“10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV84)
On Day 40, we saw that the NIV84 divided Paul’s list of what characterizes a worthy, God-pleasing life into four parts:
| Bearing fruit in every good work |
| Growing in the knowledge of God |
| Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might |
| Joyfully giving thanks to the Father |
Today, we’re going to study the first characteristic Paul lists: Bearing fruit in every good work.
Where else is “bearing fruit” in the Bible?
“…bearing fruit in every good work…”
Col. 1:10
The Greek word karpophoreō is the one translated “bearing fruit” in Col. 1:10 and 1:6.
Paul also uses karpophoreō in Romans 7.
“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
Rom. 7:4 (NASB)
We were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so we might be joined to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Die to the Law => Be joined to Christ => Bear fruit for God
The fruit we bear for God is the result of dying to the Law through Christ and being joined to Christ — we will not bear fruit for God apart from Christ.
In The Parable of the Sower
Jesus used karpophoreō in The Parable of the Sower.
“But the one sown with seed [the word of the kingdom (v.19)] on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.””
Matthew 13:23 (NASB)
“And those are the ones on whom seed [the word (v.14)] was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:20 (NASB)
“But the seed [the word of God (v.11)] in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”
Luke 8:15 (NASB)
Those who…
- hear the Word of God & His Kingdom in an honest and good heart
- understand God’s Word
- accept God’s Word
- hold fast to God’s Word
…bear fruit with perseverance and produce 30-, 60-, and 100-fold.
We must hear, understand, accept, and hold fast to God’s Word to bear fruit for Him with perseverance.
In The Parable of the Seed
Jesus also used karpophoreō in The Parable of the Seed.
“26And He said, ‘So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth; 27and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. 28The earth beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come’,”
Mark 4:26-29 (ASV)
Here’s what The Nelson Study Bible had to say about this parable: “Plants develop in a complex, intricate process that humans still do not fully understand even two thousand years after Jesus spoke these words. Yet plants grow and bear fruit and seeds just the same. God’s kingdom likewise is growing, although we do not understand all that is happening. This parable, which appears only in Mark’s Gospel, presents God’s kingdom in brief, from first sowing to final reaping,” (Nelson, 1997, p. 1648).
We don’t have to understand exactly how bearing good spiritual fruit works to participate in it, but we do have to have faith that God will make it happen as we obey His commands and surrender to His will.
What is a good work?
“…bearing fruit in every good work…”
Col. 1:10
In AMG’s Annotated Strong’s, the Greek word translated “good” here is agathós:
| Adjective meaning good and benevolent, profitable, useful |
| (II) Good, i.e. of good character, disposition, quality |
| (B) Of things: |
| (2) …good works, deeds, virtue, rectitude |
Let’s check out some uses of agathós similar to the usage in Col. 1:10.
Doing Good or Following Evil
“6God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done’ (Psalm 62:12; Prov. 24:12).
Romans 2:6-8 (NIV)
7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.
8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
In these verses, we have a contrast made between people doing good and people following evil.
Those who are doing good are persistent in it. They are seeking glory, honor, and immortality — eternal things.
Those who are following evil are doing so because they are self-seeking; they choose to reject truth that comes between themselves and what they want.
- Those who do good in seeking eternal things will be given eternal life.
- Those who follow evil in seeking things for themselves in this temporal life will receive wrath and anger.
Doing good involves seeking eternal blessings over temporary pleasures.
Good Conduct vs. Bad
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God [granted by His permission and sanction], and those which exist have been put in place by God.
2Therefore whoever resists [governmental] authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who have resisted it will bring judgment (civil penalty) on themselves.
3For [civil] authorities are not a source of fear for [people of] good behavior, but for [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good and you will receive approval and commendation.
4For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, [you should] be afraid; for he does not carry the [executioner’s] sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the wrongdoer.
5Therefore one must be subject [to civil authorities], not only to escape the punishment [that comes with wrongdoing], but also as a matter of principle [knowing what is right before God].
6For this same reason you pay taxes, for civil authorities are God’s servants, devoting themselves to governance. 7Pay to all what is due: tax to whom tax is due, customs to whom customs, respect to whom respect, honor to whom honor.”
Romans 13:1-7 (AMP)
This may sound strange to 21st-century ears, but biblically, government is a gift of God. The civil authorities are intended to scare & deter those who do evil and protect & defend those who do good. In a fallen world, this works far from perfectly, but it does work more often than not.
On his podcast The Briefing, Albert Mohler summarized the Rule of Law like this:
“The rule of law means the rule of law and laws, rather than the rule of an individual, an aristocracy, or a despot. Without the rule of law, society will succumb either to the terror of a tyrant or the chaos of anarchy. From a biblical worldview, tyranny and anarchy are bipolar disasters for humanity.
The rule of law stands between tyranny and anarchy because it shields people from dictatorial claims made by any one individual—no political nor human ruler can usurp the laws that govern a society. Christians have a deep investment in the rule of law because Christians understand that the law exists as an extension of God’s own character. God created the cosmos and embedded the knowledge of himself and the substance of his law in the entire created order. Thus, the law is pre-political. The responsibility of the political order is to acknowledge the fundamental moral law and then to adopt and enforce the laws, statutes, and policies that flesh out the rule of law.”
(R. Albert Mohler, Jr., The Briefing, May 14, 2020)
Why Is It Good for Christians to Be Subject to Civil Authorities?
There are two reasons Paul gives in Rom. 13:5 for Christians to be subject to civil authorities:
- To escape the punishment that comes from wrongdoing (from breaking the law, as long as that law is not in conflict with God’s law);
- As a matter of principle, because one knows what is right before God (Rom. 2:14-15).
What is good will line up with what is lawful, more often than not.
What These Good Works Are & Are NOT
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
The Greek agathós shows up again in this verse as the “good” in good works. We are told:
- We were created in Christ Jesus for these good works.
- God prepared these good works beforehand.
- He prepared these good works for us to walk in them.
If we zoom out a little to Eph. 2:1-10, then we can see some things that these good works are NOT.
Walking Dead in Trespasses & Sins
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.“
Eph. 2:1-10 (ESV)
Paul introduces this passage with the way “in which you once walked” and ends it with good works in which “we should walk.”
We were once:
- Dead in trespasses & sins
- Walking in trespasses & sins
- Following the course of this world
- Following the prince of the power of the air
- Living among the sons of disobedience
- Living in the passions of our flesh
- Carrying out the desires of the body & the mind
- By nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind
If… then
The following may be oversimplifying, but it helped me to condense this into a list of “If…then” statements.
- If a work is sinful, then it is NOT GOOD.
- If a work follows the course of this world, it is NOT GOOD.
- If a work follows the prince of the power of the air (the devil), it is NOT GOOD.
- If a work involves living in the passions of our flesh, it is NOT GOOD.
- If a work merely carries out the natural desires of the body and the mind, it is NOT GOOD.
Of course, one could ask, “Well, what exactly is ‘the course of this world’?” Or, “How do you define ‘passions of our flesh’ and ‘natural desires’?” Those are excellent questions! We must turn to Scripture for the answers.
In our next post we’ll make our way to Paul’s famous passage about the Fruit of the Spirit and zoom back in on our overall topic: “bearing fruit in every good work.”
For now, I want to end on these words of Jesus:
“No one is good except God alone.”
Mark 10:18 (ESV)
God alone is good, so He gets to define good.
Day 42: Song of Reflection
I invite you to reflect on Christ’s goodness as we close out today’s post by listening to CityAlight’s song, “The Goodness of Jesus.”