The Fruit of the Spirit 3 (How the Fruit of the Spirit works)

By Ayoola Fakeye

 Christianity is not a rule-based religion. But life in the Spirit is based on fellowship with the triune God. That would lead us to how this fruit works.

 

As I was meditating, I got a verse of the scripture which I have never seen in the light I will be sharing with you. It is a famous scripture. However, I want you all to open your heart to receive all Lord has for you.

 

 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5.‭

 

These were the last words of Jesus to his disciples. In the preceding verses, he told his disciple's not to be troubled in their hearts and gave them the promise of the comforter—the Holy Spirit.

Afterward, He told them who He is to them, namely, “I am the true Vine.” Then He referred to the disciples as the “branches.”

 

The branches are the heart of a Christian. It is not your spirit man – born again man because you cannot detach the spirit man, cannot be the vine. It is one with Vine! 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “he that is joined unto Christ is of one Spirit with Him.”

 

Therefore, it is the heart's problem when we are not producing fruit as believers in Christ. Jesus, the true vine does not have a problem; your spirit man joined to Christ does not have a problem. But the heart is crucial to every material framework of a man.

 

Beloved, the heart is so unique. And I will be sharing some uniqueness as the bible records for us. 

 

The soul of a man comprises emotions, mind, and will. However, the human heart is so instrumental to the adequate functionality of the soul because it is the steering of the soul. Whatever conception and perception the heart owns will be the direction the soul will move to (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Another unique function of the heart is that; heart is the instrument of Faith, and we can also say it is the battleground of faith. Romans 10:10 gives clear information about this function of the heart; “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” The salvation from the verse is rich. The translation of it in Greek is “Soteria.” It means our total salvation that includes physical, emotional, and spiritual. It involves our health, prosperity, safety, sanity, etc. 

 

The devil knows so well how the heart is vital in believing and receiving this “God-given” salvation. Therefore, he will make every effort so that you don't have Faith operating in your heart by darkening it with doubt, fear, insecurity, and the like. In this light, I refer to the heart as the battleground for faith. Glory to Jesus! We are not ignorant of the devices of the devil. 

 

There is a lot of other uniqueness, but these two are the key to all others.

 

The heart as the branch is very core to how much of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is being produced in us by the same Spirit. And the position of our it to the Holy Spirit is so essential. That will determine how the soul will be channeled and thus manifest through the body.  

 

Jesus continued His conversation with His disciple and told them the place of the Father in all of these: “my Father is the vinedresser.” Being bible believers, we must know that the Holy Spirit is the force and the personality that carries out the Father's intention and plan in us.

 

Now see one of the works the Father and His Spirit do:

“Every branch that does not bear fruit, He takes away.” The Greek meaning of the word “takes away” means “He lifts.” To put it in clear words, I will say the Holy Spirit aligns the branch to the vine so that it can bear fruit. That is just what we need! That the Holy Spirit can align our hearts and lift our hearts to a position God wants them to be.

 

Another essential uniqueness of the heart is “it is the seat of intention and consciousness.” You can see with your heart better than with your eyes.  Jesus spoke about the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8. He said, “they speak with their mouth, but their heart is far away.” That is one of the main problems we have as a church. Our heart is far away from Christ, yet we abound in activities. No wonder we have little or no results because the power of the gospel is missing, even though we speak just what the gospel is all about. We could pray for hours -12 hours of prayer or more, but there won't be fruit because our heart is far away from Christ.

 

What is to be addressed is not the activities and devotions first but the position of our heart towards Christ. How do we view Christ? How do we see and receive his love? How do we see the substitutionary work on the cross of Calvary? The Apostle prayed this legendary prayer; “that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith … That you may understand how much Christ loves you.” Is that your earnest prayer also?

 

How your heart conceives God is crucial! Perhaps, you always wonder why you misbehave unconsciously as a believer; the root cause is the heart's position. It is becauser the heart lacks the vitamins needed from the fruit of the Spirit to power your soul - emotions, will, and mind.

 

Let me stop here. We shall continue the discussion in the subsequent article. However, I ask you again, “how do you conceive God?”