No Good Tree Bears Bad Fruit

Luke 6:43-45 ESV

“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.”

This was Jesus Christ speaking. He had just finished talking about the one who has a “log” in his own eye but he is trying to take the “speck” out of his brother’s eye. And the instruction was to first take the log out of his own eye and then he could see clearly to take the speck out of his brother’s eye. So this was speaking about someone who was grossly practicing sin, who was being hypocritical in his judging of his brother whose sin was of minor consequence compared to his own sin.

Now, when the Lord spoke here about trees he was speaking metaphorically, and he was speaking about people. For just as a good tree bears good fruit and not bad, people who are good (righteous in the eyes of the Lord) will bear good fruit and not bad, for we are all known by the fruit we bear. And that fruit is what comes from our hearts and is evident in the things that we do and say, and in our attitudes and values and belief systems. So someone who is believing in Jesus with genuine faith will bear good fruit, not bad.

So, what does that look like? Well, the Scriptures have much to say on that subject, for all throughout the New Testament we have teachings and instructions with regard to the signs and evidence of someone who is of true faith in Jesus Christ and of those whose faith is not genuine. For those with genuine faith are those who, by the Spirit, are daily putting sin to death, and they are those who are walking according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, in walks of obedience and in righteous and holy living, in practice.

Those who may profess Jesus Christ as Lord with their lips but who do not obey him, but who continue to walk in sin and not in righteousness and holiness, they don’t know God, they are not born of God, but they are of the devil. For when they claim to be in fellowship with God they are still walking in sin, for sin is still their practice, and so they are liars. And although they profess Jesus as Lord and as Savior they will not inherit eternal life with God because they refuse to bow the knee to God and to obey his commands.

And some of those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, some of them pastors, are also those who are persecuting, mistreating, attacking, and forsaking those who are of genuine walks of faith in the Lord. Some of them are also family members and spouses of those who are walking with the Lord who are sinning against and who are attacking the Lord’s faithful servants because they are living righteously and the family member is still living in sin. For they still have evil hearts, and they are still producing evil.

But this all comes from what is stored up in one’s heart. If what is stored up in your heart is good, good should come out. If what is stored up in your heart is evil, evil is what will be produced. And according to the Scriptures, if evil is what is being produced and not good, then the person producing the evil is not living by faith in Jesus Christ but he is still living according to his sinful flesh, still doing what his sinful flesh desires. But this doesn’t make us perfect people just because we produce good fruit, in practice.

So, it is not enough to just profess faith in Jesus Christ or to read your Bible or to attend church gatherings or to sing worship songs. For you can do all those things and still have an evil heart which produces evil. For many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are still living in sin, for they have bought into a lie which is telling them that they can still continue in deliberate and habitual sin, for now all their sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them when they die. Not true!

For Jesus taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many will stand before our Lord on the day of judgment and they will say, “Lord, Lord,” and they will profess many things they believe they did in His name, and the Lord is going to say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” because they would not obey the Lord but they obeyed sin, instead (Matthew 7:21-23).

And Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his 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 the sake of Jesus we lose our lives, i.e. we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For whoever is ashamed of Jesus and his Word, Jesus will be ashamed of them (Luke 9:23-26).

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Hear my Voice 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally. 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

https://vimeo.com/119813963