Romans 6:22, But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
So there is much tossed about today about the fruit of the Christian. Many say it is the evidence of being really born again. Others say it is the evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And some say it is both.
Then there are those who say the fruit is the gifts of the Spirit. And there are still others who say the fruit of the Christian is the winning of the lost. May I take a moment and discuss the fruit that many seem to be neglecting. This is of course that which is mentioned in Romans 6:22.
As I live longer on this earth as a saved-by-grace man, there is one thing that is clarified or should I say exposed,
“The Devil wants to keep us from remembering or believing that:
- We are made free from sin. The Word of God makes it clear; sin brings eternal separation from God. But this cannot mean physical separation because we do not have immortal bodies; therefore, the sin that is performed unto eternal separation is in fact the sin of unbelief. According to the Word of God, when we believe, we are freed from sin and no longer serve sin but instead serve God.
Romans 6:6,7 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Hebrews 12:1, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- When free from sin, we become servants to God. To need freedom means we are not free and therefore at one time we were under the servitude of sin to serve the devil. Therefore the Devil fights to keep connected to the flesh. Once the bond of the sin of unbelief is broken, the Devil has to let go! We are no longer his.
John 8:44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
1John 3:1, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
- We are made holy again by abiding in Christ, becoming branches of the True Vine, the Living Christ. The Devil would have us believe that he can do as he pleases with us, but once we are made a branch of the True Vine (Christ the Savior of Mankind), only the Father can tend to the Vine, He is the True Husbandman, the God of Creation. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman” (John 15:1).
John 15:2-4, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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.
And this is the point of my article. It is the fruit of holiness that separates us from the lost who are still servants of sin. This fruit Holiness becomes our evidence of salvation through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In this Holiness, we can come before the Father and cry, Abba Father (Romans 8:15). Only can the true born again believer approach God with the words of Father, Father.
Nothing of our own doing made us holy or keeps us holy. We are holy by God’s grace and through the redemptive work of the Lamb of God. If we sin there is a consequence and just retribution coming our way, but we have not damaged our spiritual holiness that separates us from the unbeliever. We can damage our testimony before the unbeliever, but we (we being the true born again believer) cannot change or lose our holiness because it is a supernatural God given Holiness.
Sin is a breech in our spiritual armor and opens up a path for the devil to attack us mentally and physically thereby appearing to be affecting our spirituality to the point of making us weak and rebellious and even accuse God of forsaking us.
It is the reaction by the flesh that will cause us to draw away from God because of guilt and lack of repentance. Remember sin is exposed by the word of God. Being a child of God there will always be chastisement from the Father if we sin. That does not mean we have lost our holiness or forfeited our right to be holy. If we consider the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we see Jesus revealing to us that we never quit being the holy elect of God because of our actions. Once God has begun a new work in us by the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, He continues to work in us toward the day of our perfection.
Philippians 1:6, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
So, where is Holiness, where has it gone? Looking at the Truth, we see that the born again believer is holy and it is that fruit of holiness that makes us different from the unbeliever and their world. Yet, because of the deception of the devil and our unwillingness to be separated from this world, we have fallen prey to the false teachings of false prophets. The results are what we see today, a mixing of the world instead of separation, and this is throughout Christendom. Sadly, we have a majority of professing Christians who are people, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” (II Timothy 3:5).
Taking on a form of godliness to create acceptance and draw people is evidence that we have fallen into the devils lair and the weakening of our own trust and faith in God has begun or has happened. This damage is reflected in our actions whereby we show a lack of faith and trust in God to make others holy by separating them away from the world as He did with us. Instead, we offer the world as a means to bring them to God, even when we know God teaches us to offer them Jesus and show them they must come out of the world.
Eventually this false form of godliness becomes a stumbling block and the inroad to an improper gospel being spread in the world. Efforts to evangelize and lead people away from the world then become null and void. Since we have lost faith, how can we expect to bring the world to faith in Christ?
In the end, we are turned back into fleshly servants who are forced into slavery. Our works, our desires, and our thoughts develop into just the mirrored images of the Gospel and we become pleasers of men rather than pleasers of God.
But thanks be to God that we are able to distinguish the truth from the false. This is in fact one of the greatest traits of a born again Christian. It is the Spirit of God that dwells in us revealing the Holy will of the Father and the conflicting ways of the world.
Remember, faith in God is to trust Him and Him alone. From the salvation of our souls to the gift of eternal life, we first must trust God with our complete and total dependence in Him. This is only possible by the grace of God that has allowed us to see the truth. There is nothing we do that can save us and there is nothing we can do that will take us from Christ; salvation and eternal life is by the grace of God and God alone.
We are a Holy separated people who can call God Father. If we know this without a doubt, then we have the fruit unto holiness and we have eternal life. It is time God’s children accept their true position in this world and accept our Fathers requirements to live holy and submissive lives unto Him.
James 4:7-10, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
