Bearing Fruit

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Posted by Priscilla Carr, May 22, 2024

My Sunday group recently completed a Bible Study on the ‘I Am’ Statements of Jesus by Courtney Doctor & Joanna Kimbrel. It’s a great, in-depth study that I highly recommend. The last Jesus statement we studied was, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ESV). What stands out to you in that verse?  For me, it’s “bears much fruit” and “apart from Me you can do nothing”.

John 15:5 is one of my memory verses from many, many years ago and a verse that I’ve been reminded of a lot. But studying it in this season of life, I felt the Holy Spirit impressing upon me that bearing fruit is a natural part of the believer’s walk with Jesus. If I remain in His Word and enjoy fellowship with Him through His Word, as well as worship and prayer (speaking with Him often and relying upon Him to direct me), the natural result will be fruit. 

 What is the fruit Jesus produces? According to Galatians 5:22: 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Jesus desires this fruit in our lives to be abundant. 

He wants to produce “much” fruit. The production of the fruit He desires is the difference between just a few figs on a tree vs a tree laden with figs. Can you picture the difference? Jesus desires our lives to flourish and not just exist with a few paltry fruits. Why?

Another part of John 15:5 that captures my attention is “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” There are many things that those who don’t profess and follow Jesus can do, correct? But not one of those things has kingdom value. Those things don’t matter to God. Only what He produces through us is useable now and are also treasures stored up for eternity. Anything we do in our own strength has no value to God. Our righteousness and self-effort result in eternal loss and are abhorrent to God (see Isaiah 64:6).  So, although the unregenerated can do “good, " it is rotten fruit and inedible in God’s view.

So, Jesus desires that we abide in Him so He can produce much fruit through us. But who is the fruit for? I continued reading John 15 and noticed that Jesus seemed to change topics. Most of the chapter is about abiding in Jesus, the love relationship that believers have with Him and the Father, and the fruit that He produces as we abide. Throughout verses 1-11, Jesus discusses how our relationship with Him becomes so symbiotic that we are in Him, Who is in God, and we flourish by the Holy Spirit as we abide. Jesus discusses abiding at length but then says in John 15:12, “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” And then again, in John 15:17, “This is what I command you: Love one another.” I didn’t understand why Jesus, out of the blue, commanded love for others and what that had to do with abiding and producing fruit. So, I asked Him, and He answered, “The fruit is for others.”  The fruit that He produces in me is for the “one another” He mentions in vs. 12 and 17. “Love one another” isn’t a new topic, but it’s actually what abiding and producing fruit is all about. 

Think of the most fruit-laden tree you can imagine. I am picturing my mother’s pear tree in her backyard full of small pears. Sometimes, her tree is so full of pears that they weigh down the branches almost to the ground. That’s much fruit. But those pears aren’t for the pear tree. The pear tree can’t grab one of its fruits, bite into it, savor it, and eat it. No, the fruit is for my mother (and the squirrels, apparently). She eats them, cans them, and shares them. They are delicious nourishment for others. 

That’s the love that Jesus expressed in those two verses. The “much” fruit that He desires to produce in us is for the “one another” that He brings into our lives. He desires that they eat the supernatural fruit that He produces, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and want Him. Our bearing much fruit is our witness of our faithful God using us to lovingly draw others to Himself. And whether the fruit is for fellow brothers and sisters or those who don’t know Jesus as Savior, the fruit is an invitation to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). 

“Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” (John 15:4,5 CSB)

Priscilla Carr was born in NYC, but has lived in metro Atlanta since 1979. She is a Navy veteran trained in electronics which God used for a 30-year career at the FAA. She uses her training to provide audio support to Touching Hearts Ministries, and is the Editor and Producer of “A Burst of Hope” podcast. She began her adult new life in Jesus in 1990 right before leaving the Navy, and today she exudes her love for Jesus. She is the proud mama to two rambunctious fur kids, Gracie (Lab) and Faith (Pit-mix). Priscilla was encouraged by elementary teachers to write. She took creative writing courses in High School and college, but in the mid-eighties, she stopped writing. The desire to write has been recently reawakened, and she is thriving in her new writing adventure.