A Foolish Seed

Just a quick thing I would like to post so I myself don't forget.

I am currently listening to yet another sermon by Paul Anderson-Walsh called "A second experience of grace."

In this, he just said "producing fruit is works, bearing fruit is grace." He also points out in Colossians that Paul wrote that the gospel bears fruit "since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. The truth is what sets us free and causes us to bear fruit. So if we aren't naturally bearing fruit, the obvious conclusion is that lies have come into the gospel. It is all together grace, it is all together free.

I also noticed a few verses down, Paul encourages people to bear fruit in every good work. So then a good work is not good fruit. Therefore, you cannot produce good fruit by doing good works. Good fruit comes from the Spirit and not the pitiful effort of the flesh trying to be holy. A fruitful work is one that comes from the Spirit. One cannot force these things, but only learn to trust in Christ and abide in Him.

The classic example of this is Abraham sleeping with his servant to have a baby and not patiently waiting for the promise. Remember in the parable of the four soils, Jesus says the seed on the good soil bears fruit with patience. Fruit definitely does not come overnight, although I, and everyone else would love that. First you need truth. You need the full gospel message in truth and you cannot add or subtract anything from it. This is the seed. Any other seed will not do, because there is no other seed. No other foundation can be laid but Christ Jesus. Grace is the only soil that will produce good fruit.