Mixed Fruit is a Warning Label

Scripture doesn't allow for "mostly light, sometimes dark" Christianity.

• "By their fruits ye shall know them"^[1]
• "He that abideth in me… bringeth forth much fruit"^[2]
• "Faith without works is dead"^[3]
• "Ye became servants of righteousness"^[4]

The fruit is not a performance. It is a diagnosis.
A tree doesn't strive to bear fruit—it bears what it is. The tree doesn't perform. It tells.

Abiding is not an effort. It is a position through time.  
A branch doesn't try to cling and then relax—it either shares the vine's life or it withers. The branch doesn't visit the vine. It remains.

Faith is not a statement. It is a living bond.  
Faith that never moves the hands and feet is like a body without breath—it will not finish the race. Works don't perform faith. They prove whether it lives or is dead.

Servanthood is not a side gig. It is a transfer of ownership.  
You don't serve righteousness while on sin's payroll; you were freed from one
to belong to the other. The servant doesn't set the terms. His life shows who his master really is.

And Jesus shuts the door on the "mixed-bag believer" myth:

"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit."^[5]
Notice: it doesn't say the tree "should not."
The good tree cannot.

Human Frailty ≠ Daily Sins

"I sin daily" sounds humble, but you'll hear this kind of bragging only from modern Christianity, not from scripture. If you look closely, we have subtly redefined some terms and moved some goal posts in order to make that an acceptable idea.

Getting impatient or angry with someone is considered a sin. Being tempted with unholy thoughts is made into sin. In some cases, having physical desires, enjoying certain music, or even consuming certain things are made out to be sin. Before we know it, we find ourselves overcome by all these sins in all directions, assailing us at every turn and in every part of our lives. So then, we conclude, daily sins are unavoidable (moreover, to be expected), and it must be, therefore, impossible to live even one day as a whole-heartedly obedient follower of Jesus.

And just like that, we've declared that God is a Liar and Satan's Lie is True.
This is not how the scriptures paint the picture.

Failing is snapping at your spouse and repenting before dinner.
Falling is living with porn, bitterness, or greed as a roommate and calling it "grace."

Failing hates sin and runs to the light.
Falling makes sin a home and calls it normal.

Repentance doesn't just grieve sin.
It disrupts it.

We say we "struggle" with sin?
Then why is it still a home?

We pray in public and gossip in DMs.
We read Scripture and refuse to forgive.
That's not a stumble. That's a lifestyle.

A saint may fall into sin; he does not settle into it.

Self-Deception in the Church

"He that committeth sin is of the devil."
— 1 John 3:8

A sheep might trip.
A goat builds a home in the briars and calls it "freedom in Christ."

Mixed fruit isn't maturity.
It's spiritual rot with a smile on it.

Because the tree is known by what keeps growing on it.

Our highlight reel won't matter.

Our hard drive will.

→ Continue to Part 4 →