with Jesus. As engrafted branches every believer is joined to Jesus at new birth. The believer’s body becomes His dwelling place. The journey of Christian life begins and so does the intimacy between a disciple and his Lord. Ongoing fellowship together helps deepen the relation. Progress and development in spiritual life teaches the disciple how to continue loving the Lord and rejecting the desires of sinful nature with its cravings. This helps discern the leading of the Spirit and leads to a life pleasing to the Lord. A day to day life lived according to His will is what the Lord desires. The branches remaining in the vine but not bearing fruit are very unnatural. A believer not living a life worthy of Him is also very unnatural. This may only happen if a believer pretends to be so but in real life he does not really know Him, or even if he knew Him some time in the past, the lust, the cravings of the flesh might have overcome and the relation broken. The new birth, the remaining in Jesus, the Christian walk, everything has been designed for fruit bearing. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” (John 15: 16a) A believer must be able to see the reason of calling – it is an appointment to bear fruit; fruit that will last. Even the answer to our prayers is like fruits and depends on this relationship, “Then the Father will give you Whatever you ask in my name.” (John 15:16b) Our relation – remaining in Jesus guarantees the answer to our prayers asked in Jesus’ name. ‘Doing anything I like’ is the worse barrier to our prayers being heard and answered.

Fruitfulness in the Church:

Although the Church was established on the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and preaching of Apostle Peter, Jesus had already pronounced her establishment and ministry. One day talking to the disciples He told Peter, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16: 18-19). The church is His church, established on rock as foundation. Jesus is the Owner of the church as well as the foundation. He is the rock of the ages on which the church is built. The loosing and binding ministry of the church is simply the continuity of Jesus’ ministry foretold by Isaiah and endorsed by Jesus in Luke 4.

Whatever He was teaching to the disciples were meant for the church. This parable also needs to be interpreted in church context. As the vine providing all the nourishment for the branches for sustenance and help them bear fruit, Jesus is the Head of the Church, His body and individual believers as members are the parts, together making the body. The commandments made to the disciples are also meant for the church to obey. The church after Jesus’ ascension remains here on earth as His body to carry on the ministry of reconciliation Jesus had begun. As body of Christ the church engages her in the warfare against the powers of darkness, by proclaiming the gospel of God’s kingdom for the freedom of the captives.

Fruit as Church Growth:

Jesus’ coming is for recovering everything that was lost in Eden. “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Rom. 5: 18, 19) Jesus’ one act of righteousness as obedience to the father has brought in the life and made many righteous, as many as believe on Him. This out working of His sacrifice and shedding of His blood has been entrusted to the church. He commanded the disciples before His ascension saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28: 18 -20)

Jesus’ command to the disciples better known as the ‘Great Commission’ is His express will for the church. As the head of the church He is there to provide all the resources needed to fulfill this command. The out pouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was primarily to equip and empower the saints for this very purpose. Jesus had further instructed the disciples, “…Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized you with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit….But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. (Acts 1: 4b – 8) The Holy Spirit is the Power of God and the saints are empowered to accomplish the task of making disciples, preaching the gospel and witnessing for Jesus. The church as the body and the believer as part of the body are both given the responsibility to preach the good news and take the people in (the church). This act of preaching is very similar to attacking the kingdom of darkness and snatching away its subjects into God’s kingdom. Every unbeliever, unsaved and unregenerate person living in the world is under Satan’s rule, the prince of this world. The ruler there is ruling wrongly, without legal authority as Jesus has won the battle and got victory on the cross. This victory is universal and eternal. The church is given the privilege to realize this victory by making it known to the people of the world who are living under lie and deception, trying to earn their salvation where as Jesus has already purchased it by His blood forevery one who will believe. The world needs to know the truth and be released from the bonds of the enemy, making them captives who are really free. It needs to know this message of freedom and the church must proclaim it before the people. And God has designed it this way. “All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2Cor. 5: 18-20a) This is a great responsibility given to the church at large. There is no choice to make but simply to obey and fulfill the ministry of reconciliation as the world needs to be reconciled with God through Jesus by receiving the forgiveness of their sins. Opening our mouths to proclaim the gospel and pronounce the freedom for the world is the task set by Jesus before the church. As every living being grows, so does the church, the living body of Christ. Increase in numbers is the evidence of a live church, living under and connected with the Head, Jesus Christ.

Fruit as Maturity:

There is out ward growth and there is inner growth. Church growth, growing in numbers is like growing in stature, the increase is evident simply by looking at the congregation and this is desirable forevery church which is live. She is just enjoying the fellowship with anointing of the Holy Spirit and thriving. Inner growth in a church context is growing in spirit. A believer in his personal walk with Jesus grows from one level of faith to another, growing to maturity and into Jesus’ image are all growing in spirit. Such growth although not seen from outside are evident in character. Both inner and outer growth is desirable in any church. There are two distinct ministries assigned to the church; ministry to the body and ministry to the world. Ministry to the body is helping individual believers achieve all that Jesus has set for them. Ministry to the world is church’s engagement in preaching the gospel, healing the sick and casting out demons. Both the ministries might overlap each other and body ministry may add new believers in to the church and ministry to the world also may help believers mature as they see God working. There are gifts of the Holy Spirit, ministry gifts of Jesus and workings of God given to the church to effectively perform both the ministries. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, there are different kind of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same god works all of them in all men.” (1Cor.12: 4-6) The gifts, the service or ministries and the workings are all given to the church for common good, so that the members as parts of the body use them for building each other up in Christ. “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” There is one amazing fact associated with physical body. The body is made of many parts, one single part does not constitute a body, but many parts put together make up the body. “The body is a unit, though it made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” (1Cor. 12:12) The church consists of many members, all together forming the body of Christ. As in the physical body each and every part works either for the whole body or for another part, but never for itself; so should the parts of Christ’s body, the church. All the members are given different gifts and ministries to serve the whole body. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

