Bring forth fitting fruit means repentance must be genuine and proved by a visibly changed life with character transformed. It was spoken by John the Baptist at the Jordan to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism as a direct, unsparing warning that remains urgent. No descent from Abraham, ceremonial religion, profession of faith, confession, or submission to baptism can replace repentant deeds or excuse sin. The fitting fruit is justice, mercy, love of God, obedience to His commandments, humility, self-denial and Christlike conduct, proved by correcting wrongs, making reparation, and faithfulness in the duties to which a person is called. Every fruitless tree is under judgment, with the axe laid to the root to cut down and burn every tree not bearing good fruit.
Historical Setting and Hearers
The call to bring forth fitting fruit was spoken by John the Baptist at the Jordan to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, as a direct and unsparing warning that remains urgent. It demanded that repentance be shown by the life it produces, with actions fitting repentance and conduct worthy of a changed life, joined to the coming wrath and to a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit. Descent from Abraham could not replace that genuine repentance, and religious status could not excuse sin.
The Pharisees were very strict in outward observance of forms and customs yet filled with haughty, worldly, hypocritical self-righteousness, along with pride, arrogance, jealousy, selfishness, cruelty, unbelief and hypocrisy. The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels and were skeptical toward God, being largely composed of unworthy and often licentious characters. John called them a generation of vipers, meaning malignant and antagonistic men bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God.
They came to baptism without true conviction of sin but with selfish motives, hoping for favor and honor from a temporal prince. They sought to exalt themselves and strengthen their influence, holding to pride and ambition with poisonous principles and corrupt practices and no sense of their true condition. They heard the warning only as the voice of man and admired its power and boldness without heart conviction, and being impressed by preaching was not enough without fruit through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Mere confession or submission to baptism for influence, without a changed life showing genuine conviction, could not benefit them.
John required repentance of sins and thorough conversion from all without exception, rich and poor, honorable and lowly, publicans and sinners, peasants and fishermen, soldiers, tax-gatherers, priests and kings, for a mere claim to be righteous was not enough and without this change none could enjoy God's favor or have part in the Messiah's kingdom. He read hearts and fearlessly pointed out particular sins, rebuking iniquity even in kings. His plain and startling message cut hearers to the heart with a sense of sin, made a strong impression, stirred multitudes, and made even proud and hardened rulers tremble. Those who heeded came confessing their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan.
Meaning of Fitting Fruit
Repentance must be genuine and proved by fitting, visible fruit. That fruit is a changed life that gives evidence of genuine repentance and conversion, with character transformed and made evident. The call was addressed at the Jordan to Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, whom John called a generation of vipers, meaning malignant and antagonistic men bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God. The Pharisees were very strict in outward observance of forms and customs yet filled with haughty, worldly, hypocritical self-righteousness, and the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels and were skeptical toward God, largely composed of unworthy, often licentious characters. Genuine repentance therefore produces good works, and its absence places fruitless trees under judgment.
Profession of faith or claim to be a child of God is not enough without a life shaped by Christ in humility, teachability, and obedience to His words. Confession or submission to baptism alone does not prove a true turning from sin, for John demanded conduct worthy of repentance rather than reliance on ancestry, reputation, or claims of piety. Mere confession or submission to baptism for influence shows no genuine conviction of sin when the life is unchanged, and claimed spiritual privilege must be accompanied by obedience and inward faithfulness. Accepting truth as merely the result of human reasoning, without real brokenness of heart and a true sense of being a sinner, does not show such repentance, nor does being merely impressed by preaching. Without that changed life, baptism and profession have no value.
Repentance toward God for past sins prepares people to have faith in the coming Christ, and truth must cleanse their lives. People must turn from past sins and allow truth to cleanse them before they can receive Christ and enter fellowship with Him. The fruits are the evidence of a heart willing to be purged from sin. The corrupt in heart cannot abide in His presence.
