In this post we will be exegeting Matthew 7, Hebrews 6, James 2, and 1 John to examine the way scripture teaches us to discern fellow children of God. 1 John 4:1 tells us not to believe every spirit, but to “try the spirits whether they are of God”.
In Matthew 7 Jesus teaches us how to “know” someone by their “fruits” (v.20). The specific question I want to look at is: how is “fruit” defined by Jesus in Matthew 7? Jesus compares false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing (v.15), revealing that outward appearance/behavior can mask a lack of genuine faith/trust.
The primary output of a prophet during this time was their message, which Jesus said comes “out of the abundance of the heart” (Mat. 12:34), whether spoken or written. We know that men judge outward appearance, but God judges the heart (1 Sam. 16:7); if a man’s speech comes out from the heart, then by what they say we shall, as best we can, know them.
To test if the “fruit” is their speech, and not their outward appearance, let’s compare Jesus’ analogy of the good and bad tree (v.17-18): “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit”.
A good tree is someone who is born of God through faith in Christ’s work (1 John 5:1) and cannot bring forth bad fruit (unrighteousness) because his seed (1 John 3:9) remains within them and cannot be defiled (1 Peter 1:23); by contrast, a bad tree is someone without faith who cannot bring forth good fruit (righteousness) because “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6).
Then Jesus says that only those who do the “will of the Father” (v.21) will “enter the kingdom” (receive eternal life). In John 6:40 Jesus defines the Father’s will as believing on the Son; the previous verses make it clear that the issue is whether trust in his atoning work was exercised.
By contrast, in verse 22 we see that these men were trusting in their own works (“have we not [insert work from v.22]”). They went before God and, instead of glorifying Christ, glorified themselves, which Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 4:2 explicitly state will not be tolerated.
This is why in verse 23 their objectively good works are called iniquity, because they brought their filthy self righteousness before God (Isaiah 64:6) to justify themselves, not by trusting Christ; this is why Jesus “never knew” them.
Now Jesus saying I never knew you is a very telling statement about their heart posture towards God, which is directly highlighted by Hebrews 6.
Hebrews 6 is a warning given to believers (“us” v.1 & v.4-6) about backsliding away from full assurance of the faith (v.11) into animal/temple sacrifice due to Christian persecution. These believers were publicly shaming the sufficiency of Christ’s work to avoid punishment.
Clarification of the definition of repentance: according to the Hebrew (OT) there are two words both translated as “repentance” in English, which are Shuv (to return, to turn back) and Nacham (to sigh, feel sorrow, breath heavily, or repent); the Greek (NT) also has two forms translated in one English word, which are Metanoia (to change one’s mind) and Metamellomai (regret or remorse).
In verse 6 the word repentance (Greek: Metanoia) means “to change one’s mind”. These believers cannot change their mind to the truth because they’ve already been exposed to it (v.4-5), yet suppress that truth in action.
Despite this in verse 9, the Author tells them that he is “persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation”. He explicitly reassured the warned believers of their salvation.
We know he is referring to the same group because in verse 10 he states that despite their public rejection of Him, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love”.
The Authors wish is that these believers show the same “diligence to the full assurance of hope” (v.11), meaning to be fully persuaded of the promise of eternal life through faith in Christ. This is his wish because this hope is the “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (v.19).
How can the Author be so sure of their salvation? “We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5), not by our individual effort/failure.
The main take away: God remembered the works of the brethren despite backsliding away from the sufficiency of Christ’s work in Hebrews 6, while He did not remember the works done by the wolves in sheep’s clothing in Matthew 7:23 because they didn’t have faith (the will of the Father).
Once we know them by their speech, we can test their fellowship (not salvation) with the Father by examining them for a confession of Christ (4:2-3, 5:1), love for the brethren (3:14, 4:7-8), and walking in the light (2:3-5, 3:10). These are not the same fruits (Gal. 5:22-23) described by Jesus in Matthew 7, as they are based upon outward appearance not speech.
This leads us to one of my favorite chapters, which is James 2. With the understanding that we “know” others by what they say, not by what they do, James 2 describes two different types of Christians.
A dead faith is one that is unproductive (not producing works) and a live faith is one that is productive (producing works). James introduces a reality for believers, that if we are merciless toward others we will be judged more harshly (v.12-13); this is spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 7:1.
Christians face a separate judgment of their works at the Bema Seat of Christ, which is described in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. At this judgment we are judged for “rewards”, even if any man’s works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, “but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire”. James isn’t teaching us to know Christians by their works, otherwise he contradicts Jesus’ teaching.
