People often quote Jesus saying, “You will know them by their fruits.” But then a hard question comes up: what about people who can fake good fruit? We’ve all seen it — people who are kind, disciplined, generous, polite, moral… and yet don’t believe. So how does that fit with what Jesus said about good trees and bad trees?
Here’s the key: in the Bible, fruit is not a moment — it’s a pattern. It’s not an action — it’s a result of nature. Jesus didn’t say you’ll know them by a few good deeds. He said you’ll know them by their fruit — meaning what their life consistently produces over time.
Think about a tree. You can tie apples onto a dead tree, but that doesn’t make it an apple tree. For a little while, from far away, it might look real. But seasons will expose it. The sun will expose it. The wind will expose it. Time will expose it. Because eventually, the tree will only produce what it actually is.
That’s the difference between behavior and fruit.
Behavior can be performed.
Fruit has to be produced.
Behavior is what you do when people are watching.
Fruit is what grows out of what you are.
This is why Jesus also said the fruit should “remain.” Real fruit lasts. It shows up not just when life is easy, but when life is unfair. Not just when people are watching, but when no one is. Not just when there’s a reward, but when it costs something.
So how can you tell the difference between real fruit and fake fruit?
- Look at the pattern, not the moment.
- Look at the motive, not just the action.
- Look at what they do when they fail — do they hide or repent?
- Look at what happens under pressure.
- Look at what happens over time.
Because anyone can tape fruit onto a tree for a day.
But only a living tree can produce fruit for a lifetime.
And that was Jesus’ point all along:
The fruit doesn’t make the tree.
The tree makes the fruit.
