1You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. 3We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, that no one would boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
11Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), 12that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, 15having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, 16and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Producing Good Fruit
Fruitful Tree in the Vineyard
Evangelical Christians tend to be reluctant to discuss good works. We understand that works can easily creep into the reality of God’s salvation by grace alone. Too much focus on good works can often lead believers to think that they have somehow contributed to their own salvation. You were saved by grace, and you continue to be saved by grace. HOWEVER, a believer must not exclude the reality that faith without action (works) is dead on arrival. James, the brother of Jesus, explains this extensively in the Book of James. Paul himself explains in Ephesians chapter two that we are indeed saved by grace, but we were saved FOR works (Ephesians 2:10). Reader, you can’t exclude your duty to do good works from God’s total and complete provision of being saved by grace. Through faith you will be saved, but you will not progress past being born again.
I have a close friend who had several children who were born with birth defects. He and his wife had some dysfunction in their genes that caused several of their children to be born without fully developed skeletal systems. It was absolutely heartbreaking when these children were born. He is a physician, and he told me that when these precious little babies were born, he held them for 15-30 minutes until they died. The couple named them, loved them for a few brief moments, and then buried them. They were precious little boys and girls who made it to birth but didn’t progress beyond that. That’s sort of a strange picture of what it would be like to be born again and never produce any fruit in your life.
The parable gives a good solution to the fruit production problem. “Dig around its roots and fertilize it.” That’s precisely what you and I need to do. We need to ask God to break up the hard soil around our hearts and allow Him to pour on the fertilizer. Fertilizer, sunshine, and water are often the solution to a plant that won’t produce. The same is true in our lives. Let God break up bad habits and sin patterns in your life. Take a deep daily dive into God’s word (like reading these devotionals). Let the Living Water, Jesus, pour Himself over the roots of your heart and be fruitful. Ask the Holy Spirit for direction on what He would have you to do today, and DO IT!