By their fruit you will know them

StraightAndNarrow · Jan 2, 2007

EdSutton said:

I'm going to go over some of this basically sentence by sentence , for I simply do not agree with all you have posited. This is not to say that many, if not all these general 'principles' are not good ideas, but rather that they are not canonized 'precepts'. (If one fails to understand this difference, may I refer one to a dictionary.) As to what I see or don't see, I suggest that there is a substantail amount of 'summary judgment', even here. For some unknown reason, there never seems to be a dearth of such on the BB, somehow. By what standard? The passage simply says: 15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. " (Matt.7:15-20 - NKJV) The 'summary statement' beginning with "therefore" refers to the preceeding verses. This passage is the only place in Scripture where "by their fruits" is ever found, and is is found here twice in v. 16 & 20. Sorry, but it does. Read the verses. It does not even imply that the meaning is intended to be any broader. We are back to the 'precept v. principle' division, in a way. This may be a completly valid application, and I would agree that it may well be, as it is no doubt a good principle, but it does not follow that that is what Jesus said, for He simply did not say that. Perhaps some are comfortable with putting words in the mouths of Jesus and Scripture writers; I am simply not one of those, for I seem to recall something about adding to and taking away from the words of Scripture. I am not aware that anyone has posted that this was speaking of the Pharisees, at all, but I could have missed it, I grant. I'm not exactly sure what you were intending to write here. However, I believe that if the word 'using' were not here, it would make sense, and I would not disagree with this. Perhaps you feel comfortable labeling someone with whom you may disagree, summarily as a "false prophet". I am, again, more reluctant to do so. There is a tremendous difference between one who is somewhat unlearned, or simply is mistaken, from one who is deliberatly attempting to deceive. This is what Jesus was speaking of with the 'wolves in sheep's clothing' analogy. Like the fable of Aesop, the intent here was deception, not merely with being wrong. I've already addressed this, above. My purpose above here is only to inform, correct and instruct. No more; no less.

Ed
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What is the difference between a false prophit and any Christian who speads a false gospel?

Helen · Jan 2, 2007

Thanks for that, DeeJay, and Amen!

By their fruit you will know them

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By their fruit you will know them

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