You Will Know the Tree by the Fruit It Produces
Question
What does it hateful that you volition know them by their fruit in Matthew 7:16?
Answer
The statement "you will know them by their fruit" (Matthew 7:xvi) is part of Jesus' education well-nigh recognizing true followers and avoiding false prophets. Beginning with verse fifteen, nosotros read this context: "Beware of the fake prophets, who come up to y'all in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Y'all will know them by their fruits. Grapes are non gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A proficient tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce practiced fruit. Every tree that does not deport adept fruit is cut downwardly and thrown into the fire. And so then, you volition know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15–20).
The seventh affiliate of the Gospel of Matthew is a gold mine of teaching from the pop verse 1 to the well-known parable about the wise man building his house upon the stone (verses 24–27). In verses 21–23, Jesus makes a chilling announcement to many who assumed they belonged to Him. He warned them that on Judgment Twenty-four hours they will hear Him say, "Depart from me. I never knew you." Just before that warning, Jesus had indicted those who pretended to follow Him simply whose lives indicated something else. He told His followers that the "fruit" of their lives proved what was inside their hearts (cf. Mark vii:20–23).
When Jesus says, "Yous will know them by their fruit," what does "fruit" mean? Jesus gave the illustration of grape vines and fig trees. When we meet grape vines, we await them to comprise grapes in flavour. We also expect fig trees to produce figs. A produce farmer who notices one of his fruit trees not bearing any fruit will cut information technology down. Information technology is useless. As well, we would not come to a field of thistles and expect to harvest fruit. Thistles and thorn bushes can never produce fruit because of their nature. Information technology is impossible. They have no capacity to produce anything but thorns (Matthew 12:33).
In our lives, every give-and-take and every action is fruit from our hearts. Sinners sin because that'southward what is in their hearts. Thieves steal, rapists assail, and adulterers cheat because those sins are the fruit being produced from an evil centre. Bad hearts produce bad fruit. When Jesus said, "Y'all volition know them by their fruit" concerning faux teachers, He was giving us a guide for identifying them. Faux prophets, speakers of lies, will have actions that correspond to their errant message. Just as their message is anti-God, so will be their works. They will stray from the path of righteousness.
When we repent of our sin and receive Jesus as Lord of our lives (John 1:12; Acts ii:38), He changes our hearts (ii Corinthians 5:17). Now the fruit that is produced is good fruit. Galatians v:22 lists some of the fruit produced by a heart in tune with God. Our attitudes, actions, words, and perspectives change equally nosotros walk in fellowship with the Holy Spirit (i John 1:6–seven). When our hearts change, our fruit changes.
Many false prophets accept come and gone, and many of them lived in breathy sin while preaching their bulletin. Jim Jones openly engaged in adultery, drug use, and profanity. David Koresh had kid "wives" every bit young every bit 11. False teachers might display the "fruit" of sexual immorality, greed, materialism, gluttony, and other sins while justifying their behavior and lifting themselves upwards as something holy. Unfortunately, many people through the years have been duped into post-obit such characters and joining them in justifying the sin. If only they had heeded Jesus' warning that "you lot will know them by their fruit." No matter how good or convincing someone sounds, if he is bearing bad fruit, his bulletin should be avoided.
Godly teachers will display good "fruit" such equally making disciples (Matthew 28:19), using their gifts to benefit others (Romans 12:4–viii), leading lost people to Jesus (James 5:20), loving their boyfriend believers (ane John iii:fourteen), and seeking humble ways to do good everywhere (Jeremiah 29:7). All of these things are indications of a adept heart.
Oftentimes, people profess faith in Jesus as Savior, merely it is a mere profession with no real faith. Some religious groups encourage baptism, confirmation, or other religious rites that are supposed to ensure one's future in heaven. Merely as time goes on, the fruit beingness produced in such a life looks nothing like what is conspicuously prescribed in the Bible (1 Peter 1:16). Some attend church building services only spend the rest of their time living entirely for themselves. Some may rising to prominence, even teaching or preaching, writing books, or dominating the media, but the fruit of their lives belies their words (Matthew 24:24). Greed, deception, immorality, pride, or dishonesty defines them, making them false prophets by Jesus' standards (2 Peter two:1–3).
While nosotros can never know anyone else'due south heart, we can make wise assessments virtually other people by observing the regular fruit of their lives. All of us stumble from fourth dimension to time, and we may go through seasons of bearing little fruit (ane John one:viii). Just 1 John iii:4–ten makes it articulate that those who know God will not continue a lifestyle of bearing bad fruit. We have been transformed, and the fruit of our lives is evidence of that transformation. Apple trees don't produce bananas, and strawberry plants don't produce figs. This fact of nature is as well true in the spiritual realm. We can identify those whose hearts take been redeemed by the fruit we meet in their lives.
Questions nigh Matthew
What does it mean that you volition know them by their fruit in Matthew 7:16?
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This folio terminal updated: Jan four, 2022
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