Bearing Fruit
Matthew 7:16-23By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes,
or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear
good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into
the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me
on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name
drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
There is a lot of confusion over what a Christian is
supposed to do once they become a Christian. The obvious
answer is that they are to do good but the question is
why are they doing good. Many Christians take doing
good as a responsibility because of their salvation. The
attitude is that because Jesus has done so much for us, the
least we can do is do something in return. This trivializes the
sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross! There is something we
can do to even begin to repay the forgiveness of our sins.
There are many people who are doing good who believe that they
are saved. Jesus tells them that their good deeds don’t amount
to anything though and it is not even proof of their salvation.
Good works and bearing fruit are very similar and in fact they
can even take the same form. The difference is as Jesus says, a
bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Sinful people are capable of
doing good things but they cannot bear good fruit. Many
Christians feel compelled to do good because of their love for
God and their love for other people. They do good as a result of
God’s command to love others. This is getting close to bearing
fruit but still isn’t quite there. The truth of the matter is
that someone who is bearing good fruit can’t help but bear
fruit. Just as a fruit tree can’t decide to not bear fruit one
day, a genuinely saved Christian can’t help but bear good fruit.
A person can choose whether or not they are going to do good but
they can’t choose whether or not to bear fruit. If a tree is
cared for, watered, and fertilized, we expect it to bear fruit.
The same is true of the Christian life. It is a natural process
that we bear fruit because of the care that we have been shown.
Our life has been transformed and we no longer choose whether or
not to do good, we just simply bear fruit because it is who we
are.
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