BEAR THE FRUIT

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8)

There is a huge difference between being a church-goer and being a member of the Church – not simply a member of the local church but, more importantly, of the body of Christ.  Not all who go to church are born again. However, not all who are born again are giving evidence of that “newness of life”, and that’s what I want us to reflect upon today. People want to see some evidence in you of the claims you are making.

Genuine repentance, which is turning away from sin and turning to God by faith in Christ Jesus, is evidenced by those fruits which we bear in keeping with it. According to our Lord Jesus, we must get beyond what people say they are and evaluate them by the fruits they bear (Matt 7:16). The question is, “what do the kind of fruit are you bearing now say of you? Are you bearing fruits that are consistent with your public profession of repentance?

Some Pharisees and Sadducees – religious men whom John the Baptizer described as “brood of vipers” because of their hypocrisy - went out to the Jordan to partake of his baptism of repentance. He warned them that it was not enough for them to make this outward and public show of repentance, saying, “Do those things that prove you have turned to God and have changed the way you think and act”.

But this exhortation was not meant for the Pharisees and Sadducees alone. Each one of us who claim to have repented of our sins and turned to God is here challenged to prove our change of heart by changing the way we think, talk and act. Bear the fruit…Live a transformed life!