WE JUDGE THE HEART BY THE BEHAVIOR

Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Our Lord judges perfectly. He judges the external (our deeds) by way of the internal (the intentions of the heart). However, we lack this ability to directly examine the heart like God does. Consequently, we are limited to judge the intentions of the heart strictly by what we see and hear, by the evidence. Sometimes, this pertains even to ourselves, if we are overcome by self-deception.

Let me give you an example. Your friend professes that you are her best friend. However, she treats you as if you are her worst enemy. She maliciously gossips against you and even presses false charges against you for stealing. Yet it is she who has been stealing from you. Eventually, you will conclude that she is not your friend, despite what she professes, because her heart is evidently against you.

I think that we can use this example to help us understand the many verses regarding judgment, which claim that we will be judged according to the fruit we bear – our deeds. Jesus had taught a number of parables about judging. In one, He taught:

·       “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’…Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36, 41-43)

While it might sound like we are saved by our works, it is clear that Jesus didn’t preach a salvation by our good deeds. Instead, He taught:

·       “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

·       Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

·       “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

However, we judge the heart by the fruit, in the same way that we judge our “friend’s” profession of friendship by her behavior. It is also our behavior that reveals the condition of our heart and whether we have put our trust in Him. If we claim to have put our trust in Jesus, but we refuse to follow Him, it also means that we have refused to trust in Him. If we see that this is true about ourselves, we must repent, as five of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 were required to do:

·       Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. (Revelation 3:3)