Good Fruit, Bad Fruit

Martin Luther: "These two sayings are true: ‘Good, pious works never make a good, pious man, but a good, pious man does good, pious works. Evil works never make an evil man, but an evil man does evil works.’ As Christ says, ‘A bad tree bears no good fruit, a good tree bears no bad fruit.’ Now it is obvious that the fruit does not bear the tree, nor do the trees grow on the fruit, but again the trees bear the fruit, and the fruit grows on the trees. Now as the trees must be there before the fruit, and the fruit makes the tree neither good nor bad, but the trees make the fruit, so must man first be pious or evil in his person before he does good or evil works. And his works do not make him good or evil, but he does good or evil works."

2 points stem from Luther's argument: 1) men commit sins because their hearts are wicked, not the other way around; 2) an evil disposition is more culpable and blameworthy than the evil deeds which give expression to it.