4 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Deuteronomy 23-24
Luke 3:1-20

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Luke 3:8 (CSB): “Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance…”

Reflecting on God’s Word

I enjoy baptizing people. It is a powerful, beautiful picture that illustrates what has already taken place in the life of the one being baptized.

Having said that, I want to be completely honest with you. The thrill of baptizing people has lost some of its excitement for me. Maybe it is more accurate to say I have lost my naïveté.

Let me clarify what I mean. When I was a new pastor and started baptizing people, some of which I had led to the Lord, I believed they would stay the course. In a few years, they would develop enough spiritual maturity to settle into positions of influence in the church.

But after more than 22 years of pastoral ministry, I have realized that some of the people I baptize will not stand the test of time. They will eventually slip away from church, maybe even from their perceived relationship with Jesus. So, when I baptize someone, and the congregation thunderously applauds, I look at the person who has just emerged from the water and think, “Will they still be following the Lord in a few years?”

I would never, ever knowingly baptize someone I didn’t believe was truly saved. But, when it all comes down to it, only the Lord knows if their heart is converted. And I am convinced that those who claimed to be saved but were never born again make up the bulk of those who are baptized and then slip away from the church and the Lord.

When I see people like this, my mind is drawn to John the Baptist’s words that he uttered BEFORE he was prepared to baptize some people. When he saw the self-righteous, unrepentant folks coming to him to be baptized, he called them out. He said, in front of everyone, that before he would baptize them, he wanted to see evidence that they were truly broken over their sin. If they didn’t show the fruit, he wasn’t going to baptize them.

Luke 3:8 (CSB): “Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance…”

When we look beyond John the Baptist’s ministry to others being baptized in the Gospels and the book of Acts, we do not observe a prolonged waiting period to see if there was evidence of salvation before the baptism took place. We are not told in any of the New Testament epistles that we should wait to baptize someone after they claim to have been saved.

But it breaks my heart when I attempt to share the Gospel with someone who never darkens the door of a church only to hear them say: “Oh, I’ve already done that and been baptized, too.” They think they are saved when they aren’t “produc(ing) fruit consistent with repentance.”

I think if we really boil it down, it’s not really a baptism issue. It’s a Gospel issue. Far too many people want Heaven, they just don’t desire Jesus. This should cause us to be as clear and biblical as we can be when we share the Gospel with others.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you assess whether you have truly given your life to Jesus.
  • Ask God to help you assess whether you are producing the evidence of someone who has given their life to Jesus.
  • Ask God to help you refuse to be content with your current spiritual condition and to press on to produce even more fruit/evidence.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into John’s words in Luke 3:8, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean to produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)?”

If you want to watch someone share the Gospel in a way that is very similar to my own Gospel presentation, you can watch the following video:

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)