On September 8th at 5.10 pm, I was asked the question, “why does the word become unfruitful?” Here is one related text in which Jesus said:
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful (Mt 13: 22).
Akarpos (Strong’s G175) is the word that Jesus used for unfruitful. Strong’s says that its biblical usage means to be without fruit, barren, not yielding what it ought to yield. To glean a greater understanding of the word fruitless, I searched further on karpos (Strong’s/G2590) which is the root word for akarpos. Karpos means fruit or deeds produced by an individual that are evidence of an inner condition of the spirit. Here are examples of its usage:
1. Evidence of an inner change or condition
John the Baptist told the people to bring forth therefore fruits or karpos meet or worthy for repentance. The NIV translates this as “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance – Mt 3: 8. Fruits therefore serve as markers or evidence of the condition of the spirit. Karpos is also used in conjunction with the types of fruit produced by an individual. Fruit can be good (Mt 3: 10), evil or corrupt ( Mt 7: 17, 18). Jesus said that we are known by the kind of fruit we produce. He taught us that a good tree will produce good fruit while a corrupt tree or spirit will produce corrupt fruit (Mt 7: 16-20)
2. Evidence of the holiness of God in the believer
The word Fruit (karpos) is also used to indicate the evidence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (Galatians 5: 22, 23, Rom 6: 22). The virtues of righteousness and holiness are indicated by the word
karpos in scripture (Rom 6: 22; Phil 1: 11; Heb 12: 11; James 3: 18).
3. Karpos or fruit was also used by Apostle Paul to denote good results in the lives of the believers as a result of his ministry among them (Rom 1: 13).
4. Karpos is used for the words that come out of the mouth of the believer
Apostle Paul taught us that we should ”offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit/akarpos of [our] lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb 13: 15). The ESV translation says that we should “… continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
We can draw on a reference from Old Testament scriptures which reveal the power of God’s words. His word is compared to rain and snow that water the earth to cause it to bring forth fruit. God said that His word will not return to Him void (Isa 55: 10, 11). The believer who abides in Christ will become a word bearing tree, operating in the same power to produce results when he/se speaks the word of the Lord. The Lord Jesus confirmed this by saying that we can speak to mountains and cast them into the sea. What is the word bearing ability of believers under our care?
5. The fate of unproductive trees
Jesus taught a parable that corresponds with that of the parable of the sower. In this parable, He spoke of a farmer who for three years tried to gather fruit from a fig tree. Seeing no result, he decided to cut down and burn the tree (Lk 13: 6-9).
6. Summary on productivity
Any tree that abides or continues in Christ will become fruitful. His plan is that we should bring forth enduring fruit (John 15). God loves fruitfulness in the believer. Based on the usage of the words karpos and akarpos, I will summarize by saying the following about the believer who was choked by thorns:
- does not produce a life resembling God. That is, he or she does not live a holy life
- that believer does not disciple others to follow Christ
- he/she does not speak forth the word of God with power
Hope that you are challenged to become a fruit bearing tree, even as I have been. Blessings!
REFERENCES
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G175&t=KJV
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2590&t=KJV
