fruit

The Fruit of the Kingdom

September 3, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:15-20

We’ve all heard the phrase “A wolf in sheep’s clothing.” If you’ve ever wondered the origin of that phrase, then here you have it. Contextually speaking, Jesus is referring to false prophets and teachers. These individuals who prey on the ignorant with what sounds like wisdom, but is in fact intentional deceit designed to satisfy their own appetites and lust for power. If you ever hear a preacher or teacher or anyone claiming to be a prophet or apostle, but their teaching is focused more on themselves, on individuals, and anything other than the Kingdom of God, then you can rest assured they are sowing bad seed that produces poisonous fruit. It will make you sick of yourself, distract you from His mission, and ultimately kill your joy.

When members of the Secret Service are taught how to recognize counterfeit money, they are not shown fake bills. They are made to study the real bills so that they can more readily recognize anything that doesn’t measure up to the standard of truth. In data science, there is a principle that we adhere to in order to ascertain if the data that we are analyzing is accurate – the principle of the source of truth. Anything that violates or doesn’t measure up to the source of truth is considered invalid analysis and thus requires re-examination. The same applies when recognizing false teaching.

What is the fruit of a true prophet/teacher that is humbly tuned to the word of God? There are certain hallmarks of Biblical teaching and Biblical interpretation that will ring true every time. There are in fact several factors that we must consider in terms of how to identify a false teacher, but I will sum them up by identifying what identifies the teaching of the true gospel.

First, and foremost, the true gospel acknowledges the Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Anyone who adds themselves or another teacher to this truth is a liar and the truth is not in them. Any religious creed or principle that states you must follow a specific prophet or teacher or leader in addition to Jesus in order to be in the Kingdom is false and I urge you to run the opposite direction.

Secondly, any teaching that is contrary to God’s established canon of Scripture is not to be trusted. The canon of Scripture was closed no later than 100 AD, and there are more than 7000 original manuscripts that can attest to the authenticity of this claim. The Old Testament canon was widely accepted and established well before the 1st century AD. This is testified to by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (William Whiston, trans., Flavius Josephus against Apion, Vol. 1, in Josephus, Complete Works, Grand Rapids, Kregel, 1960, p. 8). The New Testament canon was well established and first officially recognized by the Council of Rome in AD 140, but this list of apostolic writings was considered closed by AD 332 and books that were originally considered canon but found to be written too late to be authoritative or were theologically out of line with apostolic teaching were discarded.

As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) While Paul was primarily referring to the Old Testament canon of his day, the apostle Peter considered Paul’s epistles and other apostolic writings to be equal to the Old Testament canon:

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
2 Peter 3:14-18

Finally, the teachings of the Kingdom produce Godly fruit that is easily recognizable in the heart of the believer. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Any teaching that produces fruit contrary to this is false.

In fact, just prior to this list of the Fruit of the Spirit, Paul describes those characteristics that stand out as the fruit of counterfeit teaching and a counterfeit life: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) If any teaching from the pulpit or from a Bible Study class or from any form of mentorship or “disciplining” produces this kind of fruit in your own heart or the heart of others, then it is incumbent upon us as believers to admonish and correct such teaching in the interest of the truth for the sake of the Kingdom.

The danger therein lies when we mix the fruit of the unrighteousness with the fruit of the Spirit, and produce a sort of “wolf in sheep’s clothing” theology that creates confusion and deception. For example, when we treat the name of Jesus like it is some sort of magical incantation by misinterpreting the scriptures that say “whatever you ask in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14), we are mixing sorcery into our prayers when Jesus’ words there was intended to beckon submission to the will of the Father, not bend the Father to our will. Another example would be the practice of venerating religious relics or props as having some sort of mystical power to heal or grant wishes. This is nothing more than a form of idolatry masquerading as devotion.

Personally, I invite challenges to anything that I teach. If I am wrong, then please, I humbly accept such correction. But be forewarned, that if you do choose to challenge what I do teach, come prepared with a Biblical substantiation for your point of view. This is the standard by which I seek to measure anything that I teach and it is the standard that I will hold you to if you choose to bring correction.

