251. Fruit
Colossians 1:6 Which (the gospel) is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.
The gospel has come to you, as well as in all the world, and it brings forth fruit. This is the promise: the gospel brings forth fruit also in you. The gospel has borne fruit from the first day you heard it, and it is still bearing fruit today. When you heard the gospel you knew the grace of God in truth. The gospel tells of the grace of God; when you heard it you believed it and so received the grace of God.
Grace is free to us, though it is earned at great cost by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. By grace are ye saved; but also by grace do ye live. Believing and receiving the grace of God through faith in Jesus gives the power to save but also to live a live of fruit-bearing: love, joy, peace, etc. are blossoming and blooming in us as we believe the gospel.
We don’t always see the fruit in our own lives, but sometimes we can see the fruit of the Spirit in others if we will look for it. We need to be aware of more “God-sightings,” so we keep our eyes and ears open to what the Lord is doing around us. But because we don’t see fruit God gives us the promise so that we will believe it. If we have heard and believed the gospel then fruit is produced. This is a fact, whether we see it or not. Believing is seeing. The Lord is doing a whole lot more in us and around us than we can see. We know grace because God promised.
We do not try to produce fruit; we do not pray to be better people; we do not by our own effort make something happen. It happens supernaturally when we repent and believe the Gospel. It has the power to bring forth fruit. When we don’t hear the gospel enough, in church and in our private devotions, we begin to rely on our own strength and human wisdom. However, the flesh will fail us, for we cannot make ourselves better people. But by the Spirit through the Gospel we know the grace of God and it brings forth fruit. Turn to God often and receive the Gospel: fruit will come.