Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 7:18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Verse 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit] Love to God and man is the root of the good tree; and from this principle all its fruit is found. To teach, as some have done, that a state of salvation may be consistent with the greatest crimes, (such as murder and adultery in David,) or that the righteous necessarily sin in all their best works, is really to make the good tree bring forth bad fruit, and to give the lie to the Author of eternal truth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
18. A good tree cannot bring forthevil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruitObviousas is the truth here expressed in different formsthat the heartdetermines and is the only proper interpreter of the actions of ourlifeno one who knows how the Church of Rome makes a merit ofactions, quite apart from the motives that prompt them, and how thesame tendency manifests itself from time to time even amongProtestant Christians, can think it too obvious to be insisted on bythe teachers of divine truth. Here follows a wholesome digression.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,…. A man that is unprincipled with the grace of God, has an experimental acquaintance with the Gospel of Christ, and is guided by the Spirit of God into all truth, as it is in Jesus, cannot knowingly deliver, maintain, and abide by any doctrine that is contrary to the glory of God’s grace, and the person of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the fundamental doctrines of the Bible; or what is repugnant to the experiences of God’s people, and prejudicial to their souls.
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. A corrupt preacher, one destitute of the truth of the Gospel, reprobate concerning the faith, who never had any experience of the doctrines of grace, and denies them in the theory of them, cannot, consistent with himself, and his own principles, deliver, or preach good doctrine; or that which tends to produce any good fruit, either in the experience or lives of men. It is true, a corrupt man, that is, an unregenerate man, may preach sound doctrine, it being what he believes, though he has no experience of it: but then this man is not a corrupt tree, that is, a corrupt preacher, though a corrupt man. As our Lord means by “a good tree”, not a good man, barely, or one that is made so by the grace of God; but a good minister, one that is furnished by the Spirit of God, and is well instructed in the kingdom of heaven: so by “a corrupt tree” he does not mean a corrupt man, a man that is in a state of nature, habitually and practically evil; but a corrupt preacher, a false prophet or teacher, that has sucked in corrupt principles, and has nothing else in him, and therefore can bring forth no other.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, (ou dunatai dendron agathon karpous ponerous enegkein) “A tree that is good from within can not bear fruit that is bad from within,” from the heart. Yet good fruit may become the prey of worms or fungus. It is out of the abundance or (overflow) of the heart, (good or bad) that the mouth speaks, Mat 12:34; Luk 6:45; 1Jn 3:9.
2) “Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (oude dendron sapon karpous kalous enegkein) “Neither is a corrupt tree able to bear ideal fruits.” Good fruit consists of the “fruit of the spirit,” Gal 5:22-24; 2Pe 1:4-11. The corrupt tree or natural root stock of every man is corrupt, Eph 2:3. Therefore, it cannot bear love, peace, joy, etc. but such as the corrupt tree bears is referred to as the “works of the flesh,” Gal 5:19-21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Ver. 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, &c. ] Heretics, then, and heterodoxes are not good honest men, as the common people counts them, for all their pretended holiness and counterfeit humility, Col 2:18 . Were they humble men indeed, they would soon yield to the truth discovered unto them, and relinquish their erroneous opinions. Swenckfeldius could not be a good man, as Bucholcerus judged him, as long as he held fast his heresies, though he were much in the commendation of a new life, and detestation of an evil; though himself prayed much, and lived soberly. He bewitched many with those magnificent words and stately terms that he had much in his mouth, of illumination, revelation, deification, the inward and spiritual man, &c., but in the mean while he denied the human nature of Christ to be a creature, and called those that thought otherwise creaturists. He affirmed the Scripture to be but a dead letter; which they that held not, he called them scripturists. Faith, he said, was nothing but God dwelling in us, as Osiander after him. In a word, he was a leper in his head, and is therefore pronounced utterly unclean,Lev 14:44Lev 14:44 . An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. That Popish inquisitor was quite out that said the Waldensian heretics may be discerned by their manners and words; for they are modest, true, grave, and full of brotherly love one towards another, but rank heretics. a This was somewhat like Pliny’s description of the Christians in that province where he was governor. And here I cannot omit, that when the Bishop of Worcester exhorted M. Philpot the martyr (being brought to his answer), before be began to speak, to pray to God for grace: “Nay, my Lord of Worcester,” said Bonner, “you do not well to exhort him to make any prayer; for this is the thing they have a singular pride in. For in this point they are much like to certain arrant heretics, of whom Pliny maketh mention, that they sang antelucanos , hymns, psalms of praise, to God before break of day.” But had Bonner and his fellow buzzards but observed the burning zeal, sweet assemblies, watchings, prayings, holiness of life, patience in death, &c., of those that served God after the way that they called heresy, they might well have seen and said as much as the centurion did of our Saviour, Mat 27:54 , and they might have replied, as our Saviour did of himself, “I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.” “If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say, that he is your God,” Joh 8:49 ; Joh 8:54 . Cenalis, Bishop of Auranches, wrote against the congregation of Paris, defending impudently that their assemblies were to maintain whoredom. How much better and with more ingenuity the Bishop of Aliff, who preaching at Trent in the time of that Council, A.D. 1563, spake of the faith and manners of the Catholics and heretics; and said, that as the faith of the Catholics was better, so the heretics exceeded them in good life; which gave much distaste, saith the historian. But Bellarmine (had he been then and there present) would not likely have been much offended: “For we,” saith he, “although we believe that all the virtues are to be found in the Church, yet that any man may be absolutely said to be a member of the true Church described in the Scriptures, we do not think that any internal virtue is required of him; but only an internal profession of the faith, and such a partaking of the sacraments, as is perceived by the outward senses.” b A pretty description and picture of a Papist; among whom if any be virtuous, it is by accident, and not as they are members of that Church. A Cicero wittily said of the Epicures, that if any of that sect proved good it was merely by the benefit of a better nature; for they taught all manner of looseness and libertinism. But for the most part, such as their doctrine is, such is also their practice. The friars (saith one that had seen it, and so could well avouch it) are a race of people always praying, but seldom with sign of devotion; vowing obedience, but still contentious; chastity, yet most luxurious; poverty, yet ever scraping and covetous. And generally the devotions of Papists, saith he, are prized more by tale than by weight of zeal; placed more in the weighty materiality of the outward work, than purity of the heart, from which they proceed. They hold integrity for little better than silliness and abjectness about Italy, and abuse the most honourable name of Christian, usually, to signify a fool, or a dolt, as is before noted out of Doctor Fulke. Are not these the fruits of a rotten religion, of trees specious without, but putrefied and worm eaten within (as the word our Saviour here useth properly signifieth), which appears at length by their rotten fruits? c The true Christian will not cease to bear good fruit, what weather soever come, Jer 17:7 . The hypocrite will either bear only leaves, as the cypress tree, or apples of Sodom, grapes of Gomorrah. Of such we may say, as of Mount Gilboa, no good fruit grows on them; or as Stratonicus saith of the hill Haemus, that for eight months in the year it was very cold, and for the other four it was winter; or as the poet said of his country, that it was bad in winter, hard in summer, good at no time of the year. d Campian of St John’s in Oxford, Proctor of the University, A.D. 1568, dissembled the Protestants’ religion. So did Parsons in Baliol college, until he was for his dishonesty expelled with disgrace, and fled to the Papists; where coelum mutavit non animium, heaven changed no soul neither good egg nor good bird, as they say.
a Sunt in moribua compositi et modesti, superbiam in vestibus non habeat-sed fides eorum est incorrigibilis et pessima.
b Nos etiamsi credimus-tamen ut aliquis absolute dici posset pars verae ecclesiae non putamas requiri ullam internara virtutem, sed tantum externam professionem fidei, et sacramentorum communionem quae sensu ipso percipitur.
c , of , to putrefy. Suidas. Pulchra ac sublimis est, sed fructu caret. It is beautiful and exulted but withoiut fruit. Plutarch.
d ’ , , ’ . Hesiod.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 7:18 . , etc. Nothing else is possible or looked for in nature.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
cannot: Gal 5:17, 1Jo 3:9, 1Jo 3:10
Reciprocal: Pro 10:16 – the fruit
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE TREE AND ITS FRUIT
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:18
A mans actions show what he is. If we judge of others at all, we can follow no other rule than this.
I. Judging others.But it is a general rule that we are not to judge others more than is absolutely necessary. Judge not, says our Lord, that ye be not judged. We should never be rash, or hasty, or fond of judging others, but the contrary; and when we are obliged to do so, we must take the plainest marks we can get, and judge by them; if we go beyond this, we are in danger of un-charitableness, and so of losing the mark which shows us to be Christs disciples. It is our own fault if we are led away by false teachers, or if we judge of them harshly, for in our case such a sign is given us; it is the sign of lawful authority; this is our appointed guide.
II. Judging ourselves.But in our own case it is plain we must go much deeper than this. We must take to ourselves the whole force of our Lords words, and consider that as our hearts are, so our actions will be. God will judge us by our actions. This, therefore, is the rule by which our own characters must be determined. The heart is deceitful above all things; but the actions which come from it cast back a light upon it, and by their light we see what its state really is.
III. Lack of honesty.Many perish from lack of knowledge; but many more perish from the want of honesty; they know Gods will; they know the conditions of their salvation. But, because the way of obedience is hard, they will not walk in it; and then, in order to quiet their consciences, it becomes necessary to deceive themselves; and so they say that it is not their actions but the heart to which we must look, i.e., they set aside the plain rule our Lord has given us, and say, in direct contradiction to His words, that the tree may be good, though the fruit is evil. If truth and honesty are wanting in our dealings with ourselves in Gods sight all is wanting to us, and there is no hope for us.
The Rev. J. Currie.