Fruit or Foliage?
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Fruit or Foliage?

 (ID: 1548)

Do our lives bear good fruit for God? If we answer no, then we may want to reconsider whether we have actually repented of our sins. In this message on the parable of the barren fig tree, Alistair Begg reminds us that repentance is necessary for the Christian and that the opportunity to repent will not last forever. If we turn away from our sins, God will pardon us and transform our foliage into good spiritual fruit.


Repent or Perish

1There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood pPilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2And he answered them, q“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen on whom the tower in sSiloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you rrepent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6And he told this parable: “A man had ta fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. uCut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Copyright © 2024, Alistair Begg. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

Alistair Begg
Alistair Begg is Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Bible teacher on Truth For Life, which is heard on the radio and online around the world.