What Is The Fruit Produced In Good Soil In The Parable Of The Sower?

Q: In the Parable of the Sower, I understand that the word planted in good soil bears fruit. Some produce a hundredfold, others sixty. I have a hard time articulating what the fruit is. Can you help?

A: I would look at fruit in two senses. First, fruit is replication. It means more believers come from the believers who already are. This is not only in the sense of personal evangelism but also in family growth and influence in society. In one sense, it's more believers.

Secondly, there's another legitimate sense of the fruit of the Spirit described in Paul's letter to the Galatians. The fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, and self-control. These aspects of fruit are complementary, not contradictory. Fruit encompasses both reproduction in terms of the growth of the church and the individual fruit of the Spirit in each person's life.