Embedded Files
We are NOT BORN as Being CORRUPT!
***What Does Matthew 7:18 TRULY mean?
Here is Matthew 7:18 from the KJV. “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”
Notice that Jesus did NOT say a good tree and a BAD tree or a good tree and an EVIL tree. But rather, Jesus said a good tree and a CORRUPT tree.
The verb corrupt means to CAUSE to become, to change, to alter something good to no longer be good.
So, a fruit tree that is not guarded from bad things, then the fruit it bears will not be good fruit.
To read the CONTEXT, please click the BLUE verse link.
To read the STUDY and the context, please scroll down.
Download this Verse Study to read OFFLINE!
Can a Corrupt Tree Be Made GOOD?
How to Make a Corrupt Tree Bear GOOD Fruit!
The Christians who teach the doctrine of original sin, the doctrine that teaches that we are all born with a Sinful Nature, and the doctrine of Total Depravity, all use Matthew 7:18 to try to support their doctrines.
In other words, they “interpret” the phrase “corrupt tree” as meaning a BAD tree. Well, that may be true, but how does a tree BECOME bad?
There are a lot of factors that can have negative results when planting seeds as Jesus teaches us in the parable of the Sower sowing the seed of God’s word.
But just to summarize, to grow and bear good fruit you need good soil, you need to water the seed, you need to fertilize the tree, you need to keep the weeds from choking the plant, and you need to prune unwanted and unneeded growth.
And all of that is for another study. The purpose of this study is to show why Matthew 7:18 does NOT teach us that we are all BORN with a SINFUL NATURE.
To me, the only way that any Christian would interpret this verse to mean that we are all BORN as BAD trees NOT able to bear good fruit, is for that Christian to ALREADY have that belief.
And thus, they READ their preconceived belief INTO Matthew 7:18 and every other verse of Scripture that they use to try to prove their doctrine of Total Depravity, the doctrine of Original Sin, and the Sin Nature doctrine.
Simply reading the CONTEXT of verse 18 proves that there are GOOD trees bringing forth GOOD fruit.
Matthew 7:15-20.
“Beware of FALSE prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:16. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Matthew 7:17. Even so every GOOD tree brings forth GOOD fruit; but a CORRUPT tree brings forth evil fruit. (Notice that Jesus did NOT say a good tree and a BAD tree or a good tree and an EVIL tree. But rather, Jesus said that a CORRUPT tree brings forth evil fruit.
The verb corrupt means to CAUSE to become, to change, to alter something good to no longer be good.
And therefore, a fruit tree that is NEGLECTED and not guarded from bad things, then the fruit it bears will not be good fruit)
Matthew 7:18. A GOOD tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, (In other words, a tree that is cared for and watched over to protect it, feed it, water in, and prune it will only bear good fruit. That is the way God created it) neither can a CORRUPT tree bring forth good fruit. (Again, a fruit tree that is NEGLECTED and not guarded from bad things, then the fruit it bears will not be good fruit)
Matthew 7:19. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. (Jesus teaches us in another parable in Matthew 12:33 to either MAKE a tree GOOD or MAKE the tree CORRUPT.
And that teaches us that we have a CHOICE to make an evil tree a GOOD tree to bear GOOD fruit.
And thus, each person makes their OWN tree to be CORRUPT, which means that they were NOT BORN with a corrupt nature and only able to bear evil fruit)
Matthew 7:20. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them.”
In other words, if a person’s deeds are NOT good deeds and they do NOT make their deeds to be GOOD, then they will be cut down and burned on the final Day of Judgment.
And Jesus teaches us HOW to bring forth GOOD fruits in Matthew 23:26. The INSIDE must be cleaned FIRST.
Matthew 23:26.
“You blind Pharisee, cleanse FIRST that which is WITHIN the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
In other words, God must cleanse our spirit WITHIN us from all of our past sins FIRST.
And then, with the help of His Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we PUT OF the old man of the flesh, according to Ephesians 4:17-32.
Ephesians 4:17-32.
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk NOT as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Ephesians 4:18. Having the understanding darkened, being ALIENATED FROM the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Ephesians 4:19. Who being past feeling have GIVEN themselves OVER unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (I have heard Christians say that they have given up trying to overcome sin.
They have convinced themselves that they are SINNERS and that they are going to sin every day many multiple times a day.
