Bearing fruit in keeping with repentance

One of my favorite people in the Bible is John the Baptizer. Yes, he was the baptizer, not a Baptist! John the Baptizer was Jesus’ cousin and had one purpose: to prepare the way of the Lord. He was promised in the book of Malachi, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” (Malachi 4:5) He came in the spirit of Elijah, that prophet who confronted a wicked king. He was also spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, “A voice cries in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” (Isaiah 40:3) John the Baptizer was that voice, crying in the wilderness.

We’ve already met John in his birth. He makes his next appearance in the Gospel as the one who would baptize Jesus. Before that, though, we learn of his message. Luke begins by quoting John’s sermon introduction as people are coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Catchy, isn’t it?

John’s baptism was already offensive and so we should not be surprised that he is using such harsh language. His point is clear though: “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.” Notice here that he is not stating that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham; rather, he can raise from these stones children for Abraham. He is saying that God will provide offspring for Abraham, just as he had promised him in Genesis 12.

It was not just the religious leaders who had begun to trust in their pedigree; rather, being under Roman rule for these many years had developed in the Jewish public a disdain for anyone not Jewish. John says, though, ‘don’t even begin to say you are Abraham’s children’ as though that exempts one from needing to have fruit in keeping with repentance. John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins and the way that you would know you had repented would be if you had the fruits in keeping with repentance.

Nowhere in the Old Testament do you read, “get circumcised and then live however you like.” There was no bumper sticker that read, “I’m not perfect, I’m just a child of Abraham.” A heart-felt repentance was necessary; for, sin still needed to be forgiven. This was the purpose of the sacrificial system. Naturally, as many would hear John’s message and desire to know what they needed to do, they asked, and he candidly answered.

John is not setting up a works righteousness plan; rather, he is teaching particular people what sort of fruit they ought to produce that would be in keeping with their repentance. This is tree and fruit stuff – not work and get saved. The question is one of judgment concerning fruit, as John’s own words testify, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:9) The fruit is bad because the root is bad. The fact that John addresses them as children of serpents proves that he is not interested in some works righteousness means of salvation.

Those who are God’s children must still bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Yes, the way to God as Father is through the shed blood of Christ – the only mediator between God and man. To be counted among God’s children one must come through Christ, repenting of their sins – recognizing that they are in no way worthy of the grace that God shows. While this is true – the make-up of God’s people and the way one becomes part of God’s people are changed – the mandate for God’s people remains the same.

The message to God’s people has been clear through the ages, even today. If you are a Christian, the judgment of which John speaks that you faced has been paid in full by Christ…the Spirit baptism you received has united you to Christ such that you are righteous in God’s sight. This ought not to make us think that we should offer up ourselves less to God but more; we, too, are called to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Opinion