Title: The Fruit of the Branches, Part I
Today we begin a three part series that is very, very thick and rewarding theologically.
I. What is the source of your action?
v16 (read)
Here Paul begins this wonderfully rich dialogue with an example from horticulture. He states a law from nature which dictates that the fruit of a plant is dictated by what type of plant it is.
You will never find apples growing from a peach tree.
You will never find Chevys rolling off the assembly line of a Ford plant. (I’m pausing for Jim’s “Amen!”)
You will never find me wearing an Pittsburgh Steelers gear.
Why? Because the root, the source, the nature of the being is that apples grow from the root of an apple tree, Fords roll of the assembly line at a Ford plant, and I will live and die (mostly die) as a Browns fans. It is the natural nature of these things.
And Paul then says, “Look, if the action or the fruit of a thing is holy, then the source must be holy.”
This seems simple enough, but there are some deep theological truths to what Paul is telling us here.
First, the negative:
There are no truly good works outside of God. When Paul is quoting the O.T. in chapter three of Romans and states, “There is no one righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10) This is what he is talking about: Aside from God, there are no Good works.
In our world there are several deeds that are performed by human beings that the world applauds as good or even righteous.
When old ladies are helped across the street, the world says, “Good!”
When treaties are signed and wars cease, the world cries, “Good!”
When our justice system punishes the guilty and vindicates the innocent, the world cries, “Good!”
But if the root of these actions is not the will of God, none of these deeds, or countless other deeds will justify you before God on the day of judgement!
And what is really terrifying about this thought is that literally millions of Christians will confess in a salvation that is of faith and not works, yet they do not find comfort in their faith. Rather, they are finding comfort in their accomplishments as Christians. In other words, they find comfort in their works.
They compare themselves to other believers and say, “Well, I’m more learned, or more educated, or more disciplined than them.
They look at the world and all of its hideous behavior and say, “Well, I won’t support this or that, and I voted against this or that.”
This is a salvation of negation. What these people are doing in their minds is lining up the entire world and comparing their own actions against the norm of the world and by the process of elimination, they come away feeling pretty secure in their salvation.
Is this the road that Paul was telling us to walk down when he challenges us in Phil. 2:12 to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Is this how we are to be sure of our salvation, by looking at the world around us and saying, “I’m better than them.”
No. No. No.
Faith is knowing that you are EXACTLY like the world, and yet, forgiven by the Grace of God. You can’t earn it, you can’t secure it, you can’t even enforce it. It is upon you in an instant and you believe it, or you don’t.
Now, the positive aspect:
As Christians, good works MUST come from us. We cannot claim to have holy roots and then evil fruit. The things that we do in the name of Jesus MUST be holy, for it is our nature and the nature of our root.
So why, then, do we have so many evil works in our lives?
Enter the problem of SIN.
Sin is such a horrible thing that it allows for the perversion of what we were created for. And it does this in two ways:
1. At the creation of man, when Adam and Eve fell, the real tradgedy was that man had become corrupted from the original design…which was of course, to bring glory to God. When man was corrupted from Adam and Eve, the roots were severed, and the process of salvation is exactly what Paul is talking about here: being grafted back into the root of holiness.
2. The Second tragedy of sin is this: that for you and I today, when we sin (holy roots attempting to produce evil fruit) we are attempting to overpower our nature. I know this is deep, but follow me here.
Never, in the history of the universe, has a tree been overpowered by its fruit. On the contrary, if a tree, by some anomaly, produces and undesireable fruit, the fruit is rejected and cast away from the tree.
Why do you think it hurts us so much when we as believers sin? Why do you think repentance is such a painful process? Why is it so easy to commit a sin, yet literally impossible for a true believer to live in sin without absolute agony from the Holy Spirit inside of you?
Because the tree, the holiness of the root of God which is our new nature, is rejecting our unholy fruit. It is a fight we cannot win. We are literally trying to overpower the will of God when we try to live in sin. It cannot be done.
It is for this reason, biblical, theological, and truthful, that if a person is truly saved they cannot ever fully and finally reject their salvation. I cannot be something my nature is not. I can try for a time, but I will be brought back to my original intention.
Finally, this morning: A warning.
I do not want to assume that this evidence fits the bill for all of you. There may indeed be some among you this morning who would say unto themselves: Sin is not that painful of a process for me, pastor Ben. My heart does not break in the way you describe. In fact, I’m ashamed to admit that all to often living in sin is much easier form me that it ought to be.
To you I say: You are either saved, or you are not.
If you are saved, repent NOW, because literally every second that you choose to continue to live in disobedience to God is you trying to overpower God’s will for you life. God does not look favorably upon this type of behavior in the Bible. David. Abraham. Moses. Peter. Paul. Job. All of these men suffered GREATLY for attempting to overpower God, and his punishments upon them scarred them the rest of their lives.
And if you are not saved this morning (and open yourself up the very real possibility that you are not saved, but only THINK you are saved) then I say to you: REPENT! For each moment that you continue to walk in your way instead of God’s you are heaping judgement and damnation upon your soul for eternity.
In the very next verse that we will look at next week Paul tells us something very terrifying. He tells us that branches were broken off the tree for God’s will to be done. Do not deceive yourself this morning into a false sense of security, believing foolishly that God’s will for your life is to be saved, and that it’s in his hands so you need not worry.
I am telling you now: worry. There is no more important decision you will EVER make than to worry about your fate and salvation. The altar is open, and I am available if need be. Know this morning, what your root is.
Next Week
v17: The blood of Christ was not only spilt for you, it flows in you (you partake of what God partakes)
v18: Don’t make the same mistake the Jews have made (Jealousy). The root supports you. (How often do we live as if we support (or in control) of God?