Holy or Unholy Fruit from Two Spiritual Fathers

David W Palmer

(John 8:38–44 CEV) “I am telling you what my Father has shown me, just as you are doing what your father has taught you. … Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. …”

Let’s now go back to what we were looking at in previous studies—Jesus’s way of operating. In John 5, he was explaining to the Jews how and why he healed the crippled man on the Sabbath:

(John 5:19 CEV) Jesus told the people: “I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do.”

Jesus went on in further conversation with them to show them that they were using the same process as him to birth their deeds, but they were conceiving them with a totally different father. {We should remind ourselves at this point that a father is more than a biological donor of genetic material; he is the one in whose image the children are [pro]created, and is supposed to be the loving provider / protector in their lives that they are to mimic.}

In John 5, Jesus contrasted his relationship with the true spiritual Father, to his interlocutors’ relationship with this same Father:

(John 5:36–38 DKJV) “But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me that the Father has sent me. (37) And the Father himself, who sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. (38) And you do not have his word abiding in you, for the one he has sent, this one you do not believe.”

Jesus clearly explained that his source of actions, words, and achievements was from hearing and seeing things with his spiritual Father, God. Then he confronted them: “You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.” So, the ones wanting to kill Jesus were not sourcing their ideas, words, and actions from God the Father. Where, then, were they sourcing them? Jesus answers this as we to listen to his ongoing conversation with the Jews, who wanted to kill him:

(John 8:37–44 DKJV) “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. (38) I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do that which you have seen with your father.” (39) They answered and said to him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. (40) But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard from God. Abraham did not do this. (41) You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to him, “We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, God.” (42) Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; I didn’t come of myself, but he sent me. (43) Why do you not understand my speech?—Because you cannot hear my word. (44) You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you wish to go on doing. He was a murderer from the beginning, and didn't abide in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from himself; for he is a liar and the father of it …”

Jesus clarified that the Jews he was speaking to were not following or imitating the same spiritual father that he was. He said, “I speak what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have seen with your father” (verse 38). Therefore, they, like Jesus, were following a spiritual father—not their own ideas—but it was clearly a different spiritual father to the one Jesus was following.

Jesus clarified in verse 44 that their spiritual father was the devil, and that they therefore wanted to carry out the devil’s desires, words, and actions. Finally, of course, this became very evident when they killed Jesus—the very God that they claimed to love and serve.

Did they know they were following the devil?—Probably not; they thought they were following the law and sound logical reasoning. However, in the spirit, they were more intimate with pictures of pride, their own importance, and ladder-climbing than with the holy loving God. We note that this is where evil actions begin—flirting with the devil’s ideas, then conceiving them, growing them inside, and birthing them.

A loyal Pharisee would probably look like a genuine believer in our modern church—on the surface and initially: he would fast twice a week, meticulously pay tithes, attend meetings, dress well, confess that he believed God’s word, and probably have memorised large portions of it. He would be able to defend his theological case with logic and reasoning. In other words, a loyal Pharisee would look and sound the part. But Jesus highlighted the true issue at the heart of this matter; today’s Pharisee may have the appearance and outward conformity of a good church member, but which spiritual father is he truly following?

On one hand, God the Father reveals the “works” into which he calls us to walk—holy actions, supernatural works—and the humble acts Jesus described: turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, forgiving all others, not comparing yourself with others, serving all, taking up your cross daily, and laying your life down in love for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

On the other hand, those who follow the other father will have totally different fruit evident in their works—despite how good they look and sound on the outside: pride, competition, disguised fear, secret sins, lusts, reducing the influence of others, ladder climbing, undue ambition, accusation, self-justification, manipulation, and expecting others to serve them, etc.

(Matthew 7:20 NKJV) “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Today, I encourage you to invite the Holy Spirit’s searchlight to reveal any pharisaicalism in your heart. Are there any dark areas of your life that are watching, listening to, and/or imitating the works the counterfeit spiritual father has for you to walk in? Put it right by God’s grace today.