Matthew 7:17-20 7 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Bearing fruit:
It is God’s will and direction for Christians to bear fruit. Jesus quantified the amount of fruit we bear in Jn 15:2, 5. The stipulation to bearing fruit is we either bear fruit or we are cut off and cast away Jn 15:2. The only way that we are able to bear fruit is abiding in Christ Jn 15:4. God is the Husbandman and He prunes (purges) it in order to bring forth much fruit. God does not want us to just bring forth fruit but either more or much fruit. God works with and in us to cleanse us from any impurity that hinders our fruit bearing and as long as we abide in Christ He works to bring forth fruit for His glory and our benefit. When we turn away and cease to abide in Christ then we experience the “cutting off” as Jesus speaks of in Jn 15:6. The purging (pruning) we go through is synonymous with the many things and circumstances that either God brings upon us or He allows to occur in our life (many things we cause our self).
Evidence of abiding Matt 7:18-20
In Jesus’ teaching about the Pharisees and false teachers and prophets, He uses the illustration of fruit bearing for us to examine the life of others as well as our own life to determine the root cause of the good or bad fruit. Jesus made statements that cause some confusion to people. He said that a good tree cannot bear bad or corrupt fruit. He also said that an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. This is similar to what John said in 1 Jn 3:6-9; 5:18.
What is the fruit trees bear?
Christian fruit has a wide ranch of ideas and evidences. The best passage on fruit is Gal 5:22-23, but our everyday life, words and thoughts also qualify for fruit because they are part and parcel of our human life. So good works that we do also qualify as fruit – being kind to people, helping people in difficult situations, feeding people in need, providing drink and shelter, etc. all qualify as fruit. Sometimes people get confused in relating what Jesus said about good and corrupt trees bearing fruit. They see people they know are unsaved doing good works and at times exhibiting some fruit of the Spirit and they also see professing Christians bearing evil fruit. The answer lays in the tenses of the verbs used by Jesus and John (when John speaks of committing sin). The verbs are in the continuing tense, therefore they the wicked) may bear good fruit by times but will not live a life of good fruit. In the same way the righteous will, at ties, produce corrupt fruit – but this is the process of pruning and abiding.