And what sins that they had once overcome are now overcoming them.
Jesus said that the treasures of the heart the MOUTH will SPEAK and out of the evil treasure of the heart the evil man BRINGS FORTH the evil things.
And thus, by always CONFESSING that they are SINNERS, they have brought forth more and more temptations which they have given into by WRONGLY believing that they cannot live without sin)
Ephesians 4:20. But you have NOT so learned Christ;
Ephesians 4:21. If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Ephesians 4:22. That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is CORRUPT according to the deceitful lusts; (We do not LUST after something until we have TASTED that pleasure of sin, or we have been SEDUCED by hearing how good it feels.
And then, the MEMORY or the COVETING of wanting to SEE for ourselves, is what BECOMES the LUST.
And thus, we ACQUIRE the lust of the flesh and opposed to being BORN with a so-called sinful NATURE)
Ephesians 4:23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Ephesians 4:24. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:26. Be you angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Ephesians 4:27. Neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:28. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing, which is good, that he may have to give to him that has need.
Ephesians 4:29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Ephesians 4:30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Ephesians 4:32. And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”
Let us look at one more passage of Scripture where Jesus talks about the treasures of our HEART.
Matthew 12:33-37.
“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: (So then, WE do the making of the fruit we bear) for the tree is known by his fruit.
Matthew 12:34. O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, SPEAK good things? (Notice that Jesus did not say DO good things, but rather, Jesus said, SPEAK good things) for out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart the MOUTH speaks. (And thus, if you have been taught that you are nothing but a filthy sinner that has a sinful NATURE, then that is what your MOUTH will SPEAK and confess.
In other words, that is the CONFESSION of your FAITH, that is what you BELIEVE in your HEART.
That is the TREASURE of your heart. ONLY Jesus can live without sin?
NO! Jesus is the first man to live without sin to be our EXAMPLE to FOLLOW!)
Matthew 12:35. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart BRINGS FORTH GOOD things: (For out of the ABUNDANCE of the GOOD treasure in his or her heart the MOUTH SPEAKS, and the CONFESSION of their FAITH is that they are a NEW Creature created in Jesus and sin had NO DOMINION over us) and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (So CHANGE the evil treasure to be GOOD treasure by hiding God’s word in your heart that you will not SIN, according to Psalm 119:11)
Matthew 12:36. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment. (Idle means not moving, unproductive, inactive. In other words, NEGATIVE words, and words that say the OPPOSITE of what God says.
And that is called EVIL speaking or having an EVIL REPORT like the spies who said we can NOT take the land because we are like grasshopper to those giants)
Matthew 12:37. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”
Please read the study called How You Can Live Your Life Free From Sin!
And be sure to read ALL of the in-depth Bible Studies under the subject heading Is Calvinism Biblical? to learn the TRUE sound Biblical meaning of that controversial subject in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
So again, my conclusion of this Verse Study is NO! Matthew 7:18 does NOT prove that ANY human is BORN with a sinful NATURE.
But rather, every human being LEARNS to walk in righteousness.
And sadly, some people LEARN to corrupt their own minds and harden their own hearts to SIN against their conscience.
And the TRUTH of the matters is that every man has sinned at some point in the life, we all have FALLEN short of the glory of God BECAUSE we all have SINNED at one time or another in our life.
And it was Satan, the DEVIL who entices us to SIN.
Now sadly, Christadelphian Christians do NOT believe that Satan, the Devil, is a REAL literal BEING.
And the Christadelphian Christians ALSO wrongly believe, as well as, some other church denominations, that God created EVIL and that Yahweh is the CAUSE of all of the EVIL in the world.
Plus, Christadelphian Christians, as well as other church denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, sincerely, but wrongly believe in the FALSE doctrine or original sin.
And thus, they build their other man-made doctrines upon the false doctrine of every person being born with a so-called sinful NATURE.
Satan has deceived the whole world to wrongly blame God for all of the evil in the world.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
Or you can scroll down to the MORE dropdown menu list to find those studies as well.
Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to:
My HOMEPAGE at
Or
Type in the SEARCH bar
Or
The Church of the Firstborn of God
Or
Go to my NEW Website at
Also, here is the MASTER Menu List of my 8 NEW BOOKS with LINKS to all of the chapters in those eight new books.
Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse