Bear fruits in keeping with repentance,

Luke 3:1-22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. ³ And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight. ⁵ ‘Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth; ⁶ And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

⁷ So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” ¹² And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” ¹⁴ Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. ¹⁹ But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done,²⁰ Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

In today’s text it says:  The word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.  And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.  ‘Every ravine will be filled, And every mountain and hill will be brought low; The crooked will become straight, And the rough roads smooth;  And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”   So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”    John preached a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. There is a difference between acknowledging sin, which some people will not even do; and being sorry about sin. Many people are only sorry about the consequences of sin. They are sorry for the problems sin causes for themselves and perhaps others. But still, even with sorrow for their sin, they do not repent. To repent means to turn from, to go in a different direction; to change the way we think and act. Regarding sin we need to be more than just sorry about what we have done, we need to change, to turn from our sinful actions and thoughts. We need to understand and agrre with what the psalmist says in Psalm 51:4:   Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight.   Regardless of what the consequences of our sin are and who may be impacted by them, sin is against God. Sin is about doing what is evil in God’s sight. In Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   Woe is the consequence of doing what is evil in God’s sight. Neither our society, our culture, our government, nor any individual person, determines what is good and what is evil. If we choose to do what God calls evil, we sin against Him. Neither arguing about, or even just acknowledging our sin is not going to change the fact that it is sin. We need to repent; to change the way we think and act. We need to call what God calls evil, evil and what He calls darkness, darkness.   John says:  Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance.    It is not enough to say we are sorry. Repentance means that we change and there should be visable evidence of the change in our lives.

Some will say that because of John’s reference to the children of Abraham, he is referring to the old covenant promises. They will argue that even John’s message came before Jesus sacrifice on the cross. They will say that we live under the new covenant of grace established by Jesus, enacted for us through the cross. It is true that we are saved by grace. But what John said is still true under the new covenant.  “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”   Jesus Himself, the author of the new covenant, written and signed in His blood, says:  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit…  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:1-11)    So, Jesus the author and initiator of the new covenant, agrees with John that those who do not bear fruit in keeping with repentance, those who do not change, will be: cast into the fire and they are burned.  Indeed we are saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   If we truly repent, if we are truly sorry not only for the consequences of our sin, but rather if we are sorry that we have sinned against God, we will change. We will abide in Christ. We will be recreated in Him, to do the good works of God; to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Today’s text says:  “I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.   Jesus has also called us, as His disciples, to preach the gospel. The gospel is not a message of condemnation. Nor though is it a message that does not seek change and repentance for those who hear. The gospel is an exhortation, an encouragment to change the way we think and act, to come into alignment with the way God thinks and acts. It is a message about the saving grace of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit to live for God and bear fruit in keeping with the change that grace has had in our lives. 

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for grace, for conviction, the knowledge of my sin against You and for the power to live and abide in You and Your word, bearing fruit in keeping with the change You have made in me.  Amen.