Page 38 - GRACE
P. 38
Jesus, The Source of Grace
to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance”
(Matthew 3:1-2, 5-8).
When John saw multitudes leaving their cities to hear him
preach in the desert he did not start to calculate the
offerings that can come out of such a crowd. He did not
begin to marvel at his popularity or the effect of his
preaching on the cities the people came from. He was
concerned and did not want the people to leave his
meetings and go back to their old ways of life. John sought
repentance. He knew that if they repented and did not
come back to his meetings he would have left a positive and
indelible mark on their lives.
Repentance is the vital and indispensible access point into
God’s Kingdom. John also sought the fruits of repentance
in the lives and various categories of the people who came
to his meetings, irrespective of their social status or clout in
the society. The quest was the same: there were to bring
forth the fruits of repentance. Some of the fruits of
repentance are listed:
i. A True Revelation of God
Prophet Isaiah reports one such revelation of God in Isaiah
6:1-5.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the
Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and
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