Monday, March 1, 2010

The Tree, the Branch and the Fruit.

This is a very difficult subject, since most believers, like I did, think they are the Tree. It gets even harder to make sense of it, when we read in Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. So, if we’re not the Tree, who’s the Tree? If the tree bears Fruit, what is the Fruit? Let’s start from the beginning, literally. We read in Genesis 2:9 The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Those trees represented two persons, Jesus Christ and satan, God gave Adam the right (free will) to choose between them and throughout the Bible we see everyone facing that choice. Maybe you never thought about it, but Jesus refer to Himself in John 15:1 as the True Vine and in John 14:6 as the Life. In Matthew 6:13, Jesus calls satan the evil one. Of course we know that Adam chose the bad tree. We read in Genesis 3:23 God banished man from the Garden of Eden and placed cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. God did it because if man ate the Fruit of the Tree of Life, he would live forever in the fallen state, in sin, spiritually dead. As Jesus paid the price for our sin and we become children of God, one day we will eat the Fruit of the Tree of Life, as it says in Revelation 2:7 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. So, what are we? We are the branches. John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. What is the Fruit? We find the Good Fruit in Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, and the Bad Fruit in Galatians 5:19 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. Let’s think about the process Jesus talks about in John 7. After Adam sinned, we became branches of the bad tree (devil), John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil. Then we are born again, God takes us from the bad tree (devil), transplanted us into the Good Tree (Jesus). This is when we see the work of the Pruner (Father), John 15:2 He 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. Here is the definition of pruning: the horticultural practice of cutting away an unwanted, unnecessary, or undesirable plant part, used most often on trees, shrubs, hedges, and woody vines. This process is called Sanctification or holiness. Even after being born again (in Christ), we still carry the old sap, the sinful nature, and we will sin, as we read in 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. Is it possible to be In Jesus and yet to be cut off (go to hell)? Of course it is! John 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away. The best example we have is Judas Iscariot, he was IN (disciple) Jesus, and never produced Fruit, then he was cut off.
Conclusion: We are born in sin, after receiving Jesus in our hearts we became a born again person. Eventually we will sin, but if we confess our sins we are forgiven. All the born again people are in the process called Sanctification or holiness, this process is vital to live eternally with God. Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

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