“Fruit” is a scriptural term that refers to the outcomes of a certain belief. Why is fruit an important concept in the search for truth? Because fruit is evidence that penetrates through our limited capability to recognize truth directly.
Many times in the scriptures we read the phrase, “the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehends it not.” What does it mean for light to shine in the darkness? What does it mean for the darkness to not comprehend it?
Light exists by degrees. Light is ever-present in its fullness, but it is not perceived or accepted in its fullness. A creation story from a translation of the Bible designed to preserve the meanings of words from the original language illustrates this idea: “The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].” (John 1:5, AMP)
The darkness is any part of us—our beliefs, feelings, actions, thoughts, etc.—that deviates from a fullness of God in some way. We only perceive some very small degree of this deviation. To perceive all of it would require the same knowledge God has. We can only perceive it in terms of the degree of light we have acquired and assimilated. We can only estimate our deviation from God to the extent that he has revealed himself to us personally. This begins with an awareness of basic right and wrong, and from there can progress a great deal further.
Just as we are extraordinarily limited in our perception of our deviation from God, and for the same reasons, we are extraordinarily limited in our awareness and assessment of greater truth than we presently hold.
Each of God’s creations has a varied awareness of the fullness of light that emanates from God. Matter of a lower degree of light can perceive light to a point just beyond what it itself has attained, but nothing beyond. Because of our blindness to light beyond what we presently possess, it is of utmost importance to learn how to recognize higher truth based on the fruit it produces. Light leaves clues, and we can perceive the clues even if we can’t perceive the light. This strategy is analogous to our inability to look directly at the sun. Though we can’t see the details of the sun directly with our eyes, we can look at its effects. We can feel the heat on our skin when we walk into it, and we can see the green grass and green leaves that grow from it.
The Savior taught that true doctrine can be proven by the fruits it produces. He taught that it was both necessary and possible to prove candidate truth. He taught that new truth is always accompanied by signs:
65 And these signs shall follow them that believe—
66 In my name they shall do many wonderful works;
67 In my name they shall cast out devils;
68 In my name they shall heal the sick;
69 In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf;
70 And the tongue of the dumb shall speak;
71 And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them;
72 And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. (D&C 84; see also Mark 16:17-18 and Mormon 9:24)
We search in order to find two kinds of fruit: charismatic and rational. Charismatic fruit consists of experiences we have had that support a principle. In this category, we could place Paul’s witness of Christ: He saw; therefore, he knew. We could place Joseph of Egypt’s dream of the 14 years of plenty and famine in this category. In fact, the scriptures are full of visitations, visions, dreams, and voices that all serve as charismatic evidence for a particular idea. We should exercise extreme caution in considering emotional experiences as charismatic evidence.
Rational fruit is a historical, scriptural, or logical argument that supports or contradicts a given principle. Rational fruit can be evaluated absent of experience. Rational fruit is a powerful tool for disproving principles, since only one counterexample is needed to disprove something. (Alma 30 provides an excellent example of a rational argument used to root out falsehood.) But rational argument has another more important use. While charismatic experience is how we gain unshakeable testimonies of truth, charismatic experiences come largely as the result of experimenting on God’s word. Without logical, scriptural, or historical reason to believe on a proffered principle, one will not have enough faith to experiment on it. Rational evidence provides a bridge between where we currently stand and where we need to stand in order to receive a charismatic witness.
Unfortunately, not all “fruit” is good fruit.
Throughout time there have been men who practiced counterfeit miracles. Remember that truth produces works, independent of the intent of the truth holder. Satan’s power comes from his possession of truth, not his desires, which are evil. The priests of Pharaoh were able to imitate many of the miracles the Lord commanded Moses to perform. Had the Israelites allowed miracles to convince them of truthfulness, they would have had as much reason to believe the Pharaoh as they would Moses.
Elijah’s challenge to the priests of Baal indicates that they, too, performed miracles. He challenged them to call down fire from their God. They accepted his invitation, suggesting that they had done similar works before (see 1 Kings 18).
These counterfeits are not limited to the Old Testament. The book of Acts contains the accounts of Elymas and Simon, sorcerers who fooled men into thinking they had God’s power (see Acts 13 and Acts 8).
If you consider the ability to perform miracles an indication of truthfulness, you will be deceived, for the devil has power to perform miracles.
The key to avoiding deception is to remember that supernatural power is not a witness of truth. Improvement is. The glory of God is not miracles, it is intelligence. It is improvement. It is greater capacity to withstand reality, greater awareness of reality, and greater adherence to godly character in spite of every obstacle and contradiction.
By showing fruit that could only come through God's approbation, Jesus showed he possessed higher light, even if that light was beyond the comprehension of those to whom he ministered:
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house. (Matthew 9)
Miracles from Satan do not entice you to do good. They do not entice you to improve. They do not help you withstand the challenges of life. They weaken you, making you dependent on things outside of your control.