Luke 3 What are the "Fruits of Repentance?"
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
John came out of the desert preaching a baptism of repentance. Repentance is often a misunderstood word in our society. I think the best way of definining it would be "a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior". John was calling all people to repentance, even the Jewish people. They thought that because of their relationship with Abraham, they were exempt from John's preaching and call. But, John says that the axe is at the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire. The idea was that a time of judgment was coming and it would be for all people.
As people heard John's message and were convicted by it, they asked John what they needed to do. Notice it was something they did. Repentance is not just an emotion, it is deep conviction that leads to a change in one's life. In this case John gave examples to different types of people and their roles within the society. To anyone who had ample resources, they should share with those who were in need. Tax collectors should not be greedy or charge any more than what they were owed. And soldiers should not use their authority to bilk people out of money. Note often the message applies to each of us differently in our different stations in life.
Importantly though John was preparing the way for Jesus, Jesus would would give them the power to make these changes. They needed more power than merely human will. John then tells them that Jesus will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. The fire would cleanse their sinful nature, and then the Holy Spirit would fill them with God's nature and the power to live the lives he called them to.
God still calls his followers to repentance. Because we still have a sinful nature, we still need to recognize our sin, be convicted by the Holy Spirit and repent from behaviors that don't honor God. Jesus saved us from our sin so we could live by His Spirit. This is a life filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit like love, joy and peace. In fact as the apostle says in Galatians 5:16, "So I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Are you seeing the fruits of the spirit in your life? If not allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the areas in your life which need to be re-aligned with God. Repent from behaviors you know are wrong and be empowered to a life of serving God and loving others. At the end of the day repentance always leads to a deeper love of our neighbor just like in the passage.
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