15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So by their fruits you will know them.
The Sermon on the Mount, as presented in Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7, is about divine morality the social architecture that God designed for the primate species and particularly humans. In these chapters, Jesus teaches what it means to live within God’s creation, in union with Him, what He calls the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is what is what is achieved by living within divine morality, called tsedeq by the ancient Hebrews. The Sermon on the Mount reveals how God has designed human social architecture, inviting us to dwell within it according to divine morality. Jesus’s words guide us on how to live in harmony with God’s intentions, experience the grace that comes from such living, and understand the consequences when we fall short of this divine calling.