baptism

The Call to Repentance.

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1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,\

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:1-12 ESV

In compiling his Gospel, Matthew chose to leave out any mention of Jesus’ childhood, skipping straight to the beginning of His ministry which was inaugurated by His baptism by John. Matthew’s intent was to prove Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah, the legitimate king of the Jews and the Savior of the world. So, he picks up the story of Jesus’ life with His arrival in the wilderness of Judea and His encounter with John the Baptist. Unlike Luke, Matthew provides no background regarding John’s birth or his relationship with Jesus. He simply states that John showed up on the scene, “proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matthew 3:1-2 ESV). He was the God-ordained forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for the one who was to come. But we also know from Luke’s gospel, that John and Jesus were somehow related. According to Luke 1:36, Mary, the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth, the mother of John were relatives. In some translations, they are referred to as cousins. But regardless of the exact nature of their relationship, John and Jesus would have known each other, having grown up at the same time and in relative close proximity to one another.

John’s birth, which Matthew ignores, was significant, because like the birth of his relative, Jesus, John was born under divine circumstances. Luke tells us that John’s parents were advanced in years and his mother was barren. Zechariah, the father of John, was a priest, and he received a visit from an angel, telling him the good news that he and his wife would have a child.

15 “for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” – Luke 1:15-17 ESV  

And God fulfilled that promise, miraculously allowing Elizabeth to conceive and give birth to a son, whom they named John. And on the day of his son’s circumcision, Zechariah prophesied over John, stating:

76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.” – Luke 1:76-79 ESV

Matthew picks up the story some 30 years later, when John had begun his ministry of prophecy and preparation for the coming of Jesus. And, like Luke, Matthew ties John to the earthly ministry that Elijah had performed.

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’” – Matthew 3:3 ESV

Like Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, John just suddenly appeared on the scene, almost as if out of nowhere. He had been silent for nearly 30 years, and then showed up in the wilderness preaching a message of repentance and offering baptism as a sign of that repentance, all tied to the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Everything about John was strange, from his choice of attire and lifestyle to the content of his message. But he attracted a crowd. Matthew tells us:

5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. – Matthew 3:5-6 ESV

John was calling the people of Israel to repentance, and it is essential that we understand the meaning behind his message. His call to repentance involved a change in mind, a radical realignment of their understanding of God and His ways. The Greek word is metanoeo and it means “to change one’s mind or purpose.” It is far more than sorrow over sin. It is a a complete change of attitude towards God, involving one’s spiritual and moral perspective. John was calling the people of Israel to rethink their attitude about everything, including their relationship with God, the nature of their own sin, and the reality of their so-called status as God’s chosen people. The Jews had been living under the delusion that, as descendants of Abraham, they were somehow right with God. In spite of the literally hundreds of years their ancestors had spent in open rebellion against God and their suffering defeat and eventual exile at the hands of God, they had never fully returned to Him. Even at the time John began his ministry, Israel was a place of spiritual darkness. In his Gospel, John describes Jesus as the light that came to penetrate the darkness of the world, particularly that of His own people.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. – John 1:4-8 ESV

The spiritual climate of Israel was dark and John came to call the people of God back to a right relationship with God. But they were going to have to change their minds about everything. Their long-awaited Messiah was coming and they were not ready for His arrival. Their hearts were full of sin, but they saw themselves as the chosen people of God. They placed high value in their status as Israelites and in their possession of the temple of God. They were overly confident in the forgiveness made available to them through the sacrificial system. But John was letting them know that all of that was about to change. This was a new day. There was going to be a new plan of salvation made available that was no longer tied to the law or dependent upon men attempting to live in perfect obedience to that law.

John’s words were attracting huge crowds made up of all kinds of people from all walks of life, including the religious leaders of his day. But when these Pharisees and Sadducees showed up, John confronted them, saying, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8 ESV). These two groups of individuals, the Pharisees and Sadducees, represent the hypocritical religious leadership of John’s day. The Pharisees were the religious rule-keepers, the experts in the law who prided themselves on their knowledge of the law and adherence to it. The Sadducees were the liberals of their day, who denied the supernatural and rejected everything from the existence of angels to the future resurrection of the body. These two groups showing up to be baptized was nothing more than a show on their part. They had no intention of changing their minds about anything. They were marked by arrogance and pride and John demands that they bear fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, he calls them out for their unwillingness to see themselves for what they really were: religious hypocrites.

