1. “BY THEIR FRUIT…” Lesson 1 for the 2 nd of January, 2010

2. THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT Is not The gifts of the Holy Spirit (healing, speaking in tongues, evangelizing...). Those gifts are given to the Church “to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians, 4: 12) The fruits (external acts in one’s life) Is The result of the Holy Spirit works in us, which makes us Christians. He makes us good trees that bear good fruits.

3. Gifts and fruits can be shown without the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Matthew, 7: 21-23) As sinners we can bear bad fruits occasionally. The fruit of the Spirit is given to the son of God, so his life can be changed.

4. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” John, 15: 4-5 Jesus is the TRUE VINE. We –the branches– cannot bear fruit if we don’t remain in the vine. Jesus is the TRUE VINE. We –the branches– cannot bear fruit if we don’t remain in the vine.

5. The result of abiding in Him will be that we bear fruit, not to glorify ourselves but to glorify God. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”. (Matthew 5:16) RIGHT Glorifying God. WRONG Glorifying ourselves.

6. By the end of January, a first prune is done. The branches are pruned and are burned. After that, the weeds are cut off and some earth is piled up in a cone around the vine to protect it from the ice. Another prune is done in spring, when some shoots are cut off to allow the rest of them having more sap.

7. “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John, 15: 2) Only an expert farmer cans prune without damaging the vine and the branches. God, who knows us profoundly, is going to “prune” everything that can be an obstacle to develop our character in our lives. This action can be painful, but it is necessary to bear more and better fruits. Only an expert farmer cans prune without damaging the vine and the branches. God, who knows us profoundly, is going to “prune” everything that can be an obstacle to develop our character in our lives. This action can be painful, but it is necessary to bear more and better fruits.

8. “So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' "`Sir,' the man replied, `leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"”. Luke 13:7-9 God is patient with us and He delays the moment of rejecting us. He waits us to join Him, the True Vine.

9. SALVATION IS NOT ACHIEVED BY BEARING FRUITS Bearing fruit is an expression of salvation; it is not a means to attaining it. We’re not saved by bearing fruit; our fruit reveals the reality of the salvation we already have in Jesus, through faith in Him.

10. “We are to be found day by day abiding in the Vine, and bringing forth fruit, with patience, at our home, in our business; and in every relation in life manifesting the Spirit of Christ. There are many who act as though they thought an occasional connection with Christ was all that was necessary, and that they can be accounted living branches because at times they make confession of Christ. But this is a fallacy. The branch is to be grafted into the Vine, and to abide there, uniting itself to the Vine fiber by fiber, drawing its daily supply of sap and nourishment from the root and fatness of the Vine, until it becomes one with the parent stock. The sap that nourishes the Vine must nourish the branch and this will be evident in the life of him who is abiding in Christ; for the joy of Christ will be fulfilled in him who walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. E.G.W. (S.D.A. Bible Commentary, vol. 5, pg. 1144, on John 15: 8)