January 2025: Fruit of Repentance

Published on 01/01/2025 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

God is gracious.

This is what the name "John" means, and it is quite an apt name for John the Baptizer. He is the answer to the prayer of Zacharias and became a blessing to Israel by the grace of God.

Just as the prophets of old foretold Jesus and his ministry, the ministry of John was also prophesied:
"Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord!
Make his paths straight!" (Mark 1:2-3, WEB)

The first prophecy from this passage comes from Malachi 3:1a, which Mark quoted loosely. Originally, Malachi 3:1a says, "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me." Here, Yahweh was speaking of John coming before Him. But the Spirit-filled Mark understood that Yahweh was coming not personally at first but coming in the Person of Jesus Christ, so Mark, under divine inspiration, changed the pronoun to indicate that Yahweh was sending His messenger before "you" to prepare "your way." God's "messenger" speaks of John, and "you" and "your" speak of Jesus.

Next, Mark cited what other Gospel writers also cited: Isaiah 40:3, which prophesied the coming of John as the forerunner of Lord Yahweh in the Person of Lord Jesus. As we see, in the Old Testament, Yahweh had foretold of His coming, but it's from the New Testament that we understand that Yahweh was initially not coming in person but was coming in the Person of His Son. His Son was to come to Earth as His ultimate Representative, the Word that reveals to the world who Yahweh is. But before Jesus started revealing Yahweh to the Jews, Yahweh sent John as Jesus' forerunner to prepare his way before his face.

In those days, before kings or important people arrived at their destination, they would first sent their forerunners before them. The duty of forerunners was to make sure that everything was well prepared before the arrival of their masters and that the road was safe to travel. They had to make certain that all the logistics were planned out such as lodging and hospitality.

In a similar way, John's purpose was to prepare the spiritual lodging of his Master, to prepare the hearts of the Jews so Jesus could "lodge" in their hearts. We shall see exactly how he did so in our study today.

The Ministry of the Forerunner

"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light." (John 1:6-8, WEB)

John was the forerunner of Jesus in nearly every way: he was born before Jesus by about five or six months, and he started preaching the Kingdom of God before Jesus' ministry commenced.

Yahweh sent John into the world to be a witness to the light of the world, Jesus the Messiah. John was to testify about the light so that the world could believe in the light. The Gospel of John was careful to stress the fact that the Baptizer was not the light himself. He was simply the forerunner to point people to the light. People must not mistake him as the light.

John declared, "He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me." (John 1:15)

John well understood that even though he was born before Jesus and began his ministry prior to Jesus' own ministry, Jesus literally came before John. Jesus is "before" John in both order and rank. Jesus existed before John existed, and Jesus is preeminent over John. In actuality, John was part of the creation created through Jesus.

John rightly saw his lowly position in relation to Jesus' position. To the Jews, he pointed out that the One coming after him was mightier than he whose sandals he wasn't worthy to even carry or loosen (Matthew 3:11; John 1:27). Carrying or loosening one's sandals was the duty of a slave, so John saw himself unworthy to be considered even as Jesus' slave. In short, Jesus was preferred before or much more than he (John 1:30).

John began serving the people around 29 AD, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the stepson and successor of Caesar Augustus. "Caesar" was the title of the Roman emperors, just as "Pharaoh" was for Egyptian kings. At this time, Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea, after Archelaus the son of Herod the Great was deposed and banished from the land by Caesar Augustus for alleged tyranny. Two other sons of Herod the Great ruled other parts of the region: Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee while Philip was the tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, regions in the transjordan. "Tetrarch" refers to a ruler of a quarter of a kingdom, but it later came to mean any petty ruler. The high priest was officially Caiaphas, though his father-in-law, Annas, held this title also. In Jesus' day, high priests were appointed and deposed by the Romans, rather than being a hereditary office from the line of Aaron. In 15 AD, the romans deposed Annas and replaced him with his son-in-law, but the Jews honored Annas, who maintained great power in the priesthood and the Sanhedrin, the high court of Israel.