Their status as descendants of Abraham was not going to be enough to save them from the wrath of God, and John the Baptist makes that point painfully clear.

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” – Matthew 3:9 ESV

Their current relationship with God was not going to be enough to save them. Their Jewish heritage was not going to keep them from suffering the consequences of God’s wrath against sin. God was looking for fruit in keeping with true repentance. No more hypocrisy and play-acting. No more lip-service and false professions of sorrow over sin. God was about to introduce a brand new way for men to be justified, made right, with Him. Self-righteousness had never worked. Religious law-keeping had never earned anyone a right standing with God, because no one had been able to keep the law perfectly. But with the coming of the Messiah, God was going to change all that. While John was able to baptize with water those people who were willing to come with an attitude of true repentance, he made it clear that the baptism they would receive from Jesus was going to be radically different. His baptism would involve the Holy Spirit and fire. It would supernatural in scope and cleansing in nature. It would be a baptism of purification and radical transformation. It would be far more than a ritualistic act meant to symbolize a change of attitude. No, the baptism of Jesus would be completely transformational in nature, leaving the one baptized radically changed forever. And His baptism would eventually be the means by which those who truly belong to God can be distinguished from those who don’t.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Die Like It.

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18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. – 1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV

This passage is a difficult one. It is full of confusing and difficult to understand statements that have left theologians and biblical scholars scratching their heads for generations. There are a variety of opinions as to exactly what Peter is referring to in these verses, but no real consensus. But we know that he is continuing to call his readers to live godly lives based on their new status as children of God. He has just finished encouraging them to suffer well for doing what is good. And now, he uses Jesus as an example. He states, “For Christ also suffered” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). We suffer just as He did, but Peter points out that His suffering had a unique, never-to-be-repeated purpose behind it. He suffered “once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). He suffered and died so that He might pay the penalty that was owed for our sins. Our sin had left us indebted to God and separated from Him. It was only through Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf that the God’s justice could be satisfied. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 NLT). But Paul also explains that it was God’s love for us that caused Him to send His own Son to take our place and suffer the death we rightfully deserved.

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. – Romans 5:8-9 NLT

And Paul gives us further good news.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. – Romans 3:23-25 NLT

Back to Peter’s point: Christ suffered. But His suffering had a purpose behind it. It was necessary for Him to suffer and die so that sinful men might have a means by which they could be restored to a right relationship with God. “He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 NLT). Jesus didn’t just die a martyr’s death and provide us with a sobering example of how to live die and well. He was raised back to life by the power of the Spirit of God.

And it is at this point that the content of Peter’s letter seems to take a strange turn. He rather matter-of-factly states that Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19 NLT). What does this mean? When did Jesus do this? Why would Jesus do this? And Peter provides us even more details, but rather than clear up the matter, they seems to make it even more confusing. He says that the spirits to whom Jesus preached were “those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat” (1 Peter 3:19 NLT). Why is Peter bringing up Noah? And why does He seem to insinuate the Jesus, in some form or fashion preached to those living in Noah’s day, who would eventually die as a result of the worldwide flood God would bring to the earth?

Peter mentions the eight members of Noah’s family who were saved by God when He placed them within the safety of the ark that Noah had constructed. The book of Genesis provides us with an explanation for God’s actions.

5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8 NLT

The wickedness of mankind had reached a point that God determined to start over. He would begin with a new set of humans, the family of Noah, and begin again. This was not a naive attempt on God’s part to fix what was broken. God knew that Noah, while he found favor in the eyes of God, was also a sinful human being, along with his family members. The legacy of and propensity to sin, inherited from Adam, would survive the flood and the whole process would begin again. Peter states that the waters of the flood saved Noah and his family while, at the same time, punishing those who were outside of the ark. The waters that drowned were the same waters that kept the ark afloat. And the ark represents the salvation that God had provided Noah. It is an image of the faith required by all those who would be saved from death. Just as Noah and his family had to believe God, build the ark, and then get in it in order to be saved; so we had to trust in God’s plan for our salvation: Jesus Christ. The waters that flooded the earth did not cleanse Noah and his family from their sins, but they did save them from death. And our baptism, after having come to faith in Christ, is evidence of our salvation. It does not cleanse us from sin. It gives proof that we have trusted Christ as our Savior. Noah placed his faith in the ark. We have placed our faith in Christ. And the water proves that our source of faith is sufficient. The ark rose above the waves. Christ rose from the grave.

