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“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
— Matthew 7:19 (NKJV)
That is an uncompromising statement. There is no middle ground. According to Jesus, there are only two kinds of trees: those that bear good fruit and those that do not. And there are only two outcomes: preservation and pruning for more fruit, or cutting down and burning.
Many believers are content to “believe” but never ask, “What is the fruit of my life?” Yet Jesus makes fruit the deciding issue. Not profession. Not gifts. Not activity. Fruit.
Let us look at what the Word of God says. The lyrics you have given simply echo and weave together several powerful passages:
This teaching is not primarily about the “fruits of the Spirit” as listed in Galatians 5:22–23, though it is closely related. It is more fundamental: Are you a good tree or a bad tree? Is your life producing what God recognizes as good fruit? Eternity hangs on the answer.
### a. Matthew 7: Jesus Exposes False Religion
Matthew 7:15–20 stands near the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been describing the true righteousness of the Kingdom of God. He now turns to a grave warning:
> “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
> “You will know them by their fruits…”
> “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
> — Matthew 7:15–20
Who is speaking? Jesus Himself. To whom? To His disciples and the gathered crowds, many of whom were religious Jews, familiar with the Law, the prophets, and the religious leaders of their day. The immediate issue is discernment: how to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit.
Jesus offers the test: fruit. Not appearance, not self-claims, not spiritual “gifts,” but the long-term outcome of a person’s life and teaching.
He then broadens the principle:
> “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”
> — Matthew 7:17
The issue is not “Can a bad tree try to look like a good tree?” Of course it can. False prophets wear sheep’s clothing. The issue is: What does this life produce over time? That is where the true nature is revealed.
### b. Matthew 3: John the Baptist and Urgent Repentance
The lyric also quotes from Matthew 3:10:
> “And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
> Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
> — Matthew 3:10
Here John the Baptist addresses religious people coming to his baptism, especially Pharisees and Sadducees. They had religion, tradition, and status. But John demands fruit in keeping with repentance (verse 8). He warns that God has already raised the axe. Judgment is not far off; it is imminent.
In other words: God is no longer dealing with superficial religion. He is going to the root. If there is no fruit that proves real repentance, the tree will be removed.
### c. John 15: Fruitfulness in Christ Alone
The lyric also draws from John 15:2:
> “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;
> and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
> — John 15:2
Now Jesus is speaking to His closest disciples on the night before His crucifixion. There is intimacy here. These are not Pharisees. These are men who have left everything to follow Him.
Yet still, Jesus speaks of two types of branches:
The central issue again is fruit. Union with Christ must result in manifested fruit, or that union is shown to be false or dead.
Placed together, these contexts tell us:
1. False prophets are known by their fruit.
2. Religious people without real repentance are under the axe.
3. Even professed disciples are evaluated by their fruitfulness in Christ.
This is not peripheral. This is central to what it means to truly belong to God.
### a. “Fruit” – Greek: *karpós* (καρπός)
The key word in these passages is “fruit.”
The Greek word is καρπός (*karpós*). It means:
In Scripture, *karpós* often refers to:
So when Jesus says, “By their fruits you will know them,” He is saying:
“You will know what they truly are by what their lives produce.”
Notice: fruit is not an instant thing. It requires:
You may hide your true character for a while. You may operate in gifts. You may quote scripture. But over time, *karpós* – the product of your life – will reveal the truth.
### b. “Cut down” – Greek: *ekkóptō* (ἐκκόπτω)
The phrase “cut down” uses the verb ἐκκόπτω (*ekkóptō*).
Literally: “to cut off, cut out, remove completely.”
This is decisive action. It is not a gentle trimming. It refers to judgment: the removal of what has no right to remain.
In Romans 11, Paul uses the same root idea for branches broken off from the olive tree of God’s people because of unbelief, and Gentile believers being grafted in (Romans 11:17–22). Again the issue is condition and continuation, seen in fruit and faith.
Understanding *karpós* and *ekkóptō* brings the lyrics into sharp focus:
This is not to drive us to despair, but to sober us, to drive us to true repentance and true abiding in Christ.
