Fruit comes from Grace

…Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth…
(Colossians 1:5-6 ESV)

This has probably risen into the ranks of hallmark passage for me. This is one of those never-forget passages.

You, like me, probably have those people in your ministry who need to get-it-together. They’re stuck in their own sin… sinking in it… and they need to quit! They need to be… well… like us! (good time to read Romans 1 – Romans 2)

But truthfully, we have people that we sometimes think, “Why can’t this person bear some fruit?” And it’s not always the fruit of upholding the moral law, but sometimes it’s simply wanting to see them be positive or chip in and help out! But the question remains:

WHERE? IS? THE? FRUIT?! 

So, let’s look at today’s passage… Colossians 1:5-6

First… let’s establish that the gospel is the word of truth.

Now, notice that in this portion of scripture the gospel bears fruit and as it bears fruit it spreads. Real fruit has a draw to it. (Titus 2:10) And that’s the kind of fruit we want… the real kind that is aromatic to the world around us. The kind of fruit we see in Galatians 5:22-23 – where does that come from?

 

Being more faithful? No.

Attending church more? No.

Serving in ministry? No.

Giving your tithes? No.

Feeding the homeless? No.

Obeying the ten commandments? No.

While all of these are good things to do, they don’t produce the fruit… because these things are all fruit themselves…

To bear fruit you have to understand God’s grace in truth (the gospel).

The word translated understood in the original Greek is the word epiginōskō which means to know well, accurately, thoroughly… it’s like some serious knowing!

When we commit ourselves to seeing God’s grace, hearing God’s grace and understanding God’s grace we will begin to produce real fruit.

I was talking with a friend earlier today and we were talking about people seem to hear about grace and think we’re saying to sin and sin well! If you hear grace and think sin then you don’t epiginōskō grace. Grace enables us to obey through Christ’s obedience. The love of God allows us to love Him back… which includes obeying Him. (John 14:15)

When we fully commit ourselves to the gospel of Grace we will bear more fruit that we ever tried to.

As my friend and mentor Tony Sutherland says, “In grace you will live better for God by accident than you ever could on purpose!”

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