True repentance required first receiving Christ. The Sadducees who came to John's baptism had not yet repented, so their baptism was insufficient. A second baptism would therefore be necessary for them.
Ancestry and Profession Rejected
Descent from Abraham and ceremonial religion cannot produce holiness or make anyone right with God, and no claim of piety, reputation, or spiritual privilege can excuse sin or take the place of deeds that fit repentance. Repentance must be genuine and proved by a changed life, with character and conduct showing sanctification and righteousness rather than mere profession. Turning from God's requirements to follow human ideas forfeits the qualities of Abraham's children, and natural advantages, national pride, and self-exaltation have no value without purity and obedience to God's commandments. The call to repent is a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit.
Boasting to have Abraham as father gives no security, because God is not dependent on those who so boast. He is able to raise up children to Abraham from stones to fulfill His purposes in purity and righteousness. His Spirit can give life to hearts as lifeless as desert stones, calling people from any background so they may do His will. Pride, selfishness, and cruelty reveal a heart unlike the obedient faith of Abraham, and ancestry and religious standing cannot make anyone God's people or secure His promise.
True children of Abraham do the works of Abraham in faith, love, and obedience, with piety, integrity, and purity of life. By such a life they fulfill the conditions of the covenant, for God's promises and blessings are conditional on obedience. Claims to belong to Abraham do not make people his children or heirs to God's promises when faith, piety, integrity, and purity are lacking, and God does not excuse sin in an enlightened people nor make past faithfulness, love, or special promises a safety in continued wrongdoing.
Ceremonial sacrifices have value only when they point to the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin. Those who failed to bear the fruits of repentance showed their conversion was not genuine and had rejected John's testimony and the Christ to whom Israel's sacrifices pointed. Those who truly accepted John's testimony would also accept Jesus as the Messiah to whom the sacrifices pointed.
As a tree is known by its fruit, so words, actions, and righteous conduct show a person's character. Justice, benevolence, mercy, and the love of God mark the lives of God's faithful people and must appear in daily life as the fruit of commandment-keeping. A high name, past faithfulness, outward forms, reliance on ancestry, or religious standing cannot save a fruitless or bad-fruit tree from being cut down and burned. Without true repentance and such fruit, profession of faith is worthless chaff for the fire and has no value and no part in Christ's kingdom.
Character of Genuine Fruit
The fitting fruit is justice, benevolence, mercy and love of God appearing in daily life as the result of keeping the commandments, and it is shown through faith and devotion, reliance on the Word, unselfishness, sincerity, self-denial, piety and Christlike conduct in speech and character in everyday life. Confession or baptism alone is not enough, for repentance must be proved by a changed life and not by profession, ancestry or claims of piety. Those who claimed favor because they descended from Abraham were required to show conduct worthy of repentance, since ancestry and profession cannot replace good fruit. Without true repentance and such fruit a person has no part in the kingdom of Christ but is worthless chaff for the fire, while each church is to show by its way of life that it has turned from sin. Genuine conversion purifies the heart and sanctifies the affections, so fine words or a show of religion do not prove repentance when ordinary speech and behavior remain corrupt, but a changed heart produces good fruit.
The fruit includes humility and teachability, with pride and self-esteem brought low, crooked ways made straight and wrong habits changed. This reformation reaches the heart and produces a clean heart, a pure life and practical change in harmony with the will of God, for outward profession and religious forms alone are of no value. It involves a purging of heart, mind and soul that makes character ready for the way of the Lord. The Holy Spirit received and retained through obedience identifies people as God's children, and baptism must be lived out in a new life united with Christ, without which baptism and profession have no value. The actual reforms that follow are humbling oneself before God and turning from pride, self-exaltation and wrongful conduct, made urgent by the brief remaining time.
Those to be sanctified through the truth give up their idols, confess their sins and show by their lives that they have turned from sin. That surrender includes little images of Christ and trinkets and bracelets and rings and costly ornaments. It belongs to the message to prepare the way of the Lord because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, to be echoed through cities and towns and villages in the loud cry, joined to refusal to trust in having Abraham for father and to the warning that the axe is laid to the root and every fruitless tree is cut down and burned and Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and thoroughly purge His floor to gather wheat and burn chaff with unquenchable fire.
