Matthew 7:18
16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.
Archelaus Acts of the Disputation with Manes 5
Acta ArchelaiBut, O my son, refuse thus thoughtlessly to identify these two things in the irrational and foolish fashion common to the mass of men, and ascribe no such confusion to the God of goodness. For these men refer the beginning and the end and the paternity of these ills to God Himself —whose end is near a curse. For they do not believe the word spoken by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the Gospels, namely, that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. And how they can be bold enough to call God the maker and contriver of Satan and his wicked deeds, is a matter of great amazement to me.
Notes and References
"... From the Acts of Archelaus it is clear that the two-tree example was very important and popular to Mani and the Manichaeans. According to Archelaus, the statement was used by them as a shield (Acts of Archelaus 54.7). It is referred to both in Manichaean and anti-Manichaean texts. The designations, Good Tree and the Fruit of the Flourishing Tree, were used by the Manichaean community in Kellis, Egypt, to refer to themselves. Mani, in the Manichaean Kephalaia (Keph), states that one will be blessed if he can understand that the two trees are eternally separated from each other. Those who understand that will go to the Aeon of Light, while those who don’t will go to the Land of Darkness. From the Keph we also know that the Manichaeans acknowledge that other sects have tried to interpret the similar passages in Mt., but that they got it wrong. A number of anti-Manichaean writers mention the Manichaean use of scriptures from Matthew and Luke, including Augustine (below) and Didymus the Blind ..."
Kaatz, Kevin "The Light and the Darkness: The Two Natures, Free Will, and the Scriptural Evidence in the Acta Archelai" in BeDuhn, Jason, and Paul Allan Mirecki (eds.) Frontiers of Faith: The Christian Encounter with Manichaeism in the Acts of Archelaus (pp. 103-118) Brill, 2007