Hard Truth Three: No Fruit, No Kingdom

Hard Truth Three: No Fruit, No Kingdom

Paul spells it out for us:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:19-24)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:17-18)

Take an honest look at your thoughts, your desires, your intentions and your actions. If in any way you do not see love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, your thoughts, desires, intentions and actions are works of the flesh.

Please understand that bearing the fruit of the Spirit is not something we "do" or any particular action that we take, but instead the fruits of the Spirit are the resulting consequence of our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Faith comes first, then from our loving servitude to God will the works of His kingdom flow out from us. If you cannot identify His works in your life, then you have to ask yourself if you are a member of His kingdom.

When Paul says "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" most surely this is something we must "do" of our own free will. This self-sacrifice is not easy but lest we forget, His kingdom is worth it. The guilty criminal that was crucified along side Christ, defended the innocence of Jesus and pleaded:

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)

Paradise, the very word invokes many wonderful thoughts. Jesus has more to say about His kingdom.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4)

Jesus described His purpose on earth to His followers in Capernaum when they tried to keep Jesus with them

but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:43)

We should not over analyze the gift or question, with human reasoning, the kingdom of God. In so many ways, it is a mystery that must be received with the simplicity and innocence of a child. Pilate, a man whose fruits were arguably not of the Holy Spirit and who clearly not with the simplicity or innocence in mind, questioned Jesus regarding His kingdom

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:36-37)

Though Paul never spoke to Pilate that we know of, it is not hard to believe that had Pilate asked the same question of Paul, his answer would have been the same as what he said to the early church in Corinth.

For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:50-52)

Clearly the kingdom of God, though manifested in the physical world, exists in the spiritual realm. And when Jesus discussed His mission with Nicodemus, the mystery of His kingdom was further explained like this:

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:2-8)

To those that bear the fruit of the kingdom of God, John the Baptist added an important element

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3:8)

I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:11-12)

And he (Jesus) went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:3)

And as we have already noted, when Jesus proclaimed the gospel of God, "the good news of the kingdom of God" He also spoke of the need to repent

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

So what is this repentance that John and Jesus speak of?

Read on... Hard Truth Four: No Repentance, No Kingdom