The fruit is seen in newness of life in Christ by following His example and reflecting His character and turning from former desires. Those who once loved sin come to hate it, with pride giving way to meekness, vanity to seriousness, profanity to reverence, drunkenness to sobriety and impurity to purity. Priorities also change, as worldly display is set aside and a meek and quiet spirit is valued. A covetous, self-centered person who recognizes sin through the law and repents bears such fruit through changed conduct including self-denial and generosity.
Its fruits include correcting wrongs and making reparation where possible, for a patched-up character, selfish motives and pursuit of worldly standing do not show thorough repentance. When someone has wronged another by word or deed, fitting actions are confessing the sin directly to the person harmed, seeking forgiveness, reconciling and making restitution, and bitterness, wrath and malice toward a fellow believer are likewise to be confessed and addressed personally. Reconciliation and righting the wrong demonstrate repentance. Confession of wrongdoing alone is not enough, for repentance calls for efforts to repair the harm done, including helping restore the institution injured and easing the financial burden caused by one's actions. In the case of abandoning family and neglecting a wife, repentance requires the husband to make amends by taking responsibility, helping ease her burdens and changing his conduct, without which repentance is not genuine and he remains accountable for neglect.
Repentance is evidenced by faithfulness to God in the duties and place to which a person is called, each doing their own duties and relying on Jesus for support and strength, and it does not require abandoning those duties or copying an austere, isolated life. A profession of faith alone does not prove a saving connection with Christ, for that connection is shown by conformity to the will of God in words, conduct and character. Remorse and brief efforts to improve are not enough when people return to fault-finding, whispering, backbiting and spreading evil, and even those not guilty of obvious outward sins must show sorrow for sin and its fruits, since respectable reputation or religious profession cannot replace a changed heart and life. Repentance must produce visible reformation of life and character, giving up a faultfinding spirit that lowers the standard, and overcoming unhappiness, fretting, impatience, jealousy, envy and speaking against brethren and reporting things incorrectly about them, for only the faithful overcomer who reforms in this way wins eternal life and without reform will be weighed and found wanting. A person must restrain and change their own conduct and not merely blame temptation or pray, for prayer without this fruit is ineffectual, while patience, freedom from fretting and envy, and truthful, kind speech are fruits that show Christian character and without them profession does not establish a person as a Christian.
Spirit, Baptism and Pardon
The fitting fruit demanded is not produced by human resolve but by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart and giving conviction, so that the one who has heard God's voice, received conviction, and been transformed brings forth fruit unto eternal life. That Spirit is received and retained through obedience, and His presence identifies people as God's children in a life shaped by Christ in humility, teachability, and obedience to His words. Without that inward change and transforming power no outward ceremony such as baptism gives any benefit, for outward profession and religious forms alone are of no value. Hearing the warning or being impressed by preaching is not enough when pride, ambition, and corrupt practices remain without evidence of a changed heart, and repentance must reach the heart to produce a clean heart, a pure life, and practical reformation in harmony with God's will, including heeding His warnings, leaving sin, and living in harmony with that will.
Baptism must be lived out in a new life united with Christ, for those who responded to the preaching of repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near confessed their sins, were baptized, and accepted what was essential for sharing in that kingdom. Without that changed life, baptism and profession have no value. A profession of faith alone does not prove a saving connection with Christ, since that connection is shown by conformity to God's will in words, conduct, and character, each doing their own duties while relying on Jesus for support and strength. It is not made by merely signing a covenant or responding to an appealing preacher, but by a response directed to Christ that lasts and produces good works.
