Once Saved Always Saved

Jesus and the apostles often used fruit as the mark of a true Christian: the fruit of true repentance is obedience (Luke 6:43-46), sharing your faith (John 4:36), evidence of the Spirit in your life (Gal. 5:22-23), “all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Eph 5:9), and holiness which only comes through Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:11).

Jesus’ illustrations are simple. It is black versus white or good versus evil. The tree either produces good fruit or does not. The soil either grows a plant or does not. A Christian produces fruit - good fruit. Now someone could ask, “Could the tree start out producing good fruit and then turn badly.” The answer is given to us by Jesus when He says, “I never knew you . . .” Jesus’ parable is simple. You either have or do not have fruit. Jesus never talks about when fruit appears. He always assumes a true disciple produces some fruit (Luke 13:6-9). Remember even repentance results in fruit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Today, there are many wonderful people in church. Some have a wonderfully compassionate, charismatic personality; others are hard working and faithful. Some churches have men and women who are naturally great teachers and preachers, but they are not real. The Holy Spirit is not active in their life, but they are people with wonderful native gifts. Unfortunately, Jesus will some day say,

How To Make Fruit. In John 15:1-8, Jesus tells His disciples that they are incapable of producing fruit. How often does some teacher or preacher look at what God is doing in their class or church and think to himself or herself that they doing something great. They have forgotten an important truth. The Holy Spirit is the real teacher (1 Cor. 2:13). God only used them. Jesus says,

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit . . . the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. . . . apart from Me you can do nothing. (NASB) John 15:1-6

Jesus communicates two very important truths: 1) a branch by itself does not produce fruit and 2) a branch in Christ produces fruit. Jesus is talking about people who “abide” in Him. The Greek word for abide is the present active participle of MENO. The participle simply means that a true branch continues to remain in the vine. It never departs! Someone will ask, how do we understand “in Me” in the second line? The answer is that “in Me” is not the same as “abide in Me.” In the second line, Jesus is describing the type of disciple who was following Him and then turned away:

As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. (NASB) John 6:66

What is required to make fruit? Without abiding in Jesus, we can do nothing that counts for eternity. Are you abiding in Jesus? What kind of fruit is evident in your life? If you belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit has been working in your heart and life to produce fruit. What fruit do you see?

How Does One Start To Abide? Jesus has told us that if we are good soil, we will produce fruit, “hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” And those who produce fruit are the ones who are continuing to abide in Christ. Those who do not abide do not produce anything because they are either hard, rocky or thorny soil.

. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself . . . (NASB) Eph. 1:4-5

God tells us that He “chose us . . . before the foundation of the world.” There is nothing special in the Greek. God is saying He selected us before the foundation of the world to be adopted as His son, that is, to be a Christian (Romans 8:29-30). He did not ask our opinion. He did not look to see what kind of fruit we would produce. He did not hope and wait to see if we would accept Jesus as our Savior. He decided for us!

John 6:37, 44, 65. Jesus Himself tells us that no person can become a Christian by his/her own decision. Jesus told His disciples,

And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.” (NASB) John 6:65

No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. (NASB) John 6:44

All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out . . . And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:37-40