Hold fast to the principles of truth. Know the fruit of the teaching that you adhere to. Measure everything against the totality of Scripture within the established context of Scripture itself. Be on the alert of the wolf that prowls within the flock, seeking to divide and conquer. Examine yourself to ensure that you are not that wolf yourself.

The Fruit You Get

July 7, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (Romans 6:22)

Recently my wife and I were traveling from Wichita Falls, TX back home to Austin after a long holiday weekend. As was our normal practice, we plugged our destination into our map app on my phone as began our journey. Within less than 30 minutes, we reached a point on the map that was easily confused and we found ourselves missing our turn and going down the wrong path. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we were able to turn around and get back on the right path to our intended destination. Later on that same trip, we encountered a similar situation in Ft. Worth. Again, we missed our turn, but we our map app was able to adjust and get us back on track.

In the first instance, had we remained on the course we were heading and not turned around, we would have ultimately ended up 8 hours away from our intended destination. In the second instance, we were planning to make a special side stop to drive through and see the seminary located there. Had we continued on after missing the correct branch of the fork in the expressway, we would have missed this side trip. In both cases, we were able to quickly course-correct, thanks to our map that alerted us that we had missed our turn.

Scripture serves as a spiritual map, providing an opportunity to “course-correct” when we get off track in our lives. When we surrender our lives to Christ, we are in effect changing our destination from a path of destruction to a path that leads to eternal glory. This eternal change in our lives doesn’t mean that we don’t occasionally get off track, but when we saturate our lives with God’s Word, we are more quickly able to get back on track to our destination. If we choose to ignore the instructions of our “map”, the ultimate end of the road is a destination that is not what we intended.

Sin produces fruit in our lives, fruit that is rotten and spoils quickly. “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:20-21) But the fruit of the Spirit, fruit that is planted by the seed of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and watered by the Word of God saturating our lives, and giving glory to the Son who is the Master of our lives, makes all the difference: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22-24)

I ask you, what “fruit are you getting” from the life you are leading? If your life is characterized by the “works of the flesh”, then I would implore you to spend some time doing some deep soul searching and really dive into the Word of God with an open heart. This will help you course-correct and get your life on a path that will lead to a more joyful life. But be forewarned: “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

If the “fruit you are getting” in your life is characterized by the fruit of the Spirit, then I encourage you: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Nine times in the book of Genesis God reiterated this command. In the New Testament, Jesus put it another way: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

We are not called to make converts. We are called to make disciples. We are called to baptize. We are called to teach disciples to observe and obey all that He has commanded us in this life. But we are not alone in this journey, because He has promised to be with us to the end. And this is a promise that you can take to the bank.

The Fruit of Your Life

July 1, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere Louisiana called Pine Grove. The town got its name for obvious reasons. Much of the publicly available land was owned by the local paper mill. The home I grew up in was surrounded by a forest of pine trees, great oaks, sweet gums, black walnut, dogwoods. All of these trees bore some kind of fruit: pine cones, sweet gum balls, acorns, black shelled walnuts, dogwood pods. Pine cones were sharp and woody. Acorns were left for the squirrels. Sweet gum balls and black walnuts were better used as propellants to hit my brothers in the shins.

I remember when growing up, my parents planted a couple of plum trees and and a peach tree that may have produce a couple of fruit here and there over the years, but we didn’t really take proper care of them and they eventually died.

My grandmother and my brothers and I would often spend the summers picking up fallen pecans in 5 gallon buckets from beneath the row of pecan trees that were in the field surrounding her home. We would then spend the next few days and weekends shelling those pecans and filling her freezer. She would then use those pecans in baking pecan pies and her famous chocolate pecan sheet cake.

We also would go over to a friend’s home and pick some mayhaw fruit that she would process into the most amazing jelly – subtle flavor, but sweet and delicious. To this day, that jelly is my favorite, but living in Texas I rarely see it anywhere.