Works genuinely fitting for repentance, together with confession, lead to forgiveness and God's favor, for wrongs must be humbly confessed and the person thoroughly converted with conduct giving evidence of repentance. Such repentance would have guarded workers from the enemy's snare. When God's people turn from departing from plain Bible truth, they change course, do works of righteousness, and avoid repeating their sins, and such thorough repentance brings pardon and restores them to favor, which God waits to see before granting pardon and blessing.
Warning of Coming Judgment
The demand for fitting fruit places every fruitless tree under judgment, for repentance must produce a changed life that gives evidence of genuine repentance. The axe is laid to the root, and every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and burned. Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and will thoroughly purge His floor to gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. Profession without true repentance is worthless chaff for the fire and has no part in His kingdom, for a high name cannot save a fruitless or bad-fruit tree, and justice, benevolence, mercy and the love of God must appear in daily life as the fruit of commandment-keeping. Descent from Abraham cannot replace genuine repentance, because God is not dependent on outward heirs and is able to raise up children to Abraham from stones to fulfill His purposes in purity and righteousness, while true children of Abraham do the works of Abraham in faith, love and obedience.
The call to bring forth such fruit is joined to the warning to flee from the wrath to come. Like John, the call lays the axe at the root of the tree and stands in marked contrast to assurances of peace and safety. It presses a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit, and people must heed the truth about coming judgments rather than cling to worldly security. Religious status does not excuse sin, for those who claim piety must bring forth conduct worthy of repentance. The same urgency warns both worldlings and church members, confronting sin directly and calling for a change that turns from sin.
As Noah obeyed without questioning doubt while the world rejected warning and was destroyed, so testing comes in the days immediately before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. The great mass side with the deceiver and are overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable destruction. But those who heed the warnings and bring forth fruits meet for repentance shall dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty, with the promise of long life and salvation.
Without such fruit, those who claim the truth while following a crooked, wayward course bring it into disgrace and become stumbling blocks to others. They face rejection by the True Witness. Without reformation of life and character a person cannot be acknowledged as a Christian, and without reform he will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Such fruits determine whether a person can be trusted with responsibility, for acknowledging past wrongs is not enough when conduct and influence still show no genuine change. Only the faithful overcomer who reforms in patience, freedom from fretting and envy, and truthful, kind speech wins eternal life.
Pattern for Present Preaching
John's example requires faithful preachers to plainly rebuke sin and to demand from professed converts the evidence of a changed life proving genuine repentance, giving a pointed and uncompromising warning that places fruitless trees under judgment so that people are not deceived. That message is to be given even at the cost of life, fearlessly rebuking iniquity even in kings and confronting error rather than leaving men in deception. Men connected with God's institutions who have rejected light and chosen a perverse way, who hate reproof and refuse the light given to direct their feet, must be converted and bring forth such fruits, or they will become decoys leading souls from truth by undermining confidence and planting doubt and questioning.
A message similar to John's, as direct as John's and in the spirit and power of Elijah, is to be heard now. It is to be echoed and reechoed through cities and towns and villages in the loud cry, pressing the necessity of heeding the true issues for this time and calling people to live in this world the life they must live to prepare for the future life that measures with the life of God. Its fitting fruit is serving God with full purpose of renewed heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Christ, refusing side issues and the multitude of questions brought in by minds not worked by the Spirit, refusing to trust in privilege, and putting away idols and costly display while standing under the warning that the axe is laid to the root, every fruitless tree is cut down and burned, and Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and thoroughly purge His floor to gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. The work is to be carried on for those who need the truth without souls being drawn aside and without men diverting minds from those issues to fallacies and satanic scientific presentations.
Those who preached William Miller's message and the first angel's message gave this call again as John had given it, warning to flee from the wrath to come and laying the axe at the root. Their testimony aroused the churches and made manifest their real character. Many united with the churches received the message, saw their backslidings, repented with bitter tears and deep agony of soul, humbled themselves before God, and then helped sound the cry that the hour of judgment is come.
