7:19,20
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit ..” Too often we view Jesus as a “good man”, as “nice”. Jesus most definitely was not nice! He is humble and gentle, but not nice. He had many harsh things to say, as He does here. If we do not bear good fruit we will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Again, we must not view this as a Law, we must not be thinking “I need to make sure I bear good fruit otherwise I will be going to hell”. Rather He is saying that if the Holy Spirit is at work in someone then good fruit will be the result. The ultimate test of whether or not someone is of God is the fruit they bear. This fruit is both their life and their teaching. Remember all this points back to v15 which is a warning against false prophets. This is consistent with the instructions in Deuteronomy 13:1-3 and 18:21,22.
7:21
Just because someone claims to be a follower of Jesus, even calling Him “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven. This is serious stuff! The key is what we do. As James said, don’t be hearers only, but doers of the word (James 1:22). “Those who do the will of my Father in Heaven”. How easily we deceive ourselves. We might think automatically of the so-called progressive Christians who happily ignore God’s clear teachings on sexual morality and are so obviously are not doing the will of the Father. But this tendency is in all of us. We constantly need to humble ourselves before the Lord.
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