Matthew 3: 1-12 NLT 3 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!’” 4 John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 10 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” Just believe, and you will be saved. Sounds simple enough. Some would say that is the core of the Good News. Others would argue it leads to easy belief when people do not even know what they are actually believing. The question remains, believe what and what would I be saved from? These are things that anyone would need to know if they are to believe and be saved. John the Baptizer has always been one of my favorite people to have lived in Jesus time. He was clear, bold and unapologetic in his message. Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. John's message was from God telling people to repent. To repent means to have a change of mind that leads you in a different direction. It's a 180 degree turn around. So John is saying if your mind is changed concerning your sin, turn from you know to be sin and turn to Jesus. Clearly John is talking about Jesus because that is whom the passage is about. It may say turn to God but the prophet Isaiah, that he is quoting says, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Lord being in all caps tells us that he is speaking of Yahweh- The I AM, the Self-Existing One. Yet Matthew says this of Jesus who John is to prepare the way for. How is he preparing the way? By calling people out on their sin and they show an outward sign of their inward reality. To show they have changed their minds- turning from sin and and turned to God they confess (agree with God) their sin and are baptized. This identifies them with their sin and prepares them for the Messiah- the Snake Crushing King Jesus. He specifically calls out the Pharisees and the Sadducees. This may have been because they were just there to see what he had to say and make sure that his message lined up with theirs. When tells them, Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. He was NOT saying do good things to be saved. He was saying that IF we have truly changed our minds that it would naturally lead to different different. Repentance by the way is not a one and done, but a lifestyle. We are to continually repent- change our minds, turn from and to God. Our minds are renewed by His Spirit through His word. There's more to say about the passage below but I'll leave it here with this question- Is your mind being renewed? Do not be fooled it is all the time. the other question would be- what is going into your mind is is causing you to turn to God or away from Him. There is no such thing as simply entertainment. Everyone come to us with ideas and wants to inform us through their medium- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. TikTok even the games we play inform us in way or another. Be careful who you allow to lead you and where they are leading you. As always feel free to lost your questions, comment, or complaints below. Have a great day and God bless you real good!
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