The same work of calling for repentance is to be done just before the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. Like John's, the call lays the axe at the root and stands in marked contrast to assurances of peace and safety, urging both worldlings and church members to flee coming wrath and prove repentance by a changed life turning from sin. Professors of religion are roused from false security to see backslidings, worldliness, unbelief, pride and selfishness, to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation, and to fix on heaven affections once clinging to earthly things. Sinners inquire with weeping what to do to be saved, the dishonest make restitution, heartfelt confessions are made, parents' hearts are turned to children and children's to parents, those who find peace long for others to share it, and souls plead with God in earnest intercession and all-night wrestling for pardon and for the conversion of relatives and neighbors. In the time just before Christ's second coming that testimony will be even more pointed, and it can only be given by those who have John's spiritual experience of beholding God until self is lost sight of.
Personal and Corporate Application
Backslidden church members are called to turn from backslidings and prove repentance by its fruits in life. Both worldlings and professed believers are urged to flee coming wrath with a changed life that lays the axe at the root in contrast to assurances of peace and safety. That fruit appears when professors are roused from false security to see backslidings, worldliness, unbelief, pride and selfishness, seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation, and fix affections once clinging to earthly things upon heaven. It is further seen when sinners inquire with weeping what to do to be saved, when the dishonest make restitution, when heartfelt confessions are made, when parents' hearts turn to children and children's to parents, when those finding peace long for others to share it, and when souls plead in earnest intercession and all-night wrestling for pardon and for conversion of relatives and neighbors.
Each church is to show by its way of life that it has turned from sin. Its visible fruit is Christlike conduct, self-denial, piety, and obedience to God's commands. Such reformation must be visible in life and character or a person cannot be acknowledged as a Christian, with brief remaining time making urgency. The reforms are humbling the proud heart before God and turning from pride, self-exaltation and wrongful conduct, setting wrongs right and living righteously rather than making excuses when reproved, and coming to the light when reproof comes close and cutting so deeds are reproved instead of hiding deformity of character or finding fault with message or messenger to strip it of divine power. That fruit is righteousness and true sanctification of the entire man unto eternal life as part of the sanctified life.
Acknowledging past wrongs is not enough when conduct and influence still show no genuine change. Public and personal confession must be followed by much more change, as seen where Sister D.'s public confession and confessions to individuals showed some fruit though much remained to be done. Such fruits determine whether a person can be trusted with responsibility, and works genuinely fitting for repentance together with confession lead to forgiveness and God's favor and would have guarded workers from the enemy's snare. In one family case this required a husband who had abandoned his family and neglected his wife to make amends by taking responsibility, helping ease her burdens, and changing his conduct, without which his repentance was not genuine and he remained accountable for neglect. In another case involving A. R. Henry, genuine repentance required humbling the proud heart and turning from the wrong course, with covetous desire for money not to be gratified since yielding would sustain rather than correct him.
Men connected with God's institutions who have rejected light and chosen a perverse way, who hate reproof and refuse to follow light given to direct feet in the right way, must be truly converted with such fruits. Unless converted they will become decoys leading souls away from truth by undermining confidence and planting seeds of doubt and questioning, and the pointed message is to be given even at cost of life so people shall not be deceived. John applied the call by rebuking the nation's pride and formalism and by requiring repentance of sins and thorough conversion from all, rich and poor, honorable and lowly, reading hearts and fearlessly pointing out particular sins. A mere claim to be righteous is not enough, and without this change none can enjoy God's favor or have part in the Messiah's kingdom whose coming was announced. Those who heeded came confessing sins and were baptized in Jordan with conduct fitting a changed heart.
Bring forth fitting fruit means repentance must be genuine and proved by a visibly changed life with character transformed.
It was spoken by John the Baptist at the Jordan to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism as a direct, unsparing warning that remains urgent.
No descent from Abraham, ceremonial religion, profession of faith, confession, or submission to baptism can replace repentant deeds or excuse sin.
The fitting fruit is justice, mercy, love of God, obedience to His commandments, humility, self-denial and Christlike conduct, proved by correcting wrongs, making reparation, and faithfulness in the duties to which a person is called.