Let us walk through the themes in the lyrics and connect them to the fuller teaching of Scripture.
### Stanza 1–2: Repetition of the Warning
> Every tree that does not bear good fruit
> is cut down and thrown into the fire.
>
> By their fruits you will know them—
> good trees bear good fruit, bad trees do not.
The repetition itself is a biblical pattern. Jesus often used repetition to press home an unavoidable truth. Here the lyric keeps us before this one issue: fruit determines destiny.
#### a. “Good fruit” – Not Just Any Fruit
Jesus specifies good fruit. In Matthew 7, He states:
> “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (v.16)
A life can be busy and active. It can produce many results. But the question is: Does God recognize this as good fruit?
Scripture defines “good” not by human standards, but by:
Galatians 5:22–23 describes the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are not optional extras. They are evidence that the tree is good.
In contrast, the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21) are “bad fruit”: adultery, uncleanness, idolatry, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and so on. Paul warns that those who practice such things “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (v.21).
So Jesus is not merely saying, “Produce some kind of fruit.” He is saying, the fruit must be good, that is, according to the nature of God and produced by His Spirit.
#### b. “Thrown into the fire” – The Reality of Judgment
The phrase “thrown into the fire” is not a metaphor for mild discipline. In the New Testament, “fire” consistently signifies:
When Jesus says, “cut down and thrown into the fire,” He is speaking of:
There is no biblical basis for a Christianity that has no judgment. Grace does not abolish judgment; it provides a way of escape—from judgment through the cross of Christ. But if a person remains a bad tree, persistently rejecting God’s transforming work, the end is the fire.
### Stanza 3: “The Axe Is Already at the Root”
> The axe is already at the root of the trees,
> and every tree that does not produce good fruit
> will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Here the lyric quotes directly from John the Baptist (Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9).
#### a. “Already” – The Urgency of God’s Dealings
John says, “even now,” or “already the axe is laid to the root.” This indicates:
Many live as though they will have unlimited time to “get serious later.” John contradicts that presumption. He says: God is already at the root of your life.
#### b. “At the Root” – God Goes Deeper Than Behavior
Notice: the axe is not at the branches, but at the root.
God does not deal merely with outward behavior. He deals with:
A person can prune some evil habits, adjust outward conduct, and still remain a bad tree. God is aiming at the root nature. In the New Testament this is the old, Adamic nature, the “old man” (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22).
What is God’s answer to a bad tree? Not improvement, but removal. The old nature must be put to death with Christ, and a new nature imparted through new birth (Romans 6:3–6; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
### Stanza 4: Pruning the Fruitful
> He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
> while every branch that does bear fruit
> he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Now the tone shifts. We are in John 15. The speaker is Jesus, and the branches are “in Me.”
Here we have two very different divine actions:
1. Cutting off fruitless branches.
2. Pruning fruitful branches.
#### a. Branches “In Me” – Profession vs. Reality
Jesus says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.”
This is a solemn statement. It tells us:
Elsewhere John describes people who were outwardly in the community of believers but inwardly never truly belonged:
> “They went out from us, but they were not of us…”
> — 1 John 2:19
Fruitlessness exposes that a person has not truly abided in Christ.
#### b. Pruning – God’s Loving Severity Toward His Own
But look at the other side:
> “Every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).
The Greek for “prunes” is *kathairō* – “to cleanse, to purge.”
God’s dealings with a fruitful believer often feel severe, but they have a purpose:
Hebrews 12 describes this as discipline:
> “He disciplines us for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.”
> — Hebrews 12:10
So, if you are under God’s knife—circumstances that humble you, expose hidden motives, or strip away things you once relied on—do not assume you are rejected. If you are bearing fruit, this is pruning, not removal. Its aim is “even more fruitful.”
### Stanza 5–6: Repetition and Discernment
> Every tree without good fruit
> will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
>
> By their fruits you will know them—
> good trees bear good fruit, bad trees do not.
Here the song returns to the central test: “By their fruits you will know them.”
