The Marks of a True Christian: Fruit and Love

 

In recent months, God has impressed on my heart the importance of bearing fruit and loving one another. There are a number of things that people like to use as “identifiers” for Christians. For some, it’s a t-shirt or a bumper sticker. For others, it’s whether or not a person is at church every time the door is open. For still others, questions regarding just how much and what the person understood at the time of their salvation are considered to be the most crucial. However, Scripture is clear in telling us how to know a Christian when we see one. 

The first way we read about is the bearing of fruit. The Bible talks about the fruit that different people bear numerous times.

The most obvious time is in Galatians when Paul writes about the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These character traits are those of Christ. Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and as they submit to God’s will, He manifests these character traits in their lives.

Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, taught that a person receives the gift of the Holy Spirit when he or she becomes a Christian. Upon being asked what to do when the people were pricked to the heart due to their lost state, Peter replied: "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles--all who have been called by the Lord our God" (Acts 2:38-39). True Christians will embody the fruits of the Spirit. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, the good fruit of the Spirit cannot be produced in a person's life.

In order for a person to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, he or she must become a Christian. Moreover, in order for a person bto ear good fruit, he or she must have the gift of the Holy Spirit and be actively submitting to Him. However, it must be understood just because a person is a baptized Christian who at one time received the gift of the Holy Spirit, this does not necessarily imply that all such individuals are bearing good fruit. Unfortunately, it is sometimes the case that baptized Christians do not submit to the will of God by bearing their crosses. In these cases, the Spirit is quenched--prevented from producing fruit in the life of such an individual. As a result, many people who call themselves Christians, instead of producing the good fruit of the Spirit, produce bad fruit. Those who find themselves in this category must be challenged to question whether or not they are, indeed, faithful Christians.
 

Luke 6:43-45 further confirms that Christians and non-Christians are recognized by their fruit: “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

 In context, Matthew 7 is discussing how to recognize a false prophet. However, I think it is safe to say that the message conveyed can be broadened to describe non-Christians as well: “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

A second way Scripture teaches we can identify Christians is by their love for each other. A multitude of Scriptures indicate how important love is in the life of a Christian. The clearest passage in this context is John 13:34-35: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." 

God has used my environment to shed light on these concepts for me. Christianity really works, and when people live out Biblical concepts, it is evident to all who are around. And those who are not living out these concepts are bearing fruit that God warns against. True Christians have changed lives. Just because people are at church every time the door is open does not mean they are true Christians. Their daily lives must resemble the fruits of the Spirit. Their actions must exemplify Christ. Non-Christians are not bearing good fruit. Instead, their lives are marked by selfishness and a lack of concern for or interested in others. They are marked by the tendency to complain and put others down. They are busy trying to find satisfaction in material wealth and other dead-ends.

The unpopular truth is this: churches are full of non-Christians. That is, churches are full of people who are deceived into thinking that by committing 1-4 hours of their week to God by going to church, they are in the clear. Yet they live their lives the way they want to, often in total defiance to God’s way. Churches are full of people who claim to be Christians who have never even touched their cross, much less picked it up or bore it. Churches are full of people who simply do not follow Christ. They don’t bear fruit and their interactions with others are a far cry from exemplifying the love of Christ.

The dilemma created by this unpopular truth is that it is often difficult for true Christians and Christ-seekers to actually figure out who the true Christians are. They are lost among thousands of people who are deceived into thinking they are Christians. So how do you identify a true Christian? You examine their life to see if they are bearing good fruit (the fruit of the Spirit) and to see if they are proving their loyalty to Christ by loving one another earnestly and zealously.

Do you claim to be a Christian? If so, are these two qualities evident in your life? If not, make a change or stop claiming to be a Christian. Because the fact is, when you don’t live up to that claim by letting Christ be manifested in you, you repel the lost. The challenge for Christians is to strive to attain these qualities more in every single day, every single moment, and with every single decision.

May we all be known by the good fruits we bear and the love we have for one another.