While most trees bear some sort of fruit for the sake of reproduction into other trees of their kind, not all fruit produced by those trees are fit for consumption. That begs the question, if you were a tree, what kind of fruit would you bear? What kind of “trees” do you surround yourself with? Whatever fruit you produce is always going to be designed to reproduce in others around you. Whatever fruit you consume from the “trees” surrounding you, will reproduce within you soon enough.

Do you produce edible fruit in your life – fruit worthy of consumption? Or do you produce poisonous fruit that leads to death? Do you produce succulent fruit but leave it languishing on the branches, not pruning the tree until it eventually withers and dies from neglect? Or do you produce fruit that is transformative and sweet to the taste, reproducing into other trees that also bear good fruit?

The fruit you bear not only indicates what kind of tree you are, but also what kind of seed you spread. If you cross-pollinate with trees that are not compatible with your fruit, then it will produce fruit that is not edible. If you surround yourself with incompatible trees, you will find yourself not producing much fruit at all until you wither away. But if you bear good fruit, take care of the tree from which that fruit grows; then it will produce a reproducible harvest in the appropriate time.

The fruit of sin has a natural consequence of poisoning the relationships around you and destroying yourself in the process. Sin leads to death. It’s inevitable. But the fruit of righteousness “leads to sanctification, and its end, eternal life” – a life that is sweet and characterized by “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

So again, I ask you, what kind of fruit are you producing in your life? Is it worth reproducing? What kind of “trees” are you surrounding yourself with on a consistent basis? Is their fruit worth consuming into your life? I encourage you, be intentional about the relationships you build. Such cross-pollination can enrich the fruit you produce, or it can corrupt and choke it out. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

The Fruit of Repentance

May 28, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.'” (Matthew 3:7-10)

Salman Rushdie, in his book “The Satanic Verses”, wrote: “From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.” Unfortunately, this has been proven true over the eons and still rings true even today. That is why it is all the more important that we understand the fruit of repentance. Without repentance and adherence to God’s word, our religious observances and declarations are impotent. If we blindly follow only the letter of the law, we do good, but we become legalistic and judgmental. If we blindly follow only the spirit of the law, we quickly fall into the trap of moral compromise. We must strike a balance, or else we become nothing more than the blind leading the blind through the dark alleys and passageways of the world.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious leaders of Israel in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. They were known for harsh disagreements over doctrines, but more importantly they were known for their harsh treatment of the people by keeping them shackled to an impossible moral standard that exceeded even the dictates of God Himself. It became so rigid that they began to make up rules about the Sabbath that God Himself never intended. For example, the prohibition of women to even look into a mirror on the Sabbath because she might pluck out a gray hair and that would be considered work and vanity. But any other day of the week was fine.

Repentance is the truest fruit of genuine religious faith. And the fruit of repentance is clearly defined as a matter of evidence of a transformed heart by the power of the Holy Spirit: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:18-24)

Dan Brown is the controversial write of the “The Da Vinci Code”. I’m not here to debate the conclusions he draws in that book because it is a work of fiction. I do not herald him as some sort of religion expert or history for that matter. But a statement by the character of the camerlengo in his book “Angels and Demons” speaks a startling, earth shaking truth about religion itself:

“Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths… all faiths… are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control.”

It is our unwillingness to submit to accountability that prevents a true spirit of repentance. Accountability acknowledges that there is a higher, better way. Accountability demands repentance when we stray. Accountability is the plumb tool that we use to measure our lives against the plumb line standard of God’s Word. Not out of a spirit of obligation, but out of a spirit of gratitude and devotion.

If a tree does not bear good fruit, the horticulturalist is left with little choice but to destroy the tree because it is already dead. The only way to know if a tree is good is if it bears the fruit of its design. The same is true for the religionist that does not bear the fruit of the spirit. The fruit is the evidence of repentance and it makes all the difference.