God talks about many types of fruits in the Bible. We have always been told or made to think only of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. But there are so many other types of fruits that are naturally produced when we are connected to Jesus – the vine. If we all are called to judge fruits or to recognize them, we must know Him first. We must know the Word and we must know what good fruit is. Everyone’s character is at a different level so what is He telling us to do? To judge righteously.
Fruits are for all of us to judge. It is not for us to judge a person’s personality but their level of righteousness. Do not use criticism as a tool for judgment, also do not use the command given in 1 Corinthians 2:15 (to judge all things) for your own sake. If you are going to judge, you better be in humbleness and meekness.
In Matthew 7:2 says that our judgment should be in righteousness. We must judge the fruits rightly. We are supposed to judge righteousness. Are they standing up for Jesus or for themselves? Are they standing for what He is standing for? What do you gather around you? Worldly people gather around worldly people. If somebody hangs out with a brood of vipers, probably they are a viper, too. Birds of a feather flock together.
In Matthew 7:17-18 says that every tree that does not produce good fruits will be cut down. Are the fruits from God or from themselves? Right now, you can judge everyone by what they are following. Are they following the Word and the will of God? But we must judge without condemning. That is God’s job! Jesus says that we will know them, meaning know them from what is within them, by their fruits.
Even wonderful works do not mean that they came from a good tree. People judge others by their works. But Jesus said, “Many on that day will say Lord, Lord... We did wonderful works in your name…” Works do not mean righteousness even if they are done in His name. We need to have works of righteousness, but our works do not make us righteous, He does. I know some people that are kinder than many Christians, but their kind of fruit does not automatically make them Christian or even righteous. So now should I say that they are Christians just because of their kindness? They may be workers of iniquity. The fruits of righteousness are the fruits that we should be paying attention to! These are the fruits He wants us to discern, like casting down arguments. I know so many proclaiming Christians that all they want to do is argue! Some people do not even know God and yet they try to tell others about God. That will not work. Why am I saying that? Because I am discerning the fruits. There is something about righteous people. They hate iniquity. They hate what Jesus hates. It is an automatic cause. It is the fruit of righteousness in them.
What are the fruits that God is really concerned about? There are all kinds of fruits, but some people just focus on personal attributes instead of fruits. Is he kind? Is he gentle? Is he a good guy? But the fruits that God cares about are the ones that are produced from His vine, not a personal attribute. Character or charisma do not automatically mean fruits of righteousness.
Let us talk about the fruits of righteousness! We must produce fruit because we are like a tree planted by the rivers of living waters. We are oaks of righteousness! So, what is the fruit that should be coming out of us? Righteousness.
Are you perfect in the flesh? Nobody is. But religious people want to judge people’s flaws and imperfections. What if you have been on the wheel of the potter for twelve years and your brother for only two years? The Word tells us not to measure ourselves among ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12). This is not wise.
Let’s now talk about the fruits of repentance. Read Matthew 3:8-10. We must bring forth fruits of repentance! This means repentance looks like something. But John the Baptist called the people a generation of vipers! John the Baptist was judging the fruits of the Pharisees. “I am looking at you and I see no fruits of repentance. I am looking at you and you are full of fruits of self-righteousness.” What makes you righteous is the fruit that you bear! Self-righteous people lack the fruit of repentance.
The ax is laid at the bad tree. Why? Because God is expecting fruits of righteousness! What are the good fruits? Fruits of righteousness, fruits of repentance. What a great sign it is when we bear in our spirit that the other person has the same spirit: we are all connected to the same vine! The same vinedresser! So, what was the problem? It was not only their character. But what was inside of them, their hearts. The Pharisees were making their own righteousness on what they did or did not do. They did things that were not done out of love but were done by the law. They really had evil hearts. They were doing all things, like the temple sacrifices, that the law told them to do, but Jesus was exposing “the why and the what for.” What they did on the outside did not go with what was supposed to be on the inside, like loving God with all of their heart.
In 2 Corinthians 9:3-13, it tells us how we can reap bountifully: Sowing into Him! Sowing into righteousness! Sowing into the Spirit. Sowing bountifully is not just about sowing money. If you sow righteousness, you will reap more fruits of righteousness. If you sow corruption, you will reap more corrupt fruits. We must judge ourselves so we will know what kind of sower we are or who they are.
He is the vine – we are the branch. Sow to increase the fruit of your righteousness. Be rich in everything! In everything! In every good work. Seek righteousness, and you will have all the fruits of righteousness! If we begin to live in righteousness, we will bear the fruit thereof. We will be concerned about the house of God. We will be concerned about souls. We will be concerned about justice.
Daniel was hated as was the God he followed because they could not find fault in him, then they lied about him. Daniel was judged unrighteously. If you judge your brother unrighteously, God will judge you. The fruits of unrighteousness will be your harvest. What they could not do to Daniel happened to them – to those who accused him. And the same thing happened to the three Hebrew boys. When Jesus was with them, the fire did not touch them – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They hated them because of the God whom they served.
