What Then Shall We Do?

He (John the Baptist) said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 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. 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.”

And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:7-14 ESV)

In Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 3:7) the people coming to be baptized in this instance were many of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus described them as those who do not practice what they preach, who do their deeds to be seen by others, who love places of honor, who profess one thing but live the opposite, who adhere to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness, and who appear righteous on the outside but who are full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy, and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:1-39).

And this would be why both John the Baptist and Jesus referred to them as a brood of vipers. And a viper is a serpent, a snake, properly a poisonous snake. And Satan is a serpent. Figuratively speaking this is in reference to those whose words are deadly venom and blasphemous, for they are those who trade bitter for sweet and light for darkness, who reverse what is true for what is false, which is what so many preachers are doing today. This could also be speaking of back-stabbing, spiteful, and disloyal people.

So, it appears that John, knowing what was in their hearts, which was evident by the fruit (outgrowth, actions) that they produced, doubted their sincerity in wanting to be baptized by him. And this brings to mind what is largely being taught today as the gospel, which invites people to pray a prayer to receive Christ but with the purpose primarily so that they can escape hell (the wrath to come) rather than as a true intent to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and to walk in obedience to his commands.

And so John then went on to explain what it means to repent of our sins, for it isn’t just a ceremony or a ritual or just words spoken in confession of sins. We have to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. We can’t just say “I repent and I receive Jesus as my Savior.” We can’t just make a claim of some time in our lives when we invited Jesus into our hearts or we repeated some words after someone else in prayer to God. And we can’t claim our Christian heritage if our parents were Christians or some previous baptism we had.

There has to be fruit (outgrowth, results, actions) in our lives that shows that our repentance and our faith were genuine and not just a ritual we went through. And Jesus taught that the fruit reveals itself in us denying self, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living, and that lip service alone will not gain us entrance into God’s heavenly kingdom. For we must die with Christ to sin and now live to God and to his righteousness in obedience to our Lord’s commands.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24]

[Matt 3:8; Matt 4:17; Matt 11:20-21; Matt 12:41; Matt 21:28-31; Mk 1:15; Mk 6:12; Lu 5:32; Lu 13:3; Lu 15:2-8; Lu 24:47; Acts 3:19-20; Acts 5:30-31; Acts 8:22; Acts 11:17-18; Acts 17:29-31; Acts 19:18-20; Acts 20:21; Acts 26:18-20; Rom 2:4; 2 Co 7:8-10; 2 Co 12:21; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Thess 1:9-10; 2 Tim 2:24-26; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 Jn 1:5-10; Rev 2:5,16; Rev 3:3,19]

And that is the point of what John said to them next. For when the crowds asked what they should do, John’s counsel to them had to do with changing their practices to where they now behaved differently than they did before. Now they were to show love and concern for others, and to be generous in sharing their possessions with others in need. And they were to share their food with those who were hungry, and they were to be honest and trustworthy and not cheat others, but to do what is right and just and kind.

And that is what it means to repent. We turn away from our sins and the evil that we did before, and now we do the good that God desires and requires that we do, instead. So, it is a lot like making a spiritual U-turn in a road (the path that we were on) so that we now go the opposite direction of where we were headed. And it talks about this much in Ephesians 4:25-32 where we read that we are to put off lying and tell the truth and we are not to steal but to work and to be generous with what we have, etc.

And then we must know that if we refuse to repent in this manner, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord and not in holy living, that we do not know God, we are not born of God, we are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, but we are of the devil, and we do not have salvation and the forgiveness of sins, regardless of what faith in Jesus Christ we profess with our lips or believe that we have based upon what others have taught us. For faith in Christ is obedience to him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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