Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Matthew 3:8 NIV
This was a part of John the Baptist’s message to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came out to where he was baptizing. And it is in keeping with what he says later (Matt. 3:10), and what Jesus (John 15:1-8), James (Jam. 2:14-26), John (1 Jn. 3:16-18), and Paul (Gal. 5:6) affirm. All too many are satisfied with just repentance. Or at least what passes for repentance. But there is no real change in their lives. But repentance without fruit is like a tree without fruit. A tree that is cut down and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10).
I cannot stress enough that our salvation is not in any way a result of what we do in this life. We can do nothing to earn our salvation. Nor to keep that salvation. It is a gift from God. But one who has been saved is a new person. A person whose life is transformed and who is fruitful. A lack of transformation and fruit-bearing should signify that all is not well. Please, do not be content with a fruitless life. Or a life that is indistinguishable from the culture around us. Produce fruit that is in keeping with real repentance.