Our baptism, Peter states, is a pledge or an “appeal to God for a good conscience” (1 Peter 3:21 ESV). It reveals to those around us that we have confidence that we have been made right with God. His death was sufficient. His resurrection from the dead is what made our clear conscience possible, not our own attempts at sinlessness.  And that is why Paul tells us “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death” (Romans 8:1-2 NLT). No more guilt and shame. No more fear of death. All because of Jesus’ death on our behalf. Peter reminds us that “Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority” (1 Peter 3:22 NLT). He rose again and so shall we. Noah’s salvation was temporary in nature. He escaped the flood, but he would still die. He was saved from drowning, but it would not be long before he and his family were struggling to keep their heads above the waves of sin and immorality that would eventually overwhelm the world again. That is, until Jesus came.

Which brings us back to the problem verses in this passage. What does Peter mean when he says that Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:19 ESV)? He is most likely referring to Jesus’ life prior to His death (in the flesh) or. in other words, His incarnation. Jesus took on human flesh and died on the cross. But He was made alive in the Spirit. This does not mean that Jesus’ body was not resurrected, but that it had a new character about it. After His resurrection, Jesus was able to walk through closed doors (John 20:19). He was still able to eat with His disciples and they were able to recognize Him. But there was a spiritual dimension to His body that was not there before His death. And Peter states that it was in this new body that “he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19 ESV). What does this mean? Did Jesus go into hell and preach the gospel to those who had refused to obey God and listen to Noah’s warnings about the flood? That seems unlikely. It seems that Peter is simply stating that it was in Jesus’ new, post-resurrection form that He “went.” Luke records, “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven” (Luke 24:51 NLT). And as we’ve seen, Peter states that Jesus “has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God” (1 Peter 3:22 NLT). What Peter seems to be saying is that Jesus, with His newly resurrected body – once dead, but now alive – was living proof that He was and is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And His ascension back to heaven and His restoration to His rightful place as God’s side is a sermon preached to all those who have rejected God’s offer of salvation. This includes all those in Noah’s day and all who have ever lived and eventually died in their sins, having rejected God’s free gift of salvation through His Son. Jesus didn’t have to descend into hell to preach the gospel. It was His resurrection and ascension that scream the gospel message loud and clear.

So, like Christ, who died and rose again, we can face death free from fear. He rose again, and so shall we. The apostle Paul gives us some incredibly good news:

33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. – Romans 8:33-34 NLT

But wait, there’s more.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 NLT

We are in Christ. So, we can live like it on this earth. And we are to be willing to die like it – confidently, hopefully, fearlessly and eagerly.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The Cult of Personality.

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I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. – 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 ESV

It was A. W. Tozer who said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). Our theology will have a direct impact on how we live our lives, and a faulty view of God will end up dramatically affecting our behavior. That was the situation in Corinth and the reason why Paul mentioned God six times and Jesus Christ ten times in the first ten verses alone. He was refocusing their attention back to the nature of their relationship with God the Father and His Son. They were members of the church of God. They belonged to Him. Their very existence was due to Him. Their salvation was the result of His grace and the sacrificial death of His Son. They enjoyed fellowship with God because of Christ’s payment of their sin debt with His own life. They owed all that they were to God and His Son.

And yet, they were guilty of worshiping men. They were a house divided. It had come to Paul’s attention that divisive cliques had developed within the church there in Corinth. People were taking sides. They were aligning themselves with different leaders and claiming superiority based on who it was that they followed. There were those who bragged about their relationship with Apollos. Others claimed allegiance to Cephas (Peter). Much to his dislike, there were some who boasted that Paul was their leader. And then were those who claimed the high road, claiming to be followers of Christ. The end result of all this was petty arguing and prideful posturing. They had missed the point. It wasn’t supposed to be about Apollos, Paul or Cephas. None of them had been crucified in order to pay for the sins of mankind. None of them were preaching their own message of salvation, but each was acting as a messenger of God, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

For Paul, a proper view of God should result in proper behavior. If people had an accurate understanding of God and the future-based focus of His plan of redemption, they would not put all their hopes in this life. They would be less likely to make more of the messenger than the message. God had been using Paul, Cephas and Apollos, but they were simply the bearers of the good news of Jesus Christ. But the Corinthians had turned these men into celebrities, and this growing cult of personality was dividing the church. The worship of man was inadvertently replacing the proper worship of God. Without realizing it, the believers in Corinth were boasting in men rather than God. They were attributing their salvation to men, instead of God. And they were focusing all their attention on the here-and-now rather than the hereafter. Who baptized them had become far more important to them than why they had been baptized in the first place. They had given their favorite preacher more prominence than they rightfully deserved. And Paul was going to make sure that they saw the error of their way.

