When discussing Grace, the topic of sin usually follows closely behind. It is difficult people to comprehend their new life in Christ, when sinful behaviors are prominently in view. This struggle leads many to embark on a war against sin; with the primary markers being:
- Focusing on sin and behavior
- Feelings of fear, doubt, and condemnation
- Often consumed with guilt and unworthiness
Those of you that are familiar with my testimony, know that I lived that way for many years. I was focused so greatly on my sin that I kept a daily record of each sinful action. Every day I felt worse, more condemned, and further away from God. And the more I tried to conquer sin, the more I failed, and deeper into the pit I went.
So what does this all mean? Is sin an unconquerable foe? Not at all! What I want to share with you today is a different perspective, on how sin can be conquered, and has been conquered in Christ.
The Root of the Problem
To engage in a proper discussion of sin, we need to define our terms. It’s essential to understand what sin is in the spiritual sense, and how deep the issue of sin actually goes. Let’s begin by reading Matthew 7:15-20:
“ 15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20By their fruits you shall know them.”
The reason we are beginning with this section of scripture, is because it deals directly with the heart of the issue. These verses are usually referenced in connection with false teachers, and rightly so, but it’s interesting to note some other details here also.
Starting with verse 15, we can see Jesus warning against false prophets, and He says that they come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravening wolves. This tells us something that we often overlook: the inside is what matters.
We look on the outside, we look at the external, but what truly defines the spiritual identity of a person is on the inside. While typical Christian thinking says that you can judge someone by their outward appearance, performance, or behaviors, the second-half of verse 15 shatters that idea.
Jesus says that on the outside these ravenous wolves appear to be good! They have a disguise and clothing of being good — but on the inside is where the trouble is!
Works or Fruit?
In verse 16, we are told that we will know these false prophets by their fruit. This phrase has been widely interpreted to mean that you will recognize someone by what they do.
If we pause for a moment and think about this in light of what we learned in verse 15, we realize that something else is in view here. Remember that it is not outward appearance that gives the false prophets away; in-fact on the outside they will look perfectly fine. But it’s the inside that reveals their true nature. In-fact, Jesus said the exact same thing about the Pharisees. In Matthew 23:27 Jesus tells the Pharisees that they appear beautiful on the outside – the Pharisees had great works that were seen by all, but on the inside they were dead, open graves, filled with everything unclean.
So, we’re obviously missing a crucial detail; and we find it in the second-half of verse 16: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Here we see a key aspect of what Jesus was truly speaking of. The difference between a work and a fruit.
Works are what people tend to focus on, and works were what the Pharisees practiced. Outward displays that made them appear righteous. But you cannot gather genuine fruit, from a tree that doesn’t have them. The focal-point isn’t about us trying to look good on the outside. Jesus is telling us where genuine fruit can be obtained.
Our second, but of information comes from the definition of the fruit of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5:22-23:
“ 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23gentleness, and self-control”
And as an interesting side-note, notice that even what we call “self-control” is really just another fruit of the Spirit of Christ.
However, what we can see here is that the fruit listed are primarily internal. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (being full of faith), gentleness and self-control, all start on the inside. They are internal, long before any external evidence of them are visible.
These all are fruits produced by the Spirit of God in us. These are not works or deeds that we perform of our own strength; nor are they things for us to strive for and work towards within ourselves.
You see,I could have amazing works, and always do good deeds; and to the other people, I would appear to be a super-saint, just as the Pharisees were doing… but on the inside, I could be an absolute mess! I have known people like that who eventually completely burn out… because they are working all of the time, but it is not from a place of the Spirit’s supply, it is from themselves, and a works-based mentality – always feeling like they need to do something, never simply resting in Christ.
Sin Begins in Our Nature
This is the first major point for us to see, and it was worth it to spend an entire video on this point. Sin is not primarily an action, but it is an identity. Your actions do not determine your identity, your identity determines your actions.
Jesus made the correct judgment when he spoke the the Pharisees, that they look clean on the outside, but are still just as dead on the inside. And as we return to the final verses of our text today and read Matthew 7:17-18 again, we’ll be reminded of one other detail:
“17Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”
The detail here is crystal clear. The focus, once more, is not on the fruit, but the type of tree. It is absolutely impossible for a good tree to bear bad fruit.
Likewise it is equally impossible for a bad tree to bear good fruit.
Jesus didn’t say that if a bad tree tries really hard it will eventually overcome and bear good fruit. Although that’s what some people believe today.
Jesus also didn’t say that a good tree will occasionally falter and produce some bad fruit here and there, but again if it just prayed hard enough and did enough extra things, then it would produce less bad fruit over time. Though that’s what the majority of Christians think.
No… Jesus spoke in absolute terms here. A bad tree will never produce good fruit, and a good tree will never produce bad fruit. These words tell us what we need to know about the importance of spiritual identity. The fruit is not the main issue. We’ve erroneously made fruit the issue; but the true issue is the tree.
Join Me Again Next Week…
I encourage you today to meditate on these truths regarding your spiritual identity today, and I invite you to join me again next week, as we continue to see how Jesus has conquered our sin, by exploring how He changes our spiritual identity.
Be blessed.