In Christ, we get to bear "much fruit."

Believers, Romans 5:19 says "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous." Here we see that committing acts of sin is not what makes people sinners. Sinners are made sinners because of the sin nature that was inherited from Adam. Acts of sin are simply products of having this sin nature that Christ died to rid us of:

11 "When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."

Many in the church today do their best to keep the Ten Commandments, do good works and pay tithes religiously in order to be right with God and so that they can receive from Him who FREELY gives us all things with Christ (Romans 8:32.) This false teaching is prevalent in many places of worship. Wonderful as they are, all of these things are symptoms of having the sin/old nature. It rejects the righteousness that Christ died that we might have and seeks to attain righteousness and consequently God's blessings through human effort at obeying the law and doing good things like paying tithes religiously. Paul makes reference to this kind of believing in Romans 10:1-4:

"My beloved brothers and sisters, the passionate desire of my heart and constant prayer to God is for my fellow Israelites to experience salvation. 2 For I know that although they are deeply devoted to God, they are unenlightened. 3 And since they’ve ignored the righteousness God gives, wanting instead to be acceptable to God because of their own works, they’ve refused to submit to God’s faith-righteousness. 4 For the Christ is the end of the law. And because of him, God has transferred His perfect righteousness to all who believe."

This unbelief in Christ's finished work in making the sinner who believes righteous by His obedience (Romans 5:19 is rejecting Christ.

The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. It preaches very STRONGLY about keeping the law and living a godly life but it downplays or outrightly rejects the finished work of Christ in making the sinner righteous. It tells you that you need to keep the law that gives the knowledge of good and evil in order to be godly aka "be like God." Same strategy was used to deceive Eve into believing that she could be like God by human effort at doing something. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the Law that many are trying so hard to obey in order to be godly in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG) -

"Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me."

Satan, through his ministers on many pulpits, is still seducing many into depending on their arm of flesh (human effort) in the quest to attain godliness, be accepted by God or to position oneself for His blessings, a direct contradiction of His word in Romans 3:

26"...and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

Isaiah prophesied about the suffering of Christ in Isaiah 53. See the result of His suffering for us in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

But the spirit of the antichrist teaches that one has to keep the law (aka eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) by human effort in order to be godly (be like God) or to notch points of righteousness that will make God bless. There is NO Christ making the sinner who believes 100% righteous in the sight of God in this equation. According to Romans 7:5, acts of sin flourish and multiply when the old nature that was inherited from Adam is activated by attempting to keep the law-

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

Trying to keep the law in order to "be like God" or get God's blessings causes sin to multiply! The letter kills. Sin has dominion over those who are trying to keep the law in order to be godly (be like God.) Only under grace (undeserved, unmerited, unearned favour) does sin lose its power. Romans 6:14-"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." But many have this backwards.

Satan knows that "the letter kills" and that sin will be an increasing factor in your life as long as you depend on the Law to make yourself right with God. See this in Romans 5:20- "The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more."

His ministers in the church are actively using the Law to keep people who think that they can be godly by their own effort in bondage to sin, the same thing he did with Eve whom he deceived into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil towards becoming like God (godly.)

Through his ministers in church, the Accuser points out your "ungodliness" aka sins, curses and shortcomings and tells you: "stop sinning and keep the Law or else you will perish in hell." Such never point you to Christ as the One who came to save you from "every kind of sin" as it is written in Titus 2:14-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Also Matthew 1:21- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

As Satan did with Eve, his ministers who pretend to be of Christ tell you to eat from the tree (keep the law) to make yourself godly aka "be like God." The tree is a picture of the law which gives the knowledge of good and evil. The law is good. Being godly is good. But eating from the tree (law-keeping) only brings death. The letter kills. It is righteous and unbending and cannot make anyone godly. According to Romans 3:20-

"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

As the tree did with Adam and Eve, the law only points out our sins. It shows us how naked (unrighteous) we are. In fact, the law was not given for us to keep and be saved by; it was given to show us how sinful we are (Romans 3:20.) Under law the good that one does kills just as fast as the evil, just like the tree of the same name. It didn't matter what part, good or evil, that Adam and Eve ate of. The letter kills. The one with the sin nature rejects God's gift of righteousness through Christ and tries to keep the law to get right with God. But no amount of law-keeping and good works can make any righteous before God and thus escape the curse of the law.

Christ came to rid us of this old nature. In Him, we are a new creation. Because we have been made righteous by Christ's obedience (Romans 5:19) and not our puny efforts at keeping the Ten Commandments or paying tithes, God sees us as righteous through and through, even with our multitude of sins and flaws; we are dead to the law and one with Christ. His gift of righteousness is what gives us right-standing with God. And this is the result: Romans 7:4-

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God."

Because of the sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ, all who believe are righteous in God's sight and will NEVER experience the wrath of God: Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

In Christ, we get to bear fruit to God. We get to live right. The same "True Vine" life that flows in Christ the True Vine flows in us, giving us life. Christ says in John 15:5-

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Christ cannot lie. But many churchgoers are yet to understand the weight of His words. Christ says by abiding (believing, relying on, trusting wholly) in Him, we get to bear much fruit, but many feel that there is more that the branch needs to do by it's own power and apart from Christ in order to bear fruit.

Believer, believe right. Just like a vine's branches that does not begin to bear fruit immediately after it is grafted to the Vine, we might not see the ripened fruits immediately but all the while, Christ the True Vine is nourishing and strengthening us, the branches, so that we are ready and able to bear the weight of the fruit when the season arrives. The same Vine life that is flowing in Him flows in us too. And because we continue to abide in Him (rely on Him and not look elsewhere for our righteousness and salvation,) we get to bear fruit, more fruit and then much fruit.

Right believing always produces right living.