Do you know how to biblically test someone’s fruit?
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You will know them by their fruits“ (Matthew 7:15-16). Our Messiah is telling us that by their fruits, you will know whether or not someone is a false teacher or if they are a true follower of Him.
These are very important instructions, wouldn’t you agree?
But how do we do that? What “fruit” are we told to test? What does Scripture have to say about this?
We have a precious, beyond gracious heavenly Father who does not want His children to be confused. It is not His intentions to leave us with an ambiguous understanding of these critical instructions—that’s not how He works.
What if I told you that I could prove to you in Scripture that most pastors today of the modern Christian church are wolves in sheep’s clothing?
This is not a matter of opinion or personal interpretation, but the answers that the body needs on how to test someone’s fruit are right here in the Word. And I want to give you the Scripture you need to equip yourself on how to discern this.
The answers might disturb you, because the BIBLICAL understanding of how to test someone’s fruit will change everything you thought you knew and everything you’ve been taught by mainstream Christianity.
And just so we’re clear—just because someone is a “false teacher” doesn’t mean that they have bad intentions. It’s possible to be a false teacher and not know it.
It might ease the blow and coat the spirit of offense if I tell you that before having the scales ripped from my eyes and coming into a true understanding of Scripture, I was UNKNOWINGLY a wolf in sheep’s clothing, even though many people loved what I used to teach. I didn’t have bad intentions, but I was ignorant to many things.
I share this with you in humility to help you see that I do not have a heart of condemnation. I’m simply trying to help you see and reconcile you to the truth, because the Church (broadly speaking) is not doing it.
This is so dangerous to the body because I am seeing the spiritual malnourishment in my brothers and sisters and it’s something I cannot stay silent about. I’m watching the sheep being held in captivity by the god of this world who has “blinded the minds.”
See, many people think about someone’s “fruit” and immediately divert to Galatians 5:22-23 (“the fruits of the Spirit are love, peace, joy, kindness, self-control,” etc.). But this is not the fruit our Messiah tells us to test. I know of unbelievers who have these fruits...so this doesn’t pass the biblical litmus test when it comes to examining and discerning one’s fruit.
The answers we are looking for come from the Gospel of John. This is what I’d like to call, “The John 15 Test.”
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, will bring forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing“ (John 15:5).
But what does it mean to “abide?”
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
Keeping His commandments is essential to abiding in Him, which we are instructed to do if we want to bear much fruit. He also warns us in John 15:6 that if we don’t abide in Him, we are likened to a branch that is cut off, cast into the fire and burned.
The fruit we are told to test is whether or not His disciples guard His commandments. We are able to discern the wolves in sheep’s clothing by examining whether or not they disregard and disobey the Father’s commandments.
These verses may shake the whole foundation of your faith. We've been taught by wolves to believe that the commandments are done away with and unnecessary. But based on what Scripture has to say, that is a contradiction, because in order for the world to “know us by our fruits,” the fruit we are expected to bear is obedience to the commandments.
You either desire obedience or you disregard obedience.
Our Messiah told us to walk as He walked. And He kept His Father’s commandments.
Are we doing the same?
Are we walking as He walked?
Or is our perspective being molded by wolves, and because we lack an understanding of how to biblically test someone’s fruit, we are under the influence of false teaching without even realizing it?
The purpose of this is not to shame or condemn anyone. The purpose is to give the body a reality check and restore the Kingdom of righteousness that our Messiah taught and exemplified.
1 John 2:6—"He who says he abides in him ought to walk as He walked.”
1 John 2:4—He that says “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
The Scripture could not be any more clear. It’s time we let the Scripture do the talking.
For deeper study, see Season 3, Episode 42: "Testing the Fruit" on The Promise Perspective Podcast