Do you bear fruit, and prove you belong to Jesus Christ?

Some people think that all you need to do is have faith to be saved, and that you don’t need to produce the appropriate fruit.  They think that it is obeying the law.  Other people think that you can work your way to Heaven by doing good works to try to manipulate God.  Both are wrong.  James said in his letter that if we say that we have faith without works our faith is dead.  See James 2:14-26

Without the Holy Spirit’s help we are incapable of following the Commandments of God owing to our sinful nature, but when we become born again we become a new person in Jesus Christ, and He lives in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and it is Jesus Christ in us who enables us to obey God and to keep His Commandments.  See what Jesus said in John 14:15 (KJV): If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

When we let Jesus reign in our hearts, our love intensifies for him so that our greatest desire is to adore our God, to please him and to do His will, and to love our neighbour.  That is why Jesus said that he would fulfill the law as seen in Matthew 5:17.

It isn’t earning salvation because we know that we can’t obey the Commandments on our own without Jesus’ help.  Jesus uses our body to bear fruit and to do good works. He is the only one who can pour love into our hearts to reach all those around us.  In order to accomplish that, we have to be one with God and stay linked to the vine. Jesus is the one who helps us to get rid of everything that isn’t of him.  He is the vine and He prunes us to become a true child of God and bear fruit. See John 15:4King James Version (KJV) 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

See what the consequences will be depending on whether we produce good fruit or not.

One day, we will see Jesus face to face and be accountable to him for our lives and He might ask us the following questions:

Did you love me, and your neighbour as yourself?  Did you do unto others, as you would like them to do to you?  When there was torrential rain, did you help other Christians in the flooded areas, or did you sit back and do nothing? Did you comfort those in need and visit the sick or were you too busy to care about others?

We have to prove that we belong to the Lord. It isn’t enough to go to church, to prayer groups and to evangelize, but we need to love our neighbour because doing these deeds without love amounts to nothing. Selfless love has to be the motivating factor in all that you do. We need to be ready for Jesus’ return at any moment and do what He told us to do.

Remember that Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to help us, and if we rely on Him to help us love, we will succeed as seen in John 14: 15.  Let us ask Jesus to fill us with the fire of his love, and that his love flows through us onto everyone we meet.  That is the only way we will succeed, and then give victory to Jesus.

When we let God reign supremely in our hearts so that we become less and God becomes greater in us, we become God’s spiritual army who are preparing the world for his return.

Remember that whatever we do to our neighbour, we do to Jesus and that includes our family, friends, as well as strangers.

We need to be careful how we treat everybody.  Some people treat their spouses or family in a bad way, and yet are kinder to strangers.  Whatever we do, or don’t do to the least of God’s people, we do to Jesus.

See Matthew 25:40-46King James Version (KJV) 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Jesus said: “who is my mother, sister, brother, is the one who does the will of my Father”.  See Matthew 12:48-50

Jesus treated us all in the same way and loved us equally as his family, and we need to do the same, as we are meant to be imitators of Christ, and if we are true ambassadors of Christ we will bear much good fruit.  It is by your fruit that will determine whether you are a true follower of Christ or not, and remember that Jesus sees everything in your life including anything that you want to hide from him.  When you repent of all your sins, then you have nothing to hide from the Lord anymore. If Jesus Christ lives in your heart and you rely on him to help you, you will bear much fruit.

Written by Marie-Helene and Dominic

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