“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 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
I think we understand Jesus’ metaphor here, so I won’t dwell on it too long.
A fig tree produces figs.
A bramble bush produces thorns.
A thornbush does not produce figs.
A bramble bush does not produce grapes.
A simple way to say this is like produces like.
When I was a boy, my family picked oranges for a living. Early in the morning we would go to the orange grove, shake the orange trees, pick up the oranges that fell, and pick those oranges that remained on the tree. I knew what an orange was, so I didn’t need to ask what kind of tree that was. I knew it by its fruit. It was an orange tree. Like produces like. Orange trees produces oranges. Apple trees produces apples. Grapevines produce grapes. And the Spirit-filled produce spiritual fruit.
We see that Jesus said in v. 45 that, if we are not producing good spiritual fruit, then our hearts are the problem. He says...
But in response to Jesus we might then ask, “Well, if my heart is the problem, how do I change it?” Well, we don’t change our hearts. We trust Jesus to change our hearts.
Well, we don’t change our hearts. We trust Jesus to change our hearts.
You may recall on the night before Jesus was crucified, he shared a Passover meal with his disciples. During that meal, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said in Luke 22:19...
And then after they had eaten, he took the cup and said in Luke 22:20...
The new covenant that Jesus spoke of was a promise that God made to his people—the promise of hearts made new by the Spirit of God. In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God said...
Apart from God’s grace, our hearts are hard toward God. We don’t care what God thinks, what he commands, or what will happen to us because we’ve disobeyed those commands. But God knows this hard-heartedness will lead us straight to hell. That’s why in the blood of Jesus God graciously keeps his promise to us of hearts made new by the Spirit—spirit-filled hearts that produce spiritual fruit. Hebrews 9:12-15 says it like this...
Jesus came to shed his blood as the payment for our sins. He did this because God decreed that apart from the shedding of blood their could be no forgiveness of sins. He lived perfectly, died sacrificially, rose triumphantly, ascended in glory, and sent his Spirit to fill all those who trust in him for salvation. He still sends his Spirit to fill all those who trust in him for salvation! Romans 5:1-5 says...
And then notice the fruit produced by faith in Jesus...
And then notice how this fruit is produced in the rest of Romans 5:5...
The venerable Anglican preacher, J. C. Ryle, said it like this...
Let it be a settled principle in our religion that when people show no fruit of the Spirit, they do not have the Holy Spirit within them. Let us resist as a deadly error the common idea that all baptized people are born again and that all members of the church, as a matter of course, have the Holy Spirit. One simple question must be our rule: What fruit do people bear? Do they repent? Do they believe with the heart on Jesus? Do they live a holy life? Do they overcome the world? Habits like these are what Scripture calls “fruit.” When such fruit is lacking, it is profane to talk of people having the Spirit of God within them.
Through faith in Jesus, we receive the promise of the new covenant—hearts made new by the Spirit of God!
And hearts made new by the Spirit of God produce good spiritual fruit.
Has your heart been changed by Jesus?
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