1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian An introduction | Page 3

MONDAY
John 15 v 1 – 8
Jesus begins this passage with the statement “I am the true vine...” The fact that
He has to state that He is the true vine would infer that there is a false one, and
indeed there is. The false vine that promises to bear fruit that looks like the fruit of
the Spirit is the false vine of legalism and self-effort. This is the vine that the
Pharisees were grafted into where they believed that by trying harder, having
good intentions, positive thinking and self-effort they could please God with the
fruit of the lives that they lived. How sad it is that this has not ever been the truth
and will never be the truth. The fruit that God requires from us is born out of a
loving relationship with Him.
The picture is a beautiful one where Jesus speaks of being engraved into the vine
and therefore the only thing that the branch needs to do is abide. There is, folks,
nothing more natural than “fruit-bearing”. There are three things about a fruit
tree that you will notice.
The first is found in the fact that I have never seen a fruit tree struggling to bear
fruit. I have never seen a fruit tree sweating, groaning and pushing in order for
fruit to be born. The bearing of fruit in nature is as natural as fruit itself. So too in
our Christian lives, that the fruit born out of legalism and self-effort will never be
the fruit that God requires.
The second thing that I would like for you to note is that a fruit is only as good as
its root. That means that if a fruit is rotten and sub-standard then the problem is
not with the fruit but rather with the root. If we spent as much time focusing on a
healthy root we would then naturally bear healthy fruit.
The third aspect is found in the fact that a fruit tree only bears fruit after its kind.
You will never see a banana tree bearing oranges.
The three lessons above, as simple and as logical as they are, are incredibly
applicable in the context of the spiritual in as much as they are in the context of
the natural. If we as Christians are engraved into Christ (the true Vine) we will find:
1. That bearing the Fruit of the Spirit, as per Galatians 5, will come completely
naturally and will not be the result of hard work and more effort.