From the very start, John did as he was ordained to do: to be the voice in the wilderness that Isaiah prophesied as crying, "Make straight the way of the Lord." (John 1:23) As the forerunner of Yahweh in the Person of Jesus, John prepared the way before Jesus by preparing the hearts of the people for Jesus.

The Message of the Forerunner

John's main message to the people was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2) If people wanted to be part of the Kingdom of God, which was edging closer as time passed, they must repent of all their sins and be forgiven by Yahweh.

Just as Isaiah foretold, John cried out in the wilderness, where he had lived in seclusion for many years until he appeared publicly as the prophet of the Most High. He continued to live in the wilderness during his ministry; he fed on locusts and wild honey, and wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, the manner of dress of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), which was befitting of him since he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. The particular regions that he ministered at was the wilderness of Judea, northwest to the Dead Sea, and around the Jordan River, on both of its banks. There, he preached or announced "the baptism of repentance for remission of sins" and baptized the people in the Jordan, hence we dub him the Baptizer (Luke 3:3).

By John's time, the Jews were well aware of baptism, which is full immersion in water. But the Jews themselves didn't practice baptism; instead, it was for the gentiles who wished to accept Yahweh as their God. Gentile proselytes were baptized to express their willingness to surrender themselves to the true God, and baptism was an act to symbolize their "immersion" into or association with God.

Thus, the baptism that John preached and performed was not done by the Jews. He was telling them their own need to be baptized, not just the gentiles. John baptized the people for one reason only: to let them show to others that they had repented of all their sins. His baptism was performed only after people had first confessed and repented of their sins, not before.

In preaching repentance and baptizing the repentant, John was preparing the hearts of the people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Even though they had repented, that wasn't enough to get them saved or be spared from Yahweh's coming wrath upon the world. Only faith in Jesus could remit them of their sins and fully cleanse them.

When many of the Pharisees and Sadducees went to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan, John rebuked them with these words, "You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance! Don't think to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones." (Matthew 3:7-9)

As the mighty prophet of Yahweh, John could see through the self-righteousness and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were offspring of poisonous snakes, not repentant children of God. They didn't display any repentance in their life, yet they wanted to be baptized by John to escape God's coming wrath. Though they might fool the crowd by their "repentance," they couldn't fool God or John.

The Pharisees and Sadducees trusted in their national identity as God's chosen people of Abraham's seed, but John pointed out to them that such trust was vain. They thought that being the seed of Abraham automatically guaranteed their right standing with Yahweh and their inheritance in His Kingdom regardless how they lived before Him. They trusted in their title as Abraham's seed rather than in Yahweh. John told these spiritually blind people that being the children of Abraham meant nothing. God could even raise up children for Abraham from the rocks that lay on the ground before John. It was obedience to Yahweh that mattered (and still matters), not one's heritage or bloodline.

Fruit of Repentance

John exhorted the Pharisees and Sadducees to "bring forth fruit worthy of repentance!" and his admonishment applies to everyone, past and present (Matthew 3:8). Repentance involves both a change of attitude and a change of action, which John called "the fruit of repentance." If we merely feel sorry for our sins and yet do not produce righteous fruit, then our repentance is no repentance. True repentance has to show; it has to be outward, rather than merely internal. When we repent, our lifestyles have to reflect our repentance. We must start living righteously before Yahweh by obeying His Torah and shunning evil.

To the Pharisees and Sadducees and the crowd in general, John warned, "Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire." (Matthew 3:10) John compared every human being to a tree, and God's act of judgment to an ax. The ax is laid to the roots of all the trees, ready to strike any moment; God's judgment is imminent. Any tree that fails to produce good fruit (fruit of repentance) will be cut down by the ax and cast into the fire to be burned up. Simply put, people who do not truly repent will be condemned forever. No one will enter the Kingdom of God if they do not produce righteous fruit that displays or validates their repentance.

John contrasted his ministry with that of his Master. He noted that he was baptizing people with water that testify to their repentance, but One who's mightier than he was coming, and he "will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:11-12) Whereas John was baptizing people in water, Jesus baptizes people in the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16). We will study the baptism in the Holy Spirit in a future lesson.

