"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is know by its fruit" (Mt. 12:33).
A well known Hollywood actor was tragically paralyzed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident. It was a very sad story.
Several years before his death, the actor summed up "his religion" with this quote: "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
Sadly, this philosophy is a failed attempt by sinful man to create a religion for himself. Its not based on God's Word, but rather on one's own standards and determination to do what is deemed to be good for oneself.
No matter how determined we are, apart from Jesus Christ we can do nothing good. Sin has corrupted all of mankind from the inside out. But thanks be to God, we have His Son who has done all things for our salvation!
By grace, through faith, we are grafted into Jesus Christ, as a branch in grafted into a vine. Because we are, we produce fruit as we do good things. We serve our neighbors in God's love, so that they may see these good things and give glory to God. He makes us good trees and brings forth good fruit in our lives.
We must always remember that it is not our good deeds or our fruit that saves us. It is Jesus who has saved us on Calvary's cross. He saved us perfectly. We cannot improve or supplement His grace. We can only trust it!
-Dale
