The Tree is Known by its Fruit

[johnpaul]

Matthew 12:33
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

This is one of my favorite passages, but I want us to discuss what it means.
At first sight it is obvious. A godly man / woman will only do good things and an ungodly man / woman will only do bad things.
But, doesn't this leave us open to the great deceiver, Satan? He can make bad people appear to do good things. I'm thinking of some politicians, who appear to help the poor and disenfranchised of their nation, whilst stealing all the aid sent to it. (Zimbabwe is a good example of this.)
So, even on a personal level, how can we discern the good fruit. Young people are particularly vulnerable to this kind of satanic deception. I'm hoping this thread will be used to help them, and us oldies too.
In God I put my trust.

 

[HisFollower]

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Matt 23:27-28

This is a skilled standard in this present evil secular world, and unfortunately many professing Christians have gone along with this self-deception, which is, they say, but do not do.

 

[Boanerges]

If we abide in the Vine we will produce only Godly fruit. If we but take one step away from that Vine His life is not flowing through us and what is born is born of the flesh.

 

[Doc]

Matthew 12:33
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

This is one of my favorite passages, but I want us to discuss what it means.
At first sight it is obvious. A godly man / woman will only do good things and an ungodly man / woman will only do bad things.
But, doesn't this leave us open to the great deceiver, Satan? He can make bad people appear to do good things. I'm thinking of some politicians, who appear to help the poor and disenfranchised of their nation, whilst stealing all the aid sent to it. (Zimbabwe is a good example of this.)
So, even on a personal level, how can we discern the good fruit. Young people are particularly vulnerable to this kind of satanic deception. I'm hoping this thread will be used to help them, and us oldies too.
In God I put my trust.

johnpaul: A couple of thoughts. Jesus is teaching a general principle of truth in both the physical and spiritual worlds. We know, even from the Book of Genesis, that everything reproduces after its kind. But the specific application in the spiritual world is far more complex. Because in the spiritual world it is much easier to counterfeit the original. That is what a hypocrite is - a counterfeit.

This is why only the Lord is able to distinguish ABSOLUTELY between the wheat and the tares. See Matthew 13:24-30. A farmer has little difficulty distinguishing between them in the wheat field. But in the community of professing believers, it isn’t so easy - it is a work that ultimately can be performed only by the Lord Himself.

1Samuel 16:7b says, “for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” And then in John 7:24, Jesus says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

However, on a practical level, the question remains, “How are we able to discern spiritual fruit as a believer?” I will leave you with two practical “filters” that I believe have helped others I have spoken with over the years.

First, what is the ATTITUDE of the individual regarding the AUTHORITY of Scripture over their life. Their answer will speak volumes. And second, I have them fill in the blank of the following verse: Philippians 1:21 - “For to me to live is ______ “ As you know the verse says “Christ”. But what do they say?

Even though this is not a test with absolute results, it provides a general guideline to understand the HEART of an individual. When you are able to learn what AUTHORITY a person is willing to submit themselves to, and what their PURPOSE in life is, more times than not you will be able to discern if you are talking to a genuine believer. I hope this helps. BLESSINGS. Doc