Bearing Fruit – Part 3

We have been talking about bearing fruit and we’ve discovered we can’t bear fruit without Jesus.  Scriptures shows we were created to be fruitful.  One of the main reasons believers are not fruitful is because they operate in “dead works.” Today, we will reveal what dead works are, and how to turn from them so that we live the rest of our life bearing fruit.

Scriptures:

John 15: 1, 2:   1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. ^NKJ

John 15: 5:   I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.    ^Berean

Genesis 1:28a:   God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it  ^KJ

Genesis 9:7:   And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”   ^NKJ

John 15:7:  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. ^NKJ

Matthew 7: 24-29:   24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  ^NKJ

Hebrews 6:1: Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God, ^Berean

We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God   ^{Good News}

Philippians 3: 2, 3:  2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort 

Philippians 3:9:  not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ^NKJ

Ephesians 2:8-10:  8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.   ^Berean

Matthew 23:2-7; 13, 15, 23, 25-28:   2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.  5 All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6 They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.  13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.  15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you  are.  23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.   ^Berean
Luke 20: 46:   Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;  ^KJ

Hebrews 9:14:   how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works.  ^ESV

His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.   ^{Good News}

James 2: 21-23:  21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  ^NKJ

John 8:31:  So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples.   ^Berean