Got Fruit ?

Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
Genesis 3:12

Adam and Eve did everything they could to avoid taking responsibility for their sin.  Adam blamed his wife: "She gave me of the tree."  He even pointed an accusing finger at God, saying it was "the woman, whom You gave me."  Eve blamed the serpent saying: “the serpent deceived me, and I ate."  God ignored their excuses and announced the judgment they would face as consequences for their disobedience.

One of the dirges of mankind is that we refuse to take responsibility for our actions.  We want to blame others for our problems: Our parents did not raise us well; our friends let us down; our pastor was not a good enough preacher; our children are rebellious; our employer is not sensitive enough; our spouse is not understanding; there is not enough time in the day…the excuses are plentiful!  Yet forgiveness and restoration cannot happen until we accept full responsibility for our action.

An obvious indication that we have not genuinely repented is that we make excuses for our sinful behavior.  Nowhere in scripture does God excuse one person’s sin because of someone else’s actions.  If we make a habit of blaming others for our failures, we will not reach a point of honest repentance.  God will hold us accountable for our own actions, not others (2nd Corinthians 5:10).  Strive always to acknowledge and take responsibility for your own sins.  It will free you to receive God’s forgiveness and to press on to spiritual maturity.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.
Genesis 4:7

When temptation enters our hearts and minds, we either deal with it and gain mastery over it, or it eventually leads us to sinful actions. The time between the initial temptation and the chosen response is critical. Much hangs in the balance.

1st Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Cain knew that God was displeased with him but pleased with Able. Feelings of jealous anger crept into Cain’s heart, and thoughts of murder pervaded his mind. As Cain considered what to do, God’s word came to him. God warned him that sin was waiting at the door of his life, looking for an opportunity to enter. Now was not the time to treat temptation lightly, not the time to assume sin would never cause any  harm. Now was the time to master the sin and renounce it before it overcame him. Tragically, Cain did not master his sin; instead, sin overtook him and destroyed his life.

Temptations come at unexpected moments. Sinful thoughts may cross your mind. Selfish feelings may begin to invade our heart. The promptings of the Holy Spirit will warn you that God is not pleased with the direction your thoughts and feelings are taking you. At that moment of conviction, you must master the sin that crouches at the door of your life. Sin destroys. Sin brings death. Sin is not something to toy with or take lightly.

Romans 6:16-23
16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s word to you is the same warning He gave to Cain: Master the sin at the door of your life before it brings its inevitable and disastrous consequences. Heed His caution, and you will avoid unnecessary hardship for yourself and others.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

From today’s Blackaby devotional titled “Not in Word but in Power”, the Blackabys remarked about the Apostle Paul’s ministry and the evidences of God’s power in his life:

Paul responded with a reminder that the test of a citizen’s authenticity was not the persuasiveness of his words, but the spiritual power of his life. Paul candidly acknowledged that some did not find him eloquent in speech (2nd Corinthians 10:1). Yet they could not question God’s power in his life. He had seen many people converted, and many churches were started through his ministry. He had been used to heal the sick and raise the dead through God’s power. Regardless of whether his words were eloquent, they carried spiritual power and authority that came from God.

In the event that some readers have come under the assumption that the Blackabys are implying that masses of converts, size of a church, and or other signs of a “healthy” ministry are explicit proofs that the power of God is active in a person’s life, I wish to offer up some additional thoughts,/advice regarding that specific section of their devotional. 

I want to begin by stating that I don’t believe that we should automatically apply these arguments and observations of how God used Paul when observing someone’s ministry and life.  I don’t believe that the Blackabys were implying this at all, however I felt obligated to follow-up with my own comments, since the statement seemed to unintentionally invite one to interpret the Blackabys thoughts as a standardized spiritual checklist.

What I’ve observed over the years by some Christians is a quickness to try to rationalize and justify a false teacher or teaching by diverting to the same evidences that the Blackabys described concerning Paul’s ministry, specifically numerous conversions and new churches started.   I suggest that in a broader Biblical view we also need to consider the words of Christ and Paul:

Matthew 24:4-5
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

2nd Timothy 4:3-4
3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

As the Blackabys later mentioned in the devotional, “If a person talks of the power of God but gives no evidence of victory in her life, her words are empty. It is much easier to talk about the victorious Christian life than it is to live it.”

So how do we discern?  What is or are the evidences of victory (a Christ-centered life)?  In Matthew 7 Christ tells us that regardless of external appearances, whatever is the state of a man’s heart, it will be reflected by what he produces…

Matthew 7:15-20
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Paul, speaking more straightforward reiterates Christ’s words by laying out “the obvious” bad fruit and good fruits…

Galatians 5:19-26
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The point is this… conversions, church growth and multiple ministries are not Biblical reasons to defend a favored teacher,pastor, “evangelical” message, method, or philosophy.  To “quote” Christ, Christians need to be looking at the “root” of the situation. Is it planted in Christ or in man?

John 15:1-8
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5"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. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Grace and peace be with you

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
1st Corinthians 4:20

Christianity is not moral platitudes, lofty intentions, and noble thoughts. The fundamental characteristic of God’s kingdom is power. Paul faced constant criticism about his work among the early churches. Some of his detractors would travel to cities such as Corinth and speak extensively about all that Paul was doing incorrectly. At times, people in the churches were enticed to believe the slanderous criticisms against the apostle.

Paul responded with a reminder that the test of a citizen’s authenticity was not the persuasiveness of his words, but the spiritual power of his life. Paul candidly acknowledged that some did not find him eloquent in speech (2nd Corinthians 10:1). Yet they could not question God’s power in his life. He had seen many people converted, and many churches were started through his ministry. He had been used to heal the sick and raise the dead through God’s power. Regardless of whether his words were eloquent, they carried spiritual power and authority that came from God.

You will encounter many people who seek to convince you of their opinions concerning the kingdom of God. They may speak passionately. They may even bring charts and graphs to prove their points! But the test of the validity of their words is the spiritual power of their lives. If a person speaks forcefully about a point of doctrine but is habitually sinning, his words are discredited by his life. If a person talks of the power of God but gives no evidence of victory in her life, her words are empty. It is much easier to talk about the victorious Christian life than it is to live it.

If you only have the appearance of godliness without any corresponding spiritual power (2nd Timothy 3:5), ask God to cleanse you of your sin and to fill you with His Spirit so that your life is characterized by power.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day

Do not quench the Spirit.
1st Thessalonians 5:19

We cannot prevent God from accomplishing His work in the world around us, but we can quench His Spirit in our lives. God has given us the freedom to withstand the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives. When we ignore, disobey, or reject what the Spirit is telling us, we quench His activity in us. The prophet Isaiah described the result: "Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them" (Isaiah 6:9; Matthew 13:14-15).

When you sin, the Holy Spirit will convict you of your need for repentance. If you habitually ignore Him and do not repent, your heart will grow hardened to God’s Word. If the Spirit speaks to you about God’s will for you, and if you refuse to take action, a time will come when the Spirit’s voice will be muted in your life. If you continually reject the Spirit’s promptings, a day will come when you no longer hear a word form God. If you repeatedly stifle God’s word to you so that you are not longer sensitive to His voice, He will not give you a fresh word. Be wary of resisting the voice of the Spirit in your life. You may not always be comfortable with what the Spirit is saying to you, but His words will guide you to abundant life.

Henry and Richard Blackaby
Experiencing God Day-by-Day