Fruit That Will Last

[dave c]

simpletruth #138w Revisited 03JUL10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Twenty Three: Fruit That Will Last

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

Part 21 of this Hosea 10:12 Series provides ample Scriptural evidence that God’s call to salvation is universal for all of mankind—although man’s response to that call is not. Part 22, on the other hand, presents a preponderance of verses that clearly state that God has from eternity appointed His elect to salvation. Within John 15:16 and 17:20 we can see a suggestion of a resolution to this quandary, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (NIV).

In considering this fruit that will last we are confronted with two parallel lines of meaning. The first is related to the eternal Fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22&23) as manifested in the believer through the process of sanctification (the work of faith in us). The second is the fruit of souls won to the eternal Kingdom of God (the work of faith through us) in obedience to The Great Commission (Mk 16:15&16). Effectively, John 15:16a is a reiteration of Hosea 10:12’s Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy (unfailing love/eternal kindness). As discussed in Part 12 of this series, as we sow in righteousness, we simultaneously reap God’s mercy in our lives AND we witness His mercy as a harvest within the world. The fisherman is also the bait.

We find in John 15:16, then, yet another example of a pattern that is prevalent throughout the Bible. God the Father chooses a person, or a people, to be His representative on Earth as a means to reveal His eternal power and divine nature to all of creation...including the spiritual realms (Ep 3:10). This began with Adam who was created in the image and likeness of God (Ge 1:26, where “image” in Hebrew means a “phantom resemblance...idol” and “likeness” means a “concrete, or real, resemblance”), and it was made perfect in the person of Jesus Christ (the Last Man/the Second Adam—1Co 15:45-48). Jesus appeared for all humanity, thousands bore witness to His presence, hundreds followed Him, twelve were chosen as disciples, three comprised an inner circle, and one was “The Beloved” (the order, here, is quantitative, not temporal). After His resurrection, the Apostles were sent out into the world to build the Church out of Jews and Gentiles alike. Is the Apostle John more saved than you and me? No, of course not. Was he predestined/chosen/elected to a position of responsibility in the Kingdom that far exceeds our calling? Absolutely.

In Parts 19 and 20 of this series, it was pointed out that in the first four chapters of Ephesians Paul makes a distinction between three groups of people in regards to the receiving of God’s love and mercy as realized in His proffered gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. There are those to whom the Father individually and specifically calls through election to various offices within the Body (“us”). There are those who are saved as Jesus Christ is revealed through the preaching of the Gospel (“you”). These two groups are, through the seal of the Holy Spirit and without preference, united as the Church (“our”). Finally, there are those who are lost and dead in their unregenerate sin natures (“them”).

Although specifically speaking of the Apostles in John 17:14-21, I believe that Christ’s prayer includes all those who are appointed from eternity to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and workers of miracles: 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me (NIV).

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you (2Th 1:8-10; NIV). With reading and prayer I am beginning to see that God personally calls individuals who were designed from before the beginning to be the framework of the Church. As these individuals reach a point of obedience, early in their lives or late, they join with others as the Church/The Bride and Body/Christ’s Helpmate, to provide the Father’s calling to the world at large. As “them” become “you” they are added to “our” and the Body is spiritually fleshed-out here on Earth. If I invite you to dinner, and my wife invites our neighbors—both invitations are equally valid and to the same meal. Whether I am called directly by Christ, or through His Church, the call to salvation is the same and encourages my obedience. Amen.