“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45 ESV)
What is our fruit? It is our deeds, our actions, the results of our choices, good and bad. It is the outgrowth of our lives, the evidence of what we truly believe and hold on to and put into daily practice. It is seen in our actions, our words, our attitudes, and in our ways of thinking and behaving, in how we respond to other people, and in how we treat other people, or just certain people. It is shown in the decisions that we make and in our choices. And for people who are close to us, who we know well, we may be able to see it in their eyes, in their body language, and in their patterns of behavior.
So, what is bad fruit? It would be all that would be contrary to God’s divine will and purpose for our lives, that would be against his commandments and his moral standards for how we are to live as his children. It certainly is deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans. It is refusal to obey the commands of the Lord, and it is pride and arrogance and self-indulging and sexual immorality and lying, cheating, stealing, being unfaithful, slandering, and the like. All this is bad fruit. And the evidence demands the verdict of someone who is not in true fellowship with God.
But can a true follower of Christ sometimes bear bad fruit? Yes, for according to the Scriptures, we are still capable of sin, and we might sin, but if we are those who are making sin our practice and not obedience to our Lord, and not holy living, then the Word teaches us that, if we do not change and turn and follow Jesus with our lives, but we continue on a sinful course, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. So, sin must no longer be our practice, but righteousness and obedience to God. Yet we are not perfect people, but we should continually be changing for good.
For when this says that no good tree bears bad fruit, the verb tense is one that is of continuous action, i.e. no good tree is producing (in practice) bad fruit. And the same is true in reverse. No bad tree is producing (in practice) good fruit. But now if the fruit comes from God, no bad tree can produce the fruit of the Spirit, but there are people who do not believe in Jesus who live more “godly-like” lives than many professing Christians do, sadly. That doesn’t mean they are saved from their sins, mind you, but there are decent moral people who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ.
So, where does all this fruit stem from? According to the Scriptures, it comes from what is stored up in our hearts. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:17-20). But the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces (in practice) good, while the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil. And what is stored up in our hearts is what comes out in our attitudes, actions, words, behaviors, and can also be revealed through our body language, especially our eyes.
But there are many people professing faith in Jesus Christ who are living in secret sin, who are making sin their practice, who are not honoring God with their bodies, but who are still living to please the flesh. And some of them are so full of pride that they think that no one will know what is really going on inside their hearts and minds. Now we cannot see into other people’s hearts. Only God can. But what is in our hearts comes out in our actions and in our faces and in our body language and in our practices (habits, cycles). So while we cannot accuse what we cannot prove, we might sense it.
But so many people who are trapped in sin, even if they know the truth, and even if they profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even if they know right from wrong and good from evil and what God’s word teaches about habitual sin, they will hold on to that sin and will not let go. And this is because of what is stored up in their hearts and the fact that they have not surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and they have not let the Lord cleanse their hearts and clean out all that bad stuff and make them new creations in Christ Jesus. So they are taking a gamble, betting that God will still give them eternal life.
But the Scriptures are quite clear on that subject. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. And he said that if we want to come after him, we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God – all because of God’s grace.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:1-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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