Know the Tree By The Fruit

Paul writes about builders and building materials in 1 Corinthians 3. As disciples of Jesus, we must practice examining ourselves and making right judgments in the Church body. To do this properly, we need to make sure we have the right foundation and the correct building materials. First, we need to examine what building materials we are made of.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.
1 Corinthians 3:9-18 NASB

Our foundation is based on what we believe. It comes from what we have heard, learned, and taken into our hearts. It is extremely important to learn to discern truth from lies so we don’t build with bad building materials. We need to examine if we are building with opinions or with truth. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel speaks to King Saul about insubordination.

Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
1 Samuel 15:22-26 NASB

The English definition for “insubordination” is disobedient to authority. Merriam-Webster

Strong’s Lexicon: The word Insubordination in Hebrew is Pāsar 6484; To press, urge, insist.
Brown-Driver-Briggs: to display pushing(i.e. arrogance, presumption)

The definition of Presumption is an idea that is taken to be true and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain. American Heritage® Dictionary

1. Behavior or attitude that is boldly arrogant or offensive; effrontery: She was offended at the stranger's presumption in speaking in such an casual manner.
2. The act of presuming or accepting something as true: the presumption of innocence of theaccused
3. A condition or basis for accepting or presuming something.
4. Law A conclusion applied by law as to the correctness of some fact, ordinarily subject to rebuttal by contrary evidence.

Over the years, we have been examining our building materials. We didn’t want to presume that what we had learned was the truth. The more and more we dug into scriptures, the more we realized most of what we grew up thinking was truth was not truth but opinions and made-up traditions by man. As we have learned the truth, we have been removing the bad building materials and replacing our beliefs with the Word of God. We do this in our thoughts and actions. We have realized it is very important to know what trees we are gleaming from. You may be gleaming from false teachers, false prophets, false brothers, and false shepherds and not even realize it. The scriptures below give us characteristics of these people.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:15-23 NASB

People often think fruit is how big a ministry is, or they look at the gifts of the Spirit as fruit, but the fruit here is neither of those. The fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. We can’t produce the fruit of the Spirit without the Holy Spirit working in our lives, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age (Titus 2:12). We know it is fruit of the Spirit because a person living in the spirit will not be gratifying the lustful desires of the flesh and be practicing lawlessness which is sin (1 John 3:7-10).

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:16-26 NASB

The book of Jude shows us how these people get into the body and some of their characteristics.

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Jude 4-16 NASB

These people are here for a reason. They are here to help us see who is approved.

For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
1 Corinthians 11:19 NASB

References:

  • “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB® 1995 - New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org”

  • Strong’s Lexicon: Biblehub.com

  • Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

    • Hiph`il Infinitive absolute הַפְצַ֑ר 1 Samuel 15:23 to display pushing (i.e. arrogance, presumption; "" מֶ֔רִי; compare Dr).

  • MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE (www.Merriam-Webster.com) copyright © 2012 by Merriam-Webster

    • “Insubordinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insubordinate. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.

  • American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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