Appointed To Bear Fruit: A 90 Day JourneySample

Made Holy by Christ

Many Christians are filled with doubts. These doubts come from Satan who fills our minds with lies. The Apostle Peter describes Satan as our adversary (I Pet. 5:8). Satan is opposed to Christ and is working diligently to destroy our faith and render us fruitless in our Christian lives. Throughout the day, Satan is tempting us to sin. He puts thoughts in our minds, so that we will disobey God, and lies to us saying that there will be no consequences for our sin. This is exactly what Satan did with Adam and Eve when he told them, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Similarly, we are tempted to sin and often succumb to disobeying God. Immediately after we fall, Satan is right there accusing us with more lies. He tries to make us think that God will never forgive us. Truly Satan is our conniving adversary. 

Jesus had just told His disciples that there are branches that are to be cut off and branches that are to be pruned. After we sin, Satan fills our minds with thoughts that maybe we are a branch to be cut off. He is the one who fills our minds with doubts, which is one of the consequences of our sin. How do we know if we are a branch that will be cut off or only pruned? Jesus’ words give us confidence. Jesus has told us that He will never leave us, and that He is going to the Father to prepare a place for us. Those who have believed in Christ will not be cut off. Our salvation is not dependent on our works, but on Christ’s work. No matter how many sins we commit and how terrible those sins are, Jesus has paid our debt in full. Jesus says that we have already been cleaned. This is a cleaning unlike anything that the world or other religions can offer. Often, when a person sins, they try to restore themselves before God through prayer, fasting, etc. But none of our works can ever remove the debt of sin before God. This is another one of Satan’s deceptions. He tells us that if we work hard enough, we can pay our debt of sin. However, each day, we know that our debt increases because we cannot perfectly obey God’s law. Only Christ has done that. Therefore, only Christ can pay our debts, because He didn’t have to pay for any debts of His own. Jesus reminds us now that we are already cleaned. No more doubts. It’s done. We can have complete certainty in our salvation. 

One of the ways we become clean is through Christ’s Word. It is the true revelation of God. Everything that Jesus spoke points us to the Father. For Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Listening to His Word and obeying it is the key. His Word gives us the power to put away Satan’s deceptions. Satan is a liar, but Jesus’ Words are true. Jesus tells us that if we believe in Him we will have eternal life, so we don’t have to rely on our own works and righteousness. We don’t enter Paradise through being good. It’s our sins that have disqualified us from Paradise, because nothing unclean can be in Paradise. God’s Word tells us that there is no way to the Father apart through Jesus. When we accept Jesus into our hearts and confess Him as Lord with our mouths, we will be cleaned (Rom. 10:9). And no one can cut us off from the vine—ever.

Although we have been cleaned, we still need to be pruned; so fill your mind with God’s Word, and close your ears to the accuser. Romans 12:1 tells us “to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Only then will our doubts go away as we live righteous lives according to God’s Word. 

Application:  What lies of Satan have you been listening to and what truth do you find in Jesus?