Good Fruit Is Produced Under Grace
facilitated by Bros Rael and Dox
Bro. Rael testifies: Times are never wasted, and years are restored.
41-Year Old JB who made all sorts of fucked up decisions and suffering all sorts of consequences: Amen. Bold, Italic, Underlined, Amen.
Grace is the Cause. Good Works are the Effect.
Let’s not get that twisted. Or, well, we can say that it’s not OUR good works, but Christ’s that is the cause, and grace is the effect.
But, okay. Let’s stick to the header. Grace is the Cause. Good Works are the Effect.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The only battle and fight we have here and now is in the mind. We need to cast out any thoughts or words by the enemy. We need to cast out anything that comes against Christ, or glorifies itself above Christ, or tries to replace Christ.
The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. One thing is stolen, and it’s a domino effect. We need to guard our minds. Cast out any thoughts, and guard our minds. Take captive the obedience of Christ. Put on the armor of God.
In fact, there’s always going to be something in our minds. The nothing we put in our minds when we meditate? That’s still something. And we would do well to put the Word in our hearts and minds… effectively casting anything else out.
Romans 10:1-2 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.
So it isn’t just about something, but also about direction. Thankfully… Christ is something. He’s the Truth. Christ is also direction. He’s the Way.
And what a Life that is.
Romans 10:3 NLT
For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
This is precisely how we were before Christ. We claimed to be in the know and went our own way. We tried keeping the Law. As Gentiles, we tried becoming gods ourselves – defining righteousness for ourselves. But that all brought all of us, Jew and Gentile, to a state much worse than before.
Galatians 5:18-21 NKJV
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
…In our trying to follow the Law, in our trying to attain righteousness on our own, we fell into deeper sin. – The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the Law. 1 Corinthians 15:56
Romans 7:5 NKJV
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
It’s because the law aroused who we really were, and who we really were was sinful. Literal sin. Flesh. Programmed. Hardwired to sin. Sinners who sin.
This is how it was, and it was necessary for us to discuss this so we understand (and appreciate!) who we are now in Christ.
…For NOW that we are in the Spirit, the righteous passions are now aroused by the grace of God, at work in our members to bear fruit to Life. And the fruits are as follows:
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
We yield to the Spirit. As Andrew Farley says, we’re not getting, we’re letting. We’ve shifted from the works of the flesh to the fruit of the Spirit.
Works are a result of self-effort. Fruit is a result of Life.
(!! Thinking of the Tower of Babel and the event of Pentecost – They worked to reach God and got confused and divided, God came to us and we came together as one Body)
The fruit of the Spirit are produced in my life without self-effort when I am well watered by the word of His grace and exposed to the sunshine of God’s love.
(Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love plays in the background)
Discussing: Paul before the Gospel of Grace
Philippians 3:4-6 NKJV
4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
- Paul was the definition of religious effort.
- He worked for God’s approval instead of from God’s acceptance.
- His zeal looked like fruit, but it was actually not — pride wrapped in performance.
Paul encountering Grace:
Acts 9:1-19 NKJV
1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest….
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven…
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
- On the road to Damascus, Jesus met Paul right in his self-righteous mission.
- Grace didn’t wait for Paul to get better; it met him
- His blindness symbolized what he’d been spiritually — unable to see grace until Jesus opened his eyes.
Grace (Christ) met Paul. The Spirit was poured out upon us. Friction (works) produces strange fire… The Spirit was poured out as a flame.
Paul’s fruit after Grace:
1 Corinthians 15:10
NKJV
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Paul went from destroying the church to building it.
From pride to humility, from law to love.
Grace didn’t just forgive him — it transformed him and made his life abundantly fruitful.
Fruit comes from grace, and not grind.
WITHOUT GRACE
Striving & Burnout
Performance-based identity
Religious effort
Temporary behavior changes
WITH GRACE
Rest & Fruitfulness
Purpose-based identity
Spiritual transformation
Lasting heart change
REFLECTIONS
Where in your life are you trying to “produce fruit” through effort instead of grace?
What does “remaining in Christ” look like for you daily?
Like Paul, what old habits or mindsets did God transform by grace?
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14
vs
8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.Psalms 143:8
Where in your life are you trying to “produce fruit” through effort instead of grace?
First thought in my head when reading ‘produce fruit’ – Making money. Trying to be happy with myself when I look at myself in the mirror. I expend resources and effort for what I still insist gives me absolute satisfaction. Making the most of my time.
What does “remaining in Christ” look like for you daily?