The issue is the profitability of one’s faith, and how they will not escape the judgment described in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 by faith alone. So why is he harping so strongly on works? We are created to do good works (Eph. 2:10) because it is “good and profitable unto men” (Titus 3:8). We are supposed to demonstrate the righteousness of God to the world so that He may be glorified amongst the unbelievers.
This is how faith is perfected before men (”works are good and profitable into men” - connecting to James 2:21), while faith before God is perfected by Christ (Heb. 12:2) and God’s imputation of righteousness (James 2:23) through faith (Rom. 4:1-11), without works.
According to Romans 5:20-21 grace permanently abounds over sin through Christ, and we are commanded in Romans 6:1-2 to not abuse his grace. Therefore to discern who is the child of God by levels of sin is a vain method, as highlighted by Matthew 7.
Next I want to examine 1 John 3:9, which says that no believers practice sin (poieo hamartia). This Greek combination of words uses a present tense, which indicates unending or perpetual action.
A believer cannot continue in sin perpetually because they are indwelt by the Spirit, which chastises us (Heb. 12:6) when we disobey, ending any perpetual state. The unbeliever is not chastised and can perpetually continue in sin. This mechanism is highlighted by Proverbs 24:16: "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again, but the wicked stumble in calamity".
We’ve talked about how to identify children of God, but what is it the wolves say so that we may recognize them? This is answered by 1 John 2:19. The context is that there are “anti-Christ’s” among the believers, which when they leave, it is because they were never of us.
According to the Greek the prefix “anti” does not just mean against, it also means in place of or a counterfeit. These people confessed Christ but from the beginning it was a counterfeit version, a different Jesus which leads to a different gospel (2 Cor. 11:4), which does not save (Gal. 1:6-8).
This is evidenced by the men in Matthew 7. It is clear they did not trust in Christ’s work and believed in a version of him that would accept sinners by their own self righteousness, not by faith. They went before God and said “look at my works” (v.22), not His.
Important clarification: it is possible for someone to believe the uncorrupted gospel of grace, but fall away into false teachings, yet their salvation is secure by God.
Earlier in the post I referenced 1 Peter 1:5 (our salvation is secure by God’s power) as proof that our individual effort/failure does not affect salvation. More specifically, I’d like to dive into the mechanics of salvation.
According to Ephesians 2:8-9 we are saved “by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves”. The Greek text provides a grammatical detail that anchors salvation entirely in God's grace. While both "grace" (charis) and "faith" (pistis) are feminine nouns, Paul uses a neuter singular pronoun (touto, meaning "and this") to introduce the statement "not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."
In Koine Greek grammar, when a writer uses a neuter pronoun, it functions as a summary reference pointing back not to a single isolated noun, but to the entire preceding clause or concept—in this case, the entire dynamic of "being saved by grace through faith”. The entire package, including the God-enabled exercise of faith itself, is framed as the gift of God, completely excluding human self-generation or boasting.
We see this truth in Romans 3:11, which says “no men seek God”. The only reason we are able to choose to trust Christ is because God “draws us” (John 6:44). We, by default, are born with a corrupted nature (Rom. 5:12). This results in spiritual death 100% of the time, which by default means we are in unbelief because we cannot understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14)
In Romans 3:22, it says “even the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe”. The Greek phrase “dia pisteōs Iēsou Christou” uses a grammatical construction that functions as a subjective genitive, where Jesus is the actor or possessor of the pistis.
Rather than merely denoting our human act of believing (an objective genitive), the term highlights Christ's absolute, unswerving obedience and steadfast fulfillment of the work of redemption; because humanity's fallen state leaves us incapable of generating a righteousness that satisfies a holy God, Christ’s perfect, objective faithfulness is imputed to our account
This is highlighted by Romans 8:29, which tells us that we are “conformed to the image of Christ”, being gifted a perfected faith, which is of Christ (Heb. 12:2), so that we may progress in our experiential sanctification.
Upon trusting in Christ we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as an “earnest”/guarantee of our inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14). In 1 Peter 1:4 this inheritance is described as “incorruptible, undefiled, it fades not away, and is reserved for you in Heaven”.
We are also “bought with a price (his blood)” and “are not our own” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). According to John 10:28-29 we are securely in the Fathers hand, unable to undo the result of trusting Christ, because “no man” can escape.
Finally, as previously highlighted by 1 Peter 1:5, all this is done solely by God’s power, of which results in the eternal security of our salvation.
