John the Baptist was called of God, even before he was born, to be “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” And he did exactly as the Lord had called him to do. He came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And people were coming to him to be baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins (see Matthew 3:1-6).
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father”; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’” (Matthew 3:7-10 NASB1995)
The scribes and Pharisees (and Sadducees, too) of Jesus’ day were skilled at hypocrisy. Jesus described them in this way (see Matthew 16 & 23):
• They do not practice what they preach
• They do their deeds to be seen by others
• They love places of honor; they love attention
• They lead people to hell on the promise of heaven
• They profess one thing but live the opposite
• They adhere to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness
• They appear clean (righteous) outwardly but inwardly are evil
• They are full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy and self-indulgence
• They persecute those who are truly righteous in God’s sight
• Their teaching is not to be trusted; not to be followed
Therefore, when John saw them coming to him for baptism he did not trust their motives. He doubted the genuineness of their actions, and for good reason. So he called them a “brood of vipers.” For they were malicious, treacherous, and venomous in their nature and in their actions. And they were deceptive, and sneaky, and those who liked to trap people with their words, and who got pleasure out of causing other people pain.
So, he knew that they were not coming to have their hearts, minds, and actions altered (changed, transformed) via genuine repentance. He knew that they were not wanting God to change them inside and out so that they would escape the wrath of God to come. And so he let them know that genuine repentance will result in the bearing of spiritual and biblical fruit (results, outgrowth). There will be evidence that a change has taken place.
And the same is true for us today. For repentance is not just mouthing words of confession of sin, but it is a change of heart and mind resulting in a change of behavior. And it is gifted to us by God, as is our faith, as is our salvation from sin. And it has to do with us dying to sin, being changed in heart and mind by God, and us now walking (in conduct) in obedience to our Lord’s commands, living holy lives pleasing to God, by the grace of God.
And just because you attend services at an institutional “church,” and perhaps you went through the waters of baptism, or just because your parents claimed to be Christians, or you serve on some kind of church committee, that does not mean you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Just because you verbalize faith in Jesus Christ, it does not guarantee you salvation from sin or eternal life with God. We must truly repent.
And the Scriptures make it very clear that if we do not have that change of heart and mind, resulting in a change of behavior, and if sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to God and to his commands, we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. And that was John’s point to the Pharisees and to the Sadducees. And that is God’s point to us, as well. For it is not a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ which saves us, but it is obedience to God that results in life eternal with God/Christ in heaven.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Walking in The Light
Based off 1 John 1-2
An Original Work / November 16, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
When I lift up my voice, and
Sing praise unto God,
I will fellowship with my
Lord and Savior, King.
In Him there is no darkness.
He is in the light of truth.
If we walk in His light,
From sin He purifies.
If we repent of our sins,
He’ll forgive us now,
When we humble ourselves, and
Before Jesus bow.
The man who says, “I know Him,”
But does not obey His truth,
There is no truth in him.
In darkness still he’s found.
Do not love the world of sin,
For it is hell bound.
If you follow the world, you’ll
Not in Christ be found.
The world and its desires
Will not last; they’ll expire.
The one who does God’s will,
Receives eternal life.
See that what you have heard from
Christ remains in you.
Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and
In His Father, too.
This is what He promised us –
His eternal life with God.
So, continue in Him, and
You’ll receive a crown.
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Bear Fruit in Keeping with Repentance
An Original Work / November 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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