The Corinthian believers were just as susceptible to hero worship as we are. They found themselves susceptible to making much of the messenger. Some were naturally attracted to Paul. Others found Apollos more appealing. There were those who found the style of Cephas more to their liking. But they had allowed these personal preferences to become points of contention, leading to division within the church. They were elevating style over substance. But Paul was determined to make more of the message than the messenger. In the very next chapter he writes,

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV

It wasn’t about Paul’s preaching style or oratory skills. It wasn’t about his persuasive abilities or clever crafting of a good sermon. It was about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The focus of the message of the gospel is as it always has been: the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is about the God-ordained, Spirit-empowered transformation of men’s lives as they place their faith in Christ, who died in their place and on their behalf. When we care more about the messenger than we do about the message, we are guilty of idol worship. When we prefer style over substance, we are no longer interested in having our hearts transformed, but simply want to have our ears tickled. We want to be entertained and satisfied, rather than sanctified. We find ourselves living for the moment, hoping our favorite preacher will keep us interested for an hour, while God would rather have us living with a much loftier goal: Our ongoing sanctification and future glorification.

Day 9 – Matthew 3:2-12; John 1:19-28

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Repent!

Matthew 3:2-12; John 1:19-28

“I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” – Matthew 3:11 ESV

John was a unique character, to say the least. We’re told that his “clothes were woven from course camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist” (Matthew 3:4 NLT). His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. But while his attire and dietary choices may seem a bit odd, his role was out of the ordinary. John, the cousin of Jesus, had been chosen by God for a very important task. He was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. His job was to preach a message of repentance to a people who had long ago replaced their relationship with Yahweh with a mindless, heartless exercise consisting of rule-keeping and religious rituals. Their God was distant and silent. Their hearts were cold and their faith was weak. So John was given the task of calling them back to God. John was the first prophet of God to speak on behalf of God in over 400 years. And like the prophets of old, John’s message was one of repentance. He was calling the people to return to God. The Greek word for repentance literally means to “change one’s mind.” They needed to change what they believed about virtually everything – from their views about God, sin, righteousness, and religion. As Jews, they had become convinced that being simply being descendants of Abraham was enough to guarantee their relationship with God. But as John warned the religious leaders, “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” (Matthew 3:9 NLT).

They needed to change their mind about God. They needed to change their mind about obedience. They needed to change their attitude about righteousness. They needed to come back to God in repentance and asking for His forgiveness. He had been silent for 400 years for a reason. They had refused to listen to the prophets. They had refused to live in obedience to His will. And now, if they were going to be able to accept the coming of the Messiah, they would need to repent of their sins and return to God, asking for His forgiveness. And those who did, were baptized by John in the Jordan. But that was simply the first step in the process. John’s baptism, while essential, was incomplete. They were still going to recognize and accept Jesus as the Messiah sent from God. Their baptism was an outward sign of their commitment to God. But they were going to need to have their hearts transformed. That would require a different kind of baptism, a baptism of the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest changes of mind they would need to undergo would be their misconception that somehow they could produce their own righteousness – that through self-effort, they could earn favor and acceptance with God. John was calling them to repent of their wrong ideas and false forms of righteousness, and to turn back to God for His help. Holiness could not be achieved with God’s help. Righteousness could not be obtained alone. John was preparing the way by restoring the people’s dependence on God. Their ability to accept the Messiah would be directly tied to their reliance upon God. They needed to acknowledge their own sinfulness and rebellion, so that they could freely accept God’s salvation in the form of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Father, we too need to change our mind about You and what is required to have a right relationship with You. Too often, we believe that it is our own self-effort that earns us favor with You. We get it into our minds that we can somehow keep You pleased by doing more. We work hard. We do religious things. We attempt to live our lives in ways that will somehow keep You happy. But we fail to recognize that we need You. We need to repent of our self-righteousness and return to You for help. Only You can make us holy. Only You can help us live the lives You’ve called us to live. And it is all made possible through the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ken Miller

Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org