“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” – Luke 3:8
John the Baptist had the difficult mission of preparing self-satisfied, spiritually dead people for the coming of Jesus. He had to wake up those who were religious and thought that was good enough to save them. He had to startle everyone who thought their dry, empty practice of religion was pleasing to God despite having selfish, evil, corrupt hearts. He had to shake the mindset of people who thought their ethnic heritage would do everything they needed to be them in right standing with God.
To accomplish his mission, John went right at people. He held nothing back and pulled no punches. He called out their injustice toward the poor and weak. He called out their abuses of power. He called out their hollow appearance of religiosity that looked good but had no love of the Lord behind it. He told people to get serious about repenting of their sins and stop assuming that legacy labels or ethnicity would or could help them spiritually.
His message is profoundly relevant to Christians today. Only faith that produces genuine life change will save us from our sins. God’s grace isn’t to be presumed upon. We too must bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Merely going to church on a regular basis won’t save you if you have no love and obedience toward Jesus. A historical identification or association with a particular church or denomination won’t do you a bit of good if Jesus isn’t your Lord. Looking religious or holding onto a historical denomination label while living in disobedience to Jesus is no more helpful to a Christian than it was to a Jew in John’s day.
Do you know the Risen Son of God? Is Jesus your Lord? Is He changing your life, your words, your actions, and your thoughts to be more like His? Are you ever more closely following everything that He commanded in Scripture? If He isn’t, then whatever you call yourself probably won’t help you one bit! #FollowJesus