Unfruitful (175) (akarpos from a = without + karpos = fruit, produce) means barren, without fruit or unprofitable. Akarpos pictures a tree without fruit under the most favorable of circumstances. Akarpos -7x in 7v - Mt 13:22; Mk 4:19; 1Cor 14:14; Ep 5:11; Titus 3:14; 2Pet 1:8; Jude 1:12 Unfruitful saints remain “infants in Christ” (1Cor 3:1), in continual need of spiritual “milk” rather than solid food (Heb 5:12-note, He 5:13, 14-note) and are "tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Ep 4:14-note). Believers on the other hand are commanded to continually, habitually “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18-note). Writing to Titus on the Isle of Crete inhabited by those who "are always liars, evil beasts, lazy (argos) gluttons" (Titus 1:12-note), Paul encouraged Titus to "let our people also learn (through practice) to engage (become experienced) in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful (akarpos)." (Titus 3:14-note) Paul is emphasizing that genuine good deeds are a platform for witnessing effectively. He knew also that though grace is the root (Titus 3:7-note), good deeds are to be the fruit (cf. Eph 2:10-note) of the tree of salvation. Jude gave us an example to avoid writing of those who had crept in and turned the grace of God into licentiousness, adding that "These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, (akarpos) doubly dead, uprooted. wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever." (Jude 1:12, 13) Jude pictures an orchard in autumn, the time when the farmer expects fruit. But these trees are fruitless! Not only are they fruitless, but they are also rootless (“uprooted”). Jesus helps us understand why the word of God may not be unfruitful (akarpos) in a person's life, teaching His disciples that the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in & choke the word & it becomes unfruitful." (Mk 4:19) It follows that these same distractions can contribute to a believer's failure to bear fruit. On the other hand you need to remember that if you don't see fruit in your life, you cannot be sure you are a Christian. If you're a true Christian, there should be fruit, but as most us know too well, times of rebellion and unconfessed sin can lead us into times of barrenness in our walk with the Lord. In a section describing the unregenerate Paul exhorts believers not to "participate in the unfruitful (akarpos) deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them." (Eph 5:11-note) MacDonald writes that "These works of darkness are unfruitful as far as God and men are concerned. It was this feature of utter barrenness that once prompted Paul to ask the Roman Christians, “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?” (see note Romans 6:21)." (MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible Commentary Nashville: Thomas Nelson.) Be careful in interpreting this section of Scripture for Peter does not teach that a person must work to earn salvation. We do not work to be saved but because we have been saved. Faith alone saves but saving faith is never alone. A living faith works (Jas 2:14ff-notes), but as Peter has taught us it is a faith has been received (2Pe 1:1- note). Peter is in no way in this text implying that one can lose their salvation. Quite to the contrary, Peter wants us to have assurance of our salvation and fruitfulness is one of the best indicators that we genuinely belong to the Lord (e.g., see study on Good Deeds , 2Ti 2:14-note, Eph 2:10-note0, Easton on "Good Works", Torrey's Topic "Good Works"). APPLICATION: Do you desire to see fruit in your life? What better "formula" for fruitfulness than that given by the psalmist in Psalm 1 below. Meditate on this passage. Memorize it so you will be able to meditate on it as you walk about. Then live it out and experience the assurance that comes from being a fruitful saint in "season". "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night And He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season & its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers." (Ps1:1-note, Ps 1:2-note, Ps 1:3-note) MacDonald has some pithy comments on "unfruitfulness": "It is possible to have considerable knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and yet to be unfruitful in that knowledge. Failure to practice what we know leads inevitably to barrenness. Inflow without outgo killed the Dead Sea, and it kills productivity in the spiritual realm as well." (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) John MacArthur writes that... "When these Christian qualities are not present in a person's life (see notes 2 Peter 1:5; 1:6; 1:7), he will be indistinguishable from an evildoer or a superficial believer. But when these qualities are increasing in a Christian’s life, there is the manifestation of “the divine nature” (v4) within the believer " There’s no fruit on broken branches, and there’s no life without fruit. Fruit harbors the seed, which perpetuates the life of the species. A true disciple has life flowing from Jesus, and his own character and power shape the disciple’s attitudes and behaviors. If one totally lacks these qualities then he needs to meditate on Peter's exhortation in (see note 2 Peter 1:10). Bearing fruit was important to Jesus’ teaching (John 15:1-8). Fruit growing on a tree describes genuine disciples of Jesus. True disciples become fruitful by God’s power. Does your daily conduct result in fruitful impact on those around you? Spurgeon in Faith's Checkbook (May 27): "If we desire to glorify our LORD by fruitfulness, we must have certain things within us; for nothing can come out of us which is not first of all within us. We must begin with faith, which is the groundwork of all the virtues; and then diligently add to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, and patience. With these we must have godliness and brotherly love. All these put together will most assuredly cause us to produce, as our life fruit, the clusters of usefulness, and we shall not be mere idle knowers but real doers of the Word. These holy things must not only be in us, but abound, or we shall be barren. Fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can flow over. We have noticed men of considerable parts and opportunities who have never succeeded in doing real good in the conversion of souls; and after close observation we have concluded that they lacked certain graces which are absolutely essential to fruit bearing. For real usefulness, graces are better than gifts. As the man is, so is his work. If we would do better, we must be better. Let the text be a gentle hint to unfruitful professors and to myself also." WHAT IS FRUIT ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD? (Heb 13:15-note) says when we "offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name". Spiritual fruit should be the natural outflow of genuine Biblical repentance (Mt 3:8, Lk 3:8). The quality of one's spiritual fruit determines the "type" of tree whether "good" or "bad" (Mt 7:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) (see notes Matthew 7:15; 7:16; 7:17; 7:18; 7:19; 7:20) When the "seed" of the Word of God falls in "an honest and good heart", this heart will hold the Word fast and will "bear fruit with perseverance", bringing forth "a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty" (Lk 8:15, Mt 13:8, Mk 4:8) and the dynamic process of bearing much fruit will glorify the Father and prove that an individual is truly His disciple (Jn 15:8) which is simply saying another way what Peter teaches in this verse in 2 Peter. Jesus taught that the seed (figuratively referring to Himself but the principle broadly applicable to every saint) that "falls into the earth and dies...bears much fruit." (Jn 12:24). In (Jn 15:5) Jesus also taught one of the most essential of all principles in "spiritual horticulture" when He instructed His disciples: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me & I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." Jesus goes on to explain that disciples have been chosen (elected) by Himself to go and bear fruit which remains (Jn 15:16) Jesus explained what "fruit which remains" means, when He taught that disciples who are active in sowing or reaping lost souls are actually "gathering fruit for life eternal" when they will all "rejoice together." (Jn 4:36) Paul refers to "holiness" (sanctification) & eternal life as fruits ("benefit") that are to be the natural outcome in the lives of those men and women who have been "freed from sin and enslaved to God". (Ro 6:22-note) Paul speaks of giving money in support of the ministry as fruit ("the profit [karpos] which increases to your account") (Php 4:17-note, cf Ro 15:28-note). In (Ro1:13-note) Paul is probably referring to winning souls to Christ as fruit. In (1Co16:15) Paul speaks of the house of Stephanas as "the first fruits of Achaia." Paul adds that every saint has the potential to bear much fruit because when they were born again they were "filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Php 1:11-note) Although all saints have the potential for "much fruit", Paul taught that difficult labor is called for reminding Timothy (and all disciples) that "the hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops (fruit). " (2Ti 2:6-note, cf Jas 5:7) The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God's loving hand of discipline will yield the "fruit" of the peace of God associated with a life that is lived in accordance with His holy standards, writing that "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Heb 12:11-note, cf Jas 3:17, 18). So my brother and my sister, you have been made "adequate, equipped for every good work" by the Word of God (2Ti 3:16, 17-notes), so go forth from this day bearing much fruit, so that when the Son of Man returns with power & great glory, He may say "'Well done, good & faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your Master." (Mt 25:21) And I love the fascinating, albeit enigmatic last mention of "fruit" in the Word of God when John writes of our eternal home with our Heavenly Father and Christ Jesus our Lord, describing the glorious "river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Rev 22:1-note; Rev 22:2-note ) "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways !...For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen" (Ro 11:33-note, Ro 11:36-note) MacArthur adds that "Spiritual "fruit" then can be winning people to Christ and investing in His Kingdom. fruit can be praying and praising. It is every righteous act. Behind the act is the attitude, for "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control" (Gal 5:22, 23-note). You begin with the fruit of the Spirit and follow that with the act. If you act without the right attitude, that's legalism. I pray we might be a sacrificial, productive, and fruitful people. Fruit is not the result of standing around and doing nothing. It doesn't come from signing on a dotted line to be involved in a ministry. Fruit results when the things of (2Pe 1:5, 6, 7) are manifest in your life. Only then will God produce fruit in you." Our Daily Bread has a devotional entitled "Holy Fruit" that illustrates the truth in Peter's exhortation... Billy Graham told about the conversion of H. C. Morrison, the founder of Asbury Theological Seminary. He said that Morrison, a farm worker at the time, was plowing in a field one day when he saw an old Methodist preacher coming by on his horse. Morrison knew the elderly gentleman to be a gracious, godly man. As he watched the old saint go by, a great sense of conviction of sin came over Morrison and he dropped to his knees. There between the furrows in his field, alone, he gave his life to God. When he concluded the story, Billy Graham earnestly prayed, "Oh, God, make me a holy man." Augustine said, "Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being." True and lasting greatness stems from what we are. Though we may seem to be doing nothing at all, we can be doing everything worthwhile if our lives are being styled by God's grace. Even if we are set aside through old age, sickness, or seclusion, we can still be productive. Are you bedridden or house-bound? Your holy life can still bear fruit. This can happen only as we stay in close relationship with Jesus (John 15:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11). Only then will we have the fruit that "remains" (Jn 15:16). —D H R (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) I lived so that all whom I met could see His Holy Spirit shining through me; O friend, is this what our hearts can say As we sit and think at the close of day? —Nicholson The most powerful testimony is a holy life. ><> ><> ><> In growing a healthy, fruit-bearing church, try this plan. Plant three rows of squash: • Squash gossip. • Squash criticism. • Squash indifference. Plant seven rows of peas: • Prayer • Promptness • Perseverance • Politeness • Preparedness • Purity • Patience Plant seven heads of lettuce: • Let us be unselfish and loyal. • Let us be faithful to duty. • Let us search the Scriptures. • Let us not be weary in well-doing. • Let us be obedient in all things. • Let us be truthful. • Let us love one another. No garden is complete without turnips: • Turn up for church. • Turn up for meetings, in prayer, and Bible study. • Turn up with a smile, even when things are difficult. • Turn up with determination to do your best in God’s service. After planting, may you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). And may you reap rich results. (Morgan, R. J. Nelson's complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes Page 122. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers) IN THE TRUE KNOWLEDGE: eis ten tou kuriou hemon Iesou Christou epignosin: "In" is eis the preposition indicating "into" and has the idea of penetrating. Here the object is epignosis implying an intimate and growing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2_peter_18-14.htm#Unfruitful