A bad tree

(Octavius Winslow, "From Grace to Glory" 1864) "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people gather grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." Matthew 7:16-18 An unconverted state will bear fruit corresponding with its own essence. It must, in the nature of things, be so. The enmity against God of the carnal mind, the rejection of the Lord Jesus, the governing principle of SELF, the supreme ascendancy of the world, the slavery of sin; indicate, unmistakably, the unrenewed, unregenerate nature from which they spring. We do not expect one to yield the fruits of holiness from an unholy nature. The life an unbeliever lives is in keeping with the unrenewed heart he possesses. He is of the earth, earthly. It is consistent with his unregenerate nature . . . that he should be of the world, that he should love the world, that the world should love him and claim him as its own, that the things of the world its pursuits, its pleasures, its sins; should . . . harmonize with his nature, charm his tastes, delight his senses, and bind his affections in their spell.