Philippians 1:6 reminds us that God is not telling you to perform any good work that He had started. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” He just wants you. Do not focus on your fruit or on your righteousness. Focus on Him, on the vine, and suddenly, the fruits will abound in every season. Even if He is pruning the branches.
People say, “Hey, I have all these fruits.” God is like, “These are not the ones I am interested in.” If you focus on the vine, you will bear real fruit, not false fruits. Fruits that come from coping are not real fruits. Be filled with the fruits of righteousness. Do not focus on the nine fruits of the Spirit all the time as the Pharisees did or as the false-love church does. What comes out of your mouth is really what is in you! Seek for the fruits of righteousness. In modern-day Christianity, we begin to mix in our self-help, self-steps, and works of the flesh. It is still a form of the law to depend on self. Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the fruits of the Spirit. But remember! The fruits of the Spirit are not fruits of you or of your personality! So many justify themselves by the fruits they have. They are not even theirs. We must abide in Him to have fruits inside of us! Some people are just kind. Some people are born meek. But are they in righteousness?
What if you are in a pruning season? Then it looks like you have no fruit because you are in a season of pruning. The enemy will come during your season of pruning where there are no fruits and will judge you, but do not fall into condemnation. Because the season of bountiful fruits of righteousness will come soon. God is expecting us to be fruitful, but for that to happen, there will always be a pruning.
Salvation does not guarantee the manifestation of His fruits. The abiding in Him does. Many think they are saved but they do not bear fruits of righteousness. They bear fruits of this or that denomination but not the fruit of Christ. They bear the fruits of the world and fruits of iniquity even though they have done many marvelous works, even if they prophesied. But Jesus wants fruits that remain.
When the seed of righteousness is in you, Christ starts being formed in you. Salvation is done on the cross, but by bearing the fruits of Christ, we will show and prove that we are His followers. My faith in Him proves by the fruit that I abide in him. When you walk in the flesh, you are not abiding in Him. The fruits of the flesh do not mean you are a bad guy, but that you have stepped away from the vine. The fruits of the Spirit will only be manifested if we abide in Him.
People judge one of the fruits of righteousness which is boldness as pride. We cannot be bold if we keep looking for the fruits. What if we do not find them? Are you going to lose your boldness? If you have lost your boldness, probably you have lost your righteousness. The righteous are as bold as a lion. This comes from knowing Him, knowing what He did for us, and knowing we are in Him and He is in us. God knows which branch He wants to prune in order to get the fruits He wants. The fruit that God wants to manifest in your life is the fruit of what He did, and not of what you do.
Always remember John 15! What is abiding? To remain in His Word, in His will, and in His Spirit! To be planted in Christ! It means to be around the right Word, to be around the right people, and to be abiding in the vine, and then the bountiful fruits are sure. Righteousness is planted inside of you, and it will take over because it is good seed, God’s DNA, but we must abide in Him. We must be disconnected from the Babylon system and be connected to the vine – the kingdom of God. I am not a healer, but the healer is in me! If Truth is in me, it is not because I know a lot about it, but because He is in me! He is the Truth! Jesus reveals His fruit in us! Others will know and be free or they will not.
Just focus on staying in Him. People are seeking for something that can be already happening if they abide in Him. If you do not have His fruits, you will be seeking for it. If you focus on Jesus, your fruits will remain. And your joy will remain! The Father says, “Abide in Me and you will have it all.” If you try to love outside of Him, your love will grow cold, but God’s love is a raging fire.
God wants us to go forth and bring forth fruits! His fruits. Fruits that remain. But we must keep abiding. If you have the fruits of righteousness, the world will hate you. Everybody started hating Jesus because of His fruits. He was full of fruits. Many will hate a righteous person because they are unrighteous. Those who bear witness of the ones who are with Him are those who have been abiding in Him since the beginning. Because righteousness bears witness with righteousness. The same thing happens in God’s creation. You do not see ducks leaving ducks and hanging out with raccoons or any other type of animals. Ducks will get mix together with other ducks on a farm or even in the wild because it is a natural thing. The gathering of types is just automatic. So that is what righteousness will do with the righteous. They will gather naturally.
Also, a tree that bears fruits just needs to stay where it is planted in the ground. God sends the rain – the water. He is the Gardener. We just need to abide, and fruit will happen. No striving. Go and sit all day in front of an orange tree. You will never see it striving for fruits, but it will produce great juicy oranges, naturally. Unless there is something wrong with the tree or the ground it is in.
“ Father, we pray that we focus on abiding in You! We do not want to focus on our fruit but to focus on the vinedresser! We want real fruit that will remain, that people can eat, fruits of our lips, fruits of our works, so You can be glorified! Because many do not know you, that is why they cannot know who is abiding in You! We are righteous. Let us abide in this righteousness, that the fruits of the Spirit may abide in us every day. Let us be fruitful and multiply our fruits. We want to bear these fruits and let the fruits of righteousness remain forever. Father, forgive us for focusing on the lack of fruit. In you, We have my being. In you, We have the fruit that will remain, the fruits that will glorify You. Father, help us to see you rightly and to see others as You see them, in the mighty name of Jesus. May our harvest be bountiful.” Shane Roessiger
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