The idea of trees and their fruit is central to the thesis of spiritual formation. Changed on the inside by the grace of God to become the type of people who live the way Jesus said we could live. Grace has transformed us. By faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, made possible because of his perfect sinless life and powerful resurrection from the grave we are saved. The Holy Spirit resides in us, having changed our heart of stone into a heart of flesh, we are now new creations! From this new life, we begin to bear fruit, and this fruit is not without effort. Following Jesus is an easy yoke but a yoke none-the-less. There is work to be done.

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Jesus warns his beloved disciples and future followers that many will come who look appealing on the outside, but on the inside they are trouble. As he has exhaustively taught, what matters is the quality of a person’s life on the inside. Transformation happens from the inside out. Ferocious wolves hunt in packs and can cause great harm to communities when they are allowed to roam unchecked. Beware, the false teachers among you, Jesus says. Christian community is not immune from those who come with impure motives.

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The fruit of a person’s life is how you can tell what they’re like on the inside. Jesus says, good trees don’t produce bad fruit and vice versa. Now, this might on the surface appear to be a gross generalisation, even a statement of naivety. One would do well to remember who it is who states these truths. If Jesus is who he says he is, he is the Word of God. And he just happened to create all things by and through the power of His Word. Jesus is the creative utterance of God. Colossians says that he holds all things together and sustains the universe. If he’s Lord, he’s also the smartest guy in the room, make that, world history.

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There is an immense freedom on the other side of deciding that you will believe Jesus is who he says he is. When he speaks, it’s the truth. When he disciplines or corrects it’s out of love. When he explains, it’s neither simplistic or unrealistic, it’s just the way things are in the nature of reality. If Jesus created and sustains by the power of his words, his words are worth listening to.

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In his trademark Sermon on the Mount style, Jesus simply states the truth; by their fruit you will recognise them. Jesus has taught very clearly, God is not interested in duplicitous character, in acting, in hypocrisy, in pretending. God the father is very interested in anyone who would come to him through his son by grace through faith with dependence and humility in their heart. This is the sort of person the father seeks. This is the person who is born from above. Jesus now wants such a person to pursue love.