"For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."
Today's lesson is like all New Testament lessons, a very important one. This lesson is also another one that is often misunderstood and therefore misrepresented by many of today's "Christian" isms.
By using the parable, Jesus explained that if a lost soul makes a profession of faith and then goes about his/her daily life as if there has been no spiritual change, doing the same things they have always done, that person simply never truly believed in the first place. In short, their "belief" had no foundation.
Jesus used the parable of a solidly founded house and the one with no foundation that got washed away to make the point that any professed and effective faith that will eventually lead to eternal salvation, must be founded on the security of knowing that the power of Jesus Christ is sufficient to hold up against anything that might arise against it.
Jesus was saying, in essence, that for ones faith to be pure, they must, from the very beginning, and beyond any doubt, know that the man named Jesus, who is indeed the Christ and is the virgin born Son of God, the promised one who has come to intercede for the sins of all who will believe in Him, and that it is He who has the ultimate and only power to remit sins.
The confusion about this lesson causes many to believe that Jesus preached that those who follow Him must live perfect, sin free, lives. We know that it is impossible for ANYONE, other than Jesus Himself, to live or to have lived, without sin in the flesh.
Even Jesus, denied that He was "good", (Mark 10:17-21) "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
In this quote, Jesus, being an obedient Jew, first preached the rules of the Law of Moses to that young man, but the very last words of the quote verifies what has been said in today's lesson, "go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
Jesus, in essence, challenged that young man to follow after Him and have absolute faith in Him, abandoning everything else in his life, relying totally on Him for his eternal need.
Those of us who are saved have the security of knowing that our sins will always be justified by the sacrifice Jesus made for us, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5)
Just as Paul said, the righteousness Jesus demanded in today's lesson is only accomplished through absolute faith in Jesus Christ.~
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