John next compared the repentant to wheat and the unrepentant to chaff. Like a farmer, Jesus will winnow the chaff from the wheat, storing up the wheat in the barn (God's Kingdom) and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. The repentant will be saved, whereas the unrepentant will be consumed. Yahweh's fire of judgment cannot be overcome. It will destroy all the wicked and burn them up as stubble, leaving them neither root or branch (Malachi 4:1). Jesus' winnowing fan is in his hands, always prepared to carry out God's judgment.

After hearing John's warning, his audience grew alarmed, and they asked him, "What then must we do?" (Luke 3:10) They wanted to know what producing fruit worthy of repentance looks like.

John explained, "He who has two coats [tunics or inner garments], let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise." (Luke 3:11) Fruit of repentance displays in active love. It is expressed through sharing and giving to provide for other people's needs. If we have an extra of anything, whether it be food or clothing, we should share or give it to those who are in need of it. This illustrates our love and obedience to God. If we have been stingy in the past and are hoarding our belongings, then we must repent by giving.

Tax collectors were among those who went to John to be baptized and they asked him, "Teacher, what must we do?" (Luke 3:12) What should producing fruit of repentance look like for them? Tax collectors were greatly despised by their fellow Jews who saw them as traitors, as they collected taxes for the Romans. Many of them were despised also for their immorality; they cheated people of their taxes, asking for a lot more than they were required to in order to put the extra taxes in their own pockets.

To the tax collectors, John said, "Collect no more than that which is appointed to you." (Luke 3:13) It's simple: for them to repent, tax collectors must collect what they were required to collect, no more. They must deal honestly with the people.

Soldiers were next to ask John, "What about us? What must we do?" to which the Baptizer answered, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages." (Luke 3:14) Soldiers or the military is put in place for the people's protection and defense. It's a tragedy when they turn against the very people they are pledged to defend. As John admonished, soldiers should be content with their wages and not extort money from others or accuse anyone falsely. Those who serve others must live above reproach.

How about you? Are you showing fruit of repentance? If John talked to you today, what do you think he would say to you in regard to how you're living out your faith in Christ?


~*~ Q&A with Dr. Shirley ~*~

Question: Do we keep God's commandments for our justification?

Answer: No, we keep God's Torah for our sanctification, not justification. There are several stages to our salvation, which includes justification, reconciliation, sanctification, and adoption. Justification is the very first step in salvation, and justification is achieved by only one thing: faith in Jesus.

Justification is simply a legal standing before God. It is where God declares you righteous. It is where God forgives you of your sins, so your records of sin are removed, and you start fresh.

Imagine a courtroom. Imagine you got arrested for a crime and are standing in front of the judge. The judge has compassion on you by forgiving you of your crime, so you are released and your criminal record is deleted. This is justification. God is our Judge who forgives us based on our faith in Christ. Justification does not make you righteous. The court judge would not make a criminal righteous simply by forgiving him.

Then sanctification begins. Keeping the Torah keeps you sanctified. Sanctification is where you live righteously before God to honor Him.

Imagine the judge telling the forgiven criminal to start living righteously from now on. This is sanctification in our salvation life.

So when you keep the Torah, do not do it in order to seek justification, because only faith in Jesus justifies you. Do not seek justification by the Torah because that would actually condemn you, because the Torah was never designed for that purpose, and God is displeased when we add anything to faith in His Son for justification.

Hence, Paul wrote that "yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law [Torah] but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law." (Galatians 2:16, WEB)

So our motive (reason) for keeping the Torah is essential. We keep it for our sanctification, not justification.

Do you have Bible questions and want answers? Contact Dr. Shirley and she'll be happy to answer your questions by the grace of God.

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Then you may subscribe to Dr. Shirley's newsletter by filling out the contact form at the bottom of this page.

Do you have Bible questions and want answers? Contact Dr. Shirley and she'll be happy to answer your questions by the grace of God.

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Then you may subscribe to Dr. Shirley's newsletter by filling out the contact form at the bottom of this page.