John 15:1-6
“’I am the true vine, and my Father is
the gardener. 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. You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain 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. 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. If 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.’”
The branches that do not produce fruit
are cut off and cast into the fire. They may look like good
branches to some, but the Father as the gardener is not
fooled. Likewise, a plant that doesn’t produce fruit may
look good to us, but it doesn’t fool God.
In our churches, we have people who
are weedy and rocky soil. They may show signs of faith but
they either have no depth, or they are surrounded by weeds
and will be choked out by the cares of the flesh.
There are three things that keep the
seed from producing fruit: the world (rocky soil), the flesh
(weedy soil), and the Devil (hard soil). Satan doesn’t care
what keeps a person from producing fruit, so long as they do
not do it.
Good soil
Finally, there is good soil that
produces good fruit. This soil has the right nutrients and
water with which to thrive. Not only does a plant grow, it
remains. When the plant reaches maturity, it produces fruit.
Some people, when they are presented
the gospel will be receptive to it and will grow to become
mature Christians. They will produce fruit. This fruit will
be 30, 60, or even 100 times as much as what was invested in
planting it.
The Bible gives us different kinds of
fruit. The most well known is the fruit of the Spirit in
Galatians 5, but also there is “the fruit of righteousness
that comes from Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:11). We are to “offer
to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that
confess his name.” (Heb 13:15) We “please him in every way
[by] bearing fruit in every good work…” (Col 1:10)
Good soil will produce plants that endure and bear all kinds
of fruit. A person whose heart is good soil has managed to
overcome the world, the flesh, and the Devil. As a vine, the
Father will prune plants grown in good soil so that they are
even more fruitful, as we see in the passage above.
Next Section -
Preparing the Soil