#### a. Discernment in a World of Counterfeits
Jesus gives this principle in the context of false prophets. In our day, there is an explosion of teaching, prophecy, and ministries. Many speak in the name of Jesus. Some display power. Some are highly gifted.
But Jesus does not say, “By their gifts you will know them.” He says, “By their fruits you will know them.”
When assessing any leader or influence, ask:
If the visible product is pride, manipulation, moral compromise, love of money, division, or self-exaltation, the fruit is bad—even if the gifts are spectacular (compare Matthew 7:21–23).
#### b. Internal Fruit, External Fruit
There is both:
Genuine internal fruit will, in time, produce genuine external fruit. A changed heart will produce changed behavior and influence.
The repeated refrain—“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”—drives this home: fruit is not optional decoration. It is decisive evidence.
How then do we respond? Theology must become practice. The Word of God demands action.
### 1) First, We Must Examine Ourselves in the Light of Scripture
Paul writes:
> “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
> — 2 Corinthians 13:5
This is not morbid introspection, but honest evaluation before God.
Ask yourself:
Pray as David did:
> “Search me, O God, and know my heart…
> See if there is any wicked way in me,
> and lead me in the way everlasting.”
> — Psalm 139:23–24
### 2) Second, We Must Repent at the Root
If the Spirit convicts you of fruitlessness or bad fruit, do not deal only with symptoms. Ask God to go to the root.
That root may be:
The biblical response is repentance—a radical change of mind and direction, turning from sin to God. John demanded “fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). That means repentance that produces visible change.
Agree with God’s verdict. Confess your sin honestly (1 John 1:9). Renounce it. Break with it. Surrender that area of your life to the Lordship of Jesus.
### 3) Third, We Must Abide in Christ Continually
Fruit is not produced by willpower alone. Jesus says:
> “He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
> for without Me you can do nothing.”
> — John 15:5
The key word is abide (Greek: *menō* – to remain, stay, dwell).
To abide in Christ means:
Practical steps:
Where there is true abiding, there will be fruit. It may be gradual, but it will be real.
### 4) Fourth, We Must Submit to God’s Pruning
If you are bearing some fruit, expect pruning. This may come through:
The natural reaction is to complain or resist. But the wise response is to say:
“Father, I choose to cooperate with Your pruning. Remove what hinders. I submit to Your dealings so that I may bear more fruit.”
Hebrews 12:11 says:
> “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
> nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
> to those who have been trained by it.”
Do not waste your pruning. Let it train you.
### Proclamation of Faith
Speak this aloud, slowly and deliberately, as an act of faith and alignment with God’s Word:
> I proclaim that Jesus Christ is the true Vine, and I am a branch in Him.
> I declare that without Him I can do nothing, but as I abide in Him,
> I will bear much fruit to the glory of the Father.
> I renounce every work of the flesh and every root of sin in my life.
> I submit to the axe of God at the root of all that is false in me,
> and I welcome the pruning knife of my Father,
> that I may be even more fruitful.
> I choose the narrow way that leads to life,
> and I refuse the broad way that leads to destruction.
> By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit,
> I will be a good tree that bears good fruit,
> and my life will testify that I truly belong to Jesus.
> Amen.
### Prayer
Father, in the name of Jesus, I come to You under the authority of Your Word. You have said that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I acknowledge Your right to judge, to test, and to examine my life.
Holy Spirit, search me now. Expose every area where there is bad fruit or no fruit. Bring to light every root that does not come from You—every root of sin, unbelief, pride, bitterness, and love of the world. I choose to repent. I turn from these things and surrender them to the cross of Christ.
Lord Jesus, I confess that without You I can do nothing. I ask You to draw me into a deeper abiding in You. Teach me to remain in Your Word, to listen to Your voice, and to obey You promptly. Let the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, and all that is pleasing to You—be formed in my character.
Father, I do not despise Your pruning. Where You must cut, cut. Where You must discipline, discipline. I trust that Your purpose is that I may share in Your holiness and bear more fruit that will remain.
Let my life be a true tree of righteousness, planted by the Lord, that You may be glorified. I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord. Amen.
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