Right now? Resting. Or, ‘resting’, allowing my body and brain to do whatever it wants on my day off, being ready to do whatever is required of me, for my Mom, the obligations I’m assigned to, and even the work I do. Going with the flow, with some awareness that this ‘flow’ is Christ. I mean, sure, I’m pretty impulsive, but I feel, just as in right now, that I’m flowing with the Holy Spirit, and just typing, here and now.
‘Remaining in Christ‘ means times like these, where I just let out what’s in my head. Remaining in Christ apparently means to write – the closest thing to actually flowing, when I whip out a line I’ve had for, oh, around a year now: ‘Flow, Trust God, Thank God‘.
And, well, there it is. Remaining in Christ is to Trust God, and to Thank God. Remaining in Christ is to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in everything. Remaining in Christ is to avoid rejecting prophecy immediately; instead, to test everything and to hold fast to what is good.
You’d think it’d sound more definitive the more I type about it but it’s sounding a whole lot more conceptual… So I’d say to remain in Christ is to flow in Christ.
It’s to take control and move when call after call comes when you’re on a call already.
It’s to be still and to choose to respond instead of react when bad news comes your way, through chat, call, or in a face to face conversation.
It’s to take a deep breath and smile whenever someone cuts you off, on when someone insists on barging in and ignoring the zipper policy.
It’s to respond with enthusiasm when your Mom has a last minute request for you to drive her somewhere she forgot to tell you about earlier.
Like Paul, what old habits or mindsets did God transform by grace?
I wanted to take some time on this one because ever since I’ve began to recognize the Life and the Walk I have with Christ, we’ve focused on Scriptures such as Christ becoming sin so we would become His righteousness, and that the old is gone and the new has come.
I’ve also went as far as explaining righteousness as something new and something we’ve been made to do, so the old and all we’ve used to do is no longer ‘us’…
…and all that is true, but I’ve never considered transformation – that is, God (Father, Son, and Spirit) taking something of the old and NOT totally removing it but TRANSFORMING it.
What’s been transformed?
I took some time and stepped away from the laptop to try answering that question… and I think what changed has changed because of a change in priorities.
It’s the next day and we’re still thinking about this, talking about this. And speaking of talking, that’s always been there, but like I said, my methods have changed because of a change in priorities.
I do remember in my childhood days that I was hyper-defensive about anything and everything. Every small question was an assault on my entire being. So, yeah, my brothers would tell me that my defenses and walls would go up and it’d show in my face and in my actions.
Nowadays I respond with grace because, sure, while I’m still looking out for number one, ‘number one’ has shifted when we believed in Christ. No longer am I defending myself, I am able to even show and be proud of my vulnerabilities, for Christ is made perfect in my weakness.
I used to hold grudges, thinking about how they hurt me. Now, whenever a bad memory comes to mind, sure, the pain is still there, but we no longer react with a random scream, but a resolute prayer – eyes and ears and mind open for what the Lord has to teach me and/or remind me.
Some of this is seen in my driving. I still make side comments and faces, and when it so happens that nobody is in the car with me you can bet that I’d be dipping into my own beautiful bag of culinary expletives. But I’m glad I didn’t know how to drive before Christ, because I’d be a whole lot more miserable on the road.
Early and over-exposure to pornography has altered my mind to objectify women and to see just what’s on the surface, but that’s changing to respecting myself and others as somebody’s child, sibling, cousin, partner… and, most importantly, beloved by God no matter who they are.
I still smoke every now and then. Still drink. Still curse. Still want money. But I’m at the prevalent realization that these things are a mere second before the primary, infinite superiority of Christ and His finished work. As such, (1) I recognize power, sex, resources and influence as mere tools, creations that are naturally inferior to Creator, and (2) only through the Creator are these ‘tools’ turned to blessings and lessons of infinite value.
I still seek comfort, and I still have tendencies to act and react with the intent of saving my own skin. But I’m also at the prevalent realization that Christ gave everything of Himself up to save us and to be with us. As such, (1) I recognize my place in the world – beneath Christ and totally dependent on Him, and (2) as Christ humbly obeyed by laying all down for others at the cross, so I am able to cast aside my own time and priorities, that others may be secured, helped, rescued, saved.
Clearly, there’s a lot left to be done. But now, I’m pushing myself to break off of the chaos of October, and to transition into next month and next year – from grace to grace, glory to glory.
That’ll be in a separate article, may or may not be posted for public consumption.
Thank You, Lord, for You are the Vine, and we are the branches.
You produce the fruit. We bear it and present it in our own lives, and life goes on.
That all may see and know that You are good, and that all may not perish but come to repentance.
That Your will be done, and all glory be ascribed to Your name, and Your name alone.
To You be all the glory and praise, now and forever. Halleluyah. Amen.
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