30/08/2026
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
BY EMMANUEL ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
TOPIC: BY THEIR FRUIT...(PART 2)
GOLDEN TEXT: MATTHEW 7:15-20
In Part 1 of this treatise last week, the focus of the topic was on individuals holding leadership positions in the church and the need to separate the wheat from the chaff among them.
There is need to be watchful and vigilant in differentiating those who were genuinely called by God and are faithfully working through His will from those who called themselves or those who were called by their bellies and other selfish reasons.
The truth is that having those Jesus Christ referred to as "wolves in sheep's clothing" around us is inevitable because it was a prophecy foretold by Christ and it must definitely come to pass. The brutal truth is that it cannot be prevented from being fulfilled.
What faithful, diligent, and heavenly-minded Christians must do is to be serious with their faith, be prayerful and fill themselves with the knowledge of the word of God in order not to fall victims to the deceit of those who claim to be men of God when the fruit they bear do not show them to be what they call themselves.
If somebody is a genuine and truthful man of God, we shall know them by their fruit. On the other hand, if someone is not a genuine and truthful man of God (as he purports to be), we shall also know them by their fruit.
But Part 2 of this topic focuses on other individuals who do not hold leadership or ecclesiastical positions in the church. In other words, it focuses on those who are workers, members, worshippers, and attendees of church programmes and services.
There is need for a balance in the analysis of the characters of leaders and followers because all of them bear different kinds of fruit. As Jesus Christ has said, by their fruit we shall know them. As a worshipper or churchgoer, you shall be identified by the fruit you bear.
The question remains: what type of fruit do you bear? As leaders will give account of their life and stewardship, you too will give account to God. Remember, your life does not belong to you. You were created by God and by the time your journey ends on earth, you are going back to your Creator to give account.
In all congregations, we have sheep and we have goats. In all places of worship, we have those who are treading the narrow way which leads to life and we have those who are moving on the broad way which leads to destruction. It is the types of fruit they bear that identify them.
As explained by our golden text, a good tree produces good fruit while a corrupt tree produces corrupt fruit. Which kind of fruit do you bear? Good fruit or corrupt fruits? By your fruit, people will know you; through the fruit you produce, people will see the true picture of your life and not what you call yourself.
For those who have been saved by Christ and redeemed by His blood, He gives them power to produce fruit of righteousness. They have overcome sin, they have their hearts purged of all manners of impurity and they daily wash their garments to remain clean, pure, righteous and holy.
Their hearts no longer house all manners of sins and iniquities and their purity flows from within to outside. People will see the fruit they bear and the will see the light of Christ they radiate. That was what happened in Acts 11:26 where the word "Christian" was first mentioned in the Bible.
The people then saw the attributes, characters, and examples of Christ in their lives and they were called Christians because they resembled Jesus Christ in their behaviour and action. They never called themselves Christians but it was the citizens of Antioch that gave them the name "Christians."
They did not preach the gospel by the words of their mouths only but they also preached it by their attitudes, behaviours and characters and they lived exemplary and Christlike lives which showed light to those who did not share their faith and were attracted to the Christ that they believed and preached.
This is what churchgoers, worshippers, believers and anybody who identify themselves with Christ must emulate. We must be identified by the good fruit we bear, people must see Christ in us before they will accept the gospel that we carry, believe, share and preach.
Those who bear good fruit will produce the fruit of the Spirit which are recorded in Galatians 5:22-23. The good fruit mentioned in that Bible reference include LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS, and TEMPERANCE.
Also in II Peter 1:5-7, the Bible mentions some qualities Christians must imbibe which also represents the good fruit they are expected to bear which they were enjoined to add to their faith. These include VIRTUE, KNOWLEDGE, TEMPERANCE (mentioned again here), PATIENCE, GODLINESS, BROTHERLY KINDNESS, and CHARITY (LOVE).
All these also incorporate other virtues like HUMILITY, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, OBEDIENCE, FEAR OF GOD, CONTENTMENT, and many others which are not mentioned directly in the two Bible references that serve as our guides in this piece. It's my prayer that God will give us the grace to produce these kinds of fruit.
For those still exhibiting sinful, evil, bad, and unexemplary characters, by their fruit we shall know them as well. This is because they bear bad fruit and what they produce will be there for all to see. Whether they bear such fruit secretly or openly, the result will be like smoke that must definitely find its way out.
Galatians 6:19-21 gives us the examples of such bad fruit borne by such individuals which it describes as "the works of the flesh" and these include ADULTERY, FORNICATION, UNCLEANNESS, LASCIVIOUSNESS, IDOLATORY, WITCHCRAFT, HATRED, VARIANCE, EMULATIONS, WRATH, STRIFE, SEDITIONS, HERESIES, ENVYINGS, MURDERS, DRUNKENNESS, and REVELLINGS.
I Corinthians 6:9 identifies individuals who bear negative fruit to include the UNRIGHTEOUS, FORNICATORS, IDOLATERS, ADULTERERS, EFFEMINATE, ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES WITH MANKIND, THIEVES, COVETOUS, DRUNKARDS, REVILERS, and EXTORTIONERS.
In Revelation 21:8, the Bible again mentions the FEARFUL, the UNBELIEVING, the ABOMINABLE, MURDERERS, WHOREMONGERS, SORCERERS, IDOLATERS, and ALL LIARS. The word of God emphasises that all those who are practising these without repenting from them "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Now, going to II Timothy 3:2-4, those bearing corrupt fruit are identified as LOVERS OF THEIR OWN SELVES, COVETOUS, BOASTERS, PROUD, BLASPHEMERS, DISOBEDIENT TO PARENTS, UNTHANKFUL, UNHOLY, WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, TRUCE BREAKERS, FALSE ACCUSERS, INCONTINENT, FIERCE, DESPISERS OF THOSE THAT ARE GOOD, TRAITORS, HEADY, HIGH-MINDED, LOVERS OF PLEASURES MORE THAN LOVERS OF GOD, and HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS BUT DENYING THE POWER THEREOF.
I want to assert without any fear of equivocation that it is very much possible for somebody coming to the church to have one or more of these kinds of fruit in his or her life and such an individual will still be busy with religious activities and spiritual exercises but all these activities will eventually turn out to be futile at the end.
The time of the great separation is coming in which the sheep will be separated from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous and the saints from the sinners. What will be your fate and what will be my fate. Which category will you and I belong to?
It's my prayer that our efforts in serving God and rendering our spiritual duties will not be in vain eventually. For them not to be in vain, God demands that all sins be repented from, every form of unrighteousness be forsaken and Jesus Christ be accepted by each individual as personal Lord and Saviour.
God knows everyone with the fruit he or she is bearing and nothing can be hidden from Him. Wherever we might have noticed our shortcomings and discovered that we are producing such fruit, we must make amends and reconcile with God without any delay to receive His mercy, have our names written in the Book of Life in order to be part of the heavenly kingdom.
