The same Vine life that flows in Christ flows in all who believe in Him and understanding "...Faith without works is dead."

Believer, because of the sacrifice of our Saviour Jesus Christ, all who believe in Him 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 and power of the words of the Almighty. He 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 its own power and apart from Christ in order to bear fruit.

Romans 11 gives us a picture of how we non-Jews who believe were "grafted" to Christ to enjoy the blessings of Abraham, with the Jews being the "natural branches":

17 "Some of the natural branches have been broken off. You are a wild olive branch. But you have been joined to the tree with the other branches. Now you enjoy the life-giving sap of the olive tree root. 18 So don’t think you are better than the other branches. Remember, you don’t give life to the root. The root gives life to you."

See the TPT: "However, some of the branches have been pruned away. And you, who were once nothing more than a wild olive branch in the desert, God has grafted in—inserting you among the remaining branches as a joint partner to share in the wonderful richness of the cultivated olive stem."

Believer, believe right. We were all dry branches in the desert. Of ourselves, with our own human effort, no good thing can come out of us (Romans 7:18.) Our heavenly Father Himself called us to Christ and right now, this is what Christ SAYS He is doing in the lives of all who believe in Him: John 6:43-46 (MSG) -

"Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End."

He cannot lie, "For He who promised is faithful."

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 ripened fruits or any visible fruits immediately or even for a while but all the while, Christ the True Vine is nourishing and strengthening we His branches- all who rely SOLELY on Him and by Grace, put no confidence in the flesh (human effort at doing right/producing fruit.) If "much fruit" comes in when the grafted branch is not ready, the branch could become proud and break off from the fruit being too heavy for it to bear. Christ keeps us steadfast.

Believer, Christ is nourishing and strengthening us, making sure that we are ready and able to bear the weight of the fruit that gives Him glory when the season arrives. And in Him, we will bear "much fruit." He said so.

Many preach dependence on the arm of flesh (human effort at bearing fruit) especially with their continual twisting and misinterpretation of the verse "Faith without works is dead." to mean that a believer must keep the Law in order to maintain godliness. But what fruit (work of faith) can a branch produce by itself? Without Christ the Vine, the branch can do nothing.

Believer, beware of preachers and churchgoers who twist "Faith without works is dead" to try to make you feel that your ability to bear much fruit or any fruit at all (works of faith) is in your own hands (human effort.) Christ says:

"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."

He says so. He cannot lie.

But false teachers twist "Faith without works is dead" to mean you are not a child of God because the work of Christ in you (nourishing every dry part of the branch so that you can bear fruit aka works of faith) is invisible to the eyes of the world. Such try to make you think that you are not really a child of God because of some imperfections in your life- imperfections that Christ the Vine is transforming to perfection with His Vine-life that is flowing in you!

Believers, anyone who makes we who believe feel that we are not children of God for whatever reason at all or makes us feel the need to do things to PROVE that we are children of God with their twisting and misinterpretation of "Faith without works is dead" is simply echoing the words that Satan spoke to Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God….”

Christ's situation in the wilderness where Satan tempted Him did not portray His glory and majesty as the Son of God. He was hungry. In the eyes of the world that did not know Him, this Man certainly could not be the Son of God. But His situation when He walked the earth as Man did not affect the Truth. He is the Son of God, just as we who are in Him today are children of God despite our many imperfections and "wilderness" situations where Satan's messengers try to make us feel that we are not children of God.

Let's take our blessed brains to church, and I say this to myself as well - I was a fairly troublesome child for my mom, imperfect in many ways as were many of us while growing up. But our imperfect parents did not disown us or cast us away. They corrected us and tried their best to raise us well. How much more will our perfect Father in heaven who gave His own Son to die our death transform us?

John 1:12 tells us what makes us children of God- not our obedience to the law or tithe payment: “But all who did receive Him, He gave them— the ones believing in His name— the right to become children of God,”

Believing Jesus is what makes us children of God. And when you believe (abide) in Christ, you will bear much fruit. But some false doctrine preachers make you feel that you are no longer a child of God because you did or didn't do certain things that they are prescribing or because your fruit is yet to blossom. Such try to make you unsure of your status as a child of God and tell you to prove it with works, just as the devil did when he tested our Saviour in the wilderness.

Believers, like the vine and its branches that carry the fruit, good works (works of faith) are EVIDENCES of our salvation in Christ, not CONDITIONS. God works His salvation in us and these good works come about “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” Philippians 2:13.

Don’t fret over when or how these evidences of your salvation will manifest. Look forward to them expectantly. See yourself as a little child whose father has a long, full beard. Imagine the child worrying that he is not the child of his father because he has no beard! In time, as he grows and matures under his Father's care, he will grow a long, full beard, just like his father. And it will grow without him straining or doing anything to make it grow. He was complete, beard and all inside him, on the day he was born; just as we were made complete in Christ when we became born-again. But some people try to make you feel that you ought to grow a long, full beard and start driving on the day of your birth with their misinterpretation of "Faith without works is dead."

Believer, the fruit that we GET TO bear in Christ are the "works of faith" that James was referring to when he wrote "Faith without works is dead." Being in Christ without having works of faith to show for it is as impossible as jumping into the sea naked without getting wet. Christ says:

"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."

"...Faith without works is dead." This is God's word and remains true forever. You cannot be "of faith" aka believing Jesus and not bear fruit (works of faith.) Our works that glorify God that the world can see are the fruits that we bear because we are one with Christ. Christ gets all the glory. This is why you will NEVER catch a true believer boasting in "dead works" such as:

"God blessed financially me because I pay my tithe regularly" or "God healed me because I sowed a mighty seed" or "I am now a parent because I was kind to children in orphanages" or "I am free from satanic oppression because I fasted for 70 days."

Notice no Christ saving, providing or doing anything in these stories of salvation from earthly ills? No God giving us all things FREELY with Christ as it is written in Romans 8:32- "He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

It is all human effort (dependence on the arm of flesh that will fail for salvation) or a mixture of human effort at keeping the Law and Jesus Christ (Grace-personified.) This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3.

Believer, for we who abide in Christ, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He gets all the glory. Our boast is in Christ (Grace-personified) alone and our story is like that of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:10-

"But because of God’s grace I am what I am. And His grace was not wasted on me. No, I have worked harder than all the other apostles. But I didn’t do the work. God’s grace was with me."

How is God's grace wasted on a person? See this in Galatians 2:20-

"I do not get rid of the grace of God. What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!"

Trying to get right with God by keeping the law is throwing God's Grace into the trash.

Believer, the same Vine life that is flowing in Christ 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."

Truly "Faith without works is dead."  Our works in Christ that glorify God and not man are not by human striving. In Christ, we get to bear much fruit aka works of faith - the EVIDENCES of our salvation that the world can see and are produced only as a result of the life of Christ that is now flowing in us. Believer, we were formerly dead branches that could produce only dead works (law-keeping.) Now we have been grafted to Christ for this very purpose: "that we should bear fruit to God": Romans 7:4-

"Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God."

Right believing always produces right living.