Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 3 (TMF:1434)

Thursday, August 13, 2020
Peace to Live By: Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 3 (TMF:1434) - Daniel Litton
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       Let us bring to mind what Jesus has taught us elsewhere in Matthew. If we go over to Matthew chapter 12, we read the following: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (v. 33, ESV). This is the key here to understanding what Jesus is telling us. He says that we recognize who a person really is by the fruit he or she bears in life. This is in contrast, obviously, with what they say—for they have called Jesus “Lord” in the passage. In essence, Jesus is saying that you tell if a person is truly his follower by what you see the person doing in life—though his behaviors. Is the person one who abstains from sin? Does the person display the fruit of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)? The tree then, as Jesus has said, is known by its fruit.