“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Mat 7:16-17).
When it’s all said and done, the litmus test of true ministers of Christ is their fruit. The main indicator of false prophets is not their charisma, but their character. It’s not their fire, but their fruit. It’s not their power but their peace. In fact, Jesus avers that many on Judgment Day shall claim that they had performed mighty miracles in His name, without having known Him at all (Mat 7:21-23)! As surely as every tree produces fruits according to its nature, so does every person. As long as the One who is love dwells in us by His Spirit, we can’t help but yield matching fruit (1 Jo 4:8; Gal. 5:22). We must stop defending the immorality and compromise rife among the clergy and laity today. As long as there’s a contradiction between our confession and our conduct, something is drastically wrong, says Scripture. True salvation cannot be faked. Other stuff can. Beware.
Pastor Josh