New birth is very similar to the natural birth, except that the born again person may be an adult. As a baby feeds on milk, the born again person can only digest spiritual milk of God’s word. An infant needs to grow; from infancy to childhood, from childhood to teenage, from teenage to adulthood and from there to old age person, and so does the born again person; from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. The writer of ‘Hebrews’ exhorts the church to grow from infancy to maturity. ‘In fact though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:12 -14) The problem with infancy and childhood is that they are innocent. Their senses are not developed yet to differentiate between good and bad. Spiritual infancy is more harmful for the believer and so it is not desirable. The church needs to minister the individual believer as well as the body to mature. They must be able to distinguish between good and evil, true ministers and false ones and make decisions for personal growth. Maturity will help every believer to discern a situation, a person and a teaching and make right choice. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph. 4: 14) The church is in the world and it is possible for worldly people to enter into it for wrong motives. Maturity will enable the church to distinguish between the true and the false and thus protect the sheep from the wolves in sheepskin.

Fruit of the Spirit:

God is the same forever and so are His plans and purposes, they also remain the same. In the beginning God intended to make man in His own image and He has been doing so ever since. Jesus’ coming, His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection are all to help man to be born again and grow into the image of Christ. The biggest barrier in the process is the man himself, i.e. the inherent sinful nature. This is a problem not only for the unbelievers but for the believers too. The sinful nature likes to lust after the desires of the flesh, it is very friendly with the powers of darkness and can easily be attracted by the world. We are warned, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in Him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of god lives forever.” (1John 1: 15-17) The flesh and the world go hand in hand and the devil makes use of this weakness in man. The church is not of the world; she is established and left here only for one purpose – to carry on the work Jesus had started. The church as well as the individual believer needs to take seriously their citizenship, the country of origin, which is heaven. Our identity is very clear; country: heaven, Father: God, status: Chosen people, Royal priesthood, holy nation, a people belonging to God. This makes our destiny very clear. Because of the body we are given to live in during our sojourn and the sinful nature it has, it is possible for sin to easily entangle us and keep us from running the race marked for us with perseverance. (Heb. 12: 1b) As required of every runner in a race, it is imperative for every believer to run this race fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Paul had very well recognized his barrier in the race. He says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Every one who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1Cor. 9: 24-27) His concern in the Christian life was being disqualified at the end, having preached the gospel to the countless he might be denied the prize. Hitting the target is beneficial for the athlete and makes him win the fight. Running in a race must be for winning and an aimless runner can never win. So is the Christian life. The most powerful hindrance to our winning the race is our own body and Paul knew how to beat and subdue his own body. It takes strong will not to be dictated by its lustful desires and stand firm in God’s grace without yielding. Practically making decisions against flesh is very painful and requires a lot of grace to withstand temptation. We might be given ‘a thorn in the flesh’ but as for Paul, for each and every believer ‘My grace is sufficient for you’.

In every situation we need to look to the Lord for help and support. The fact is that our sins are forgiven but we must also get rid of the sinful nature. Receiving forgiveness of sins is by faith in Jesus. Eradication of ‘sin’ is altogether different matter and it is gradual, step by step work of the Spirit in our lives, directly proportionate to our yielding and cooperation with Him. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Rom. 8:5) Spirit controlled or influenced mind is determined and speeds up the process of eradication. “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom.8:13) There is a list provided in Galatians 5 giving the details of works of the flesh. Every decision made to deny the works in a given circumstances helps the believer to put to death that particular area of weakness. In every situation the Holy Spirit is there to provide us strength and empower us to win over the weakness, but there needs to be a strong desire and a will to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and please the Lord.

In our Christian life the Lord desires we grow into His likeness. Paul also desired the same from Galatians. (Gal. 4:19) There are gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the Church for ministering. These gifts are given to different people as the Holy Spirit desires. But there are fruits of the Spirit given to the church; and every believer is encouraged to bear each and every fruit in life. With the help of the Holy Spirit bearing the fruits are practically putting to death the misdeeds or the works of the sinful nature. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” (Gal.5: 22,23a) These fruits shown in our lives reveal the character of Jesus formed in us. The proportion in which these fruits are evident, in the same proportion we have achieved the transformation.

The only scale of evaluating our life at the end is the father’s will. All our words spoken, all the decisions made, all the actions performed, everything done in the body whether good or bad will be weighed on the scale of Father’s will. Even prophecies, casting out demons and performing miracles do not guarantee a disciples acceptance. What is the motive behind everything that we say and do is the essence of our character. On the Day it will be a day of revealing and rewarding. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you, Away from me, you evil doers.” (Matt. 7: 21-23) Such ministers who do not value the Father’s will now and go on doing business are not only rejected but addressed as ‘evil doers’. Jesus who died for us and gave us eternal life in His grace in His first coming is not going to be the same in His second coming. Now He is the Savior, then He will be the Judge. One sentence will be sufficient to add, “So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5: 9-10)