Philippians
1:9-11 “It is my prayer
that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all
discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be
pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God.”
read an interesting
take on this great Bible passage: The unique phrase “fruit of righteousness”
has many supporting teachings, the most famous of which is where the Lord Jesus
compares Himself to a “vine” and we who are His adopted sons and daughters to
“branches” in John 15:1-6. Paul
reminded the Philippian church that the fruits ultimately result from Jesus
Christ, just as Jesus illustrated. We “cannot
bear fruit” by ourselves. Not only does our very life come from God, but
the ability to produce godly fruit can only come through and by God.
Isaiah 64:6 noted that all of
our self-produced righteous deeds are like “filthy rags”. The fruit for which
we are “ordained” has its source in the thrice-holy Godhead and its
manifestation by the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Galatians
5:22-23 “The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Those
Holy Spirit character traits are the innate property of the vine that becomes
instilled in the branches, or us. This enables us to bring forth the fruit that
represents the “DNA” of the vine in which we are abiding. Being connected to
the vine makes it possible for us to “walk
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God” – Colossians 1:10.
God
the Father is superintending the vineyard. When branches wither and do not
produce fruit, they are taken away. The branches that do produce are pruned (the
Greek word ”kathairo”, “cleaned up”). As Peter noted in 1
Peter 1:3, “His divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness”. Connected
to the vine with the Lord God, “all things are possible”, which includes fruit
of righteousness. Without Him, “we can do nothing”.
Get and stay connected to the vine and bear good fruit.
Blessings
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