“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, ‘O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance’.”
Matthew 3:7-8
As someone once said “The proof of the pudding’s in the eating.”
How do we know if we’re saved or if someone else is saved? Although with regards to others and only God knows those who are truly His, John the Baptist’s words in today’s Manna are very straightforward: “Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance.”
Now, the Greek word “axios” is used here for “meet” and basically means “suitable, deserving, due reward, worthy of, etc.” And, when coupled with the word “fruits,” we realize it’s that which reveals what type of tree it is and if it’s healthy or not.
Let us never forget Jesus’ cursing of the barren fig tree that day because of its failure to produce fruit (Mk. 11:12-14). The next morning when He and His disciples passed by the tree and “saw the tree dried up from its roots” (v.20), the disciples were astonished at how quickly it’d shriveled up. And, Jesus used it as the platform to remind them of the importance of faith (vv.22-24) and its connection to forgiveness (vv.25-26).
So many who darken the door of church buildings wonder why their lives and prayers are powerless. The answer is simple: There’s been no genuine “Godly sorrow that results in repentance” (Rom. 2:4b). Or, another way to put it, they’re not living a life of holiness, which springs from a deep love for the Savior and a deep hatred of sin, which grieves His Holy Heart.
Turn to Gal. 5:19-23, Pilgrim, and see which “Fruit List” better describes your attitude and actions. Are there more rotten, “fruits of the flesh” evident in your life than there are “fruits of the Spirit?” Are you “swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath” (James 1:19) or are you “quick on the trigger and tongue,” eager to “give someone a piece of your mind” when they’ve said or done something to hurt you?
The Apostle Paul said, “If the root’s holy, so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16). That’s why the fig tree “dried up from its roots;” they were rotten and that’s why the tree was barren. And, so it is with us. If we’re rooted in Righteousness, we’ll produce fruits of Righteousness; but, if we’re rooted in rottenness, we’ll produce rotten fruit.
As someone once said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time; but, you can never fool God any of the time.”
So, the question is “Are you a professor or a possessor? A pretender or a practitioner?”
Never forget that Jesus said, “By their fruits you shall know them” (Mt. 7:16, 20). And, in the case of the fig tree, “By their lack of fruit.”
Repentance is a “turning from and a turning to”—a “turning from” a lifestyle of sin and a “turning to” God in faith and obedience. Just as one cannot walk two directions at the same time, so can no one “serve two masters at the same time”—for one will always win out (Mt. 6:24). “Make sure your calling and salvation” (II Pet. 1:10), for eternity awaits.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated May 19, 2010