Every fruitless tree is under judgment, with the axe laid to the root to cut down and burn every tree not bearing good fruit.
Historical Setting and Hearers
The call to bring forth fitting fruit was spoken by John the Baptist at the Jordan to the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, as a direct and unsparing warning that remains urgent. It demanded that repentance be shown by the life it produces, with actions fitting repentance and conduct worthy of a changed life, joined to the coming wrath and to a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit. Descent from Abraham could not replace that genuine repentance, and religious status could not excuse sin.
The Pharisees were very strict in outward observance of forms and customs yet filled with haughty, worldly, hypocritical self-righteousness, along with pride, arrogance, jealousy, selfishness, cruelty, unbelief and hypocrisy. The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels and were skeptical toward God, being largely composed of unworthy and often licentious characters. John called them a generation of vipers, meaning malignant and antagonistic men bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God.
They came to baptism without true conviction of sin but with selfish motives, hoping for favor and honor from a temporal prince. They sought to exalt themselves and strengthen their influence, holding to pride and ambition with poisonous principles and corrupt practices and no sense of their true condition. They heard the warning only as the voice of man and admired its power and boldness without heart conviction, and being impressed by preaching was not enough without fruit through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Mere confession or submission to baptism for influence, without a changed life showing genuine conviction, could not benefit them.
John required repentance of sins and thorough conversion from all without exception, rich and poor, honorable and lowly, publicans and sinners, peasants and fishermen, soldiers, tax-gatherers, priests and kings, for a mere claim to be righteous was not enough and without this change none could enjoy God's favor or have part in the Messiah's kingdom. He read hearts and fearlessly pointed out particular sins, rebuking iniquity even in kings. His plain and startling message cut hearers to the heart with a sense of sin, made a strong impression, stirred multitudes, and made even proud and hardened rulers tremble. Those who heeded came confessing their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan.
Meaning of Fitting Fruit
Repentance must be genuine and proved by fitting, visible fruit. That fruit is a changed life that gives evidence of genuine repentance and conversion, with character transformed and made evident. The call was addressed at the Jordan to Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, whom John called a generation of vipers, meaning malignant and antagonistic men bitterly opposed to the expressed will of God. The Pharisees were very strict in outward observance of forms and customs yet filled with haughty, worldly, hypocritical self-righteousness, and the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels and were skeptical toward God, largely composed of unworthy, often licentious characters. Genuine repentance therefore produces good works, and its absence places fruitless trees under judgment.
Profession of faith or claim to be a child of God is not enough without a life shaped by Christ in humility, teachability, and obedience to His words. Confession or submission to baptism alone does not prove a true turning from sin, for John demanded conduct worthy of repentance rather than reliance on ancestry, reputation, or claims of piety. Mere confession or submission to baptism for influence shows no genuine conviction of sin when the life is unchanged, and claimed spiritual privilege must be accompanied by obedience and inward faithfulness. Accepting truth as merely the result of human reasoning, without real brokenness of heart and a true sense of being a sinner, does not show such repentance, nor does being merely impressed by preaching. Without that changed life, baptism and profession have no value.
Repentance toward God for past sins prepares people to have faith in the coming Christ, and truth must cleanse their lives. People must turn from past sins and allow truth to cleanse them before they can receive Christ and enter fellowship with Him. The fruits are the evidence of a heart willing to be purged from sin. The corrupt in heart cannot abide in His presence.
True repentance required first receiving Christ. The Sadducees who came to John's baptism had not yet repented, so their baptism was insufficient. A second baptism would therefore be necessary for them.
Ancestry and Profession Rejected
Descent from Abraham and ceremonial religion cannot produce holiness or make anyone right with God, and no claim of piety, reputation, or spiritual privilege can excuse sin or take the place of deeds that fit repentance. Repentance must be genuine and proved by a changed life, with character and conduct showing sanctification and righteousness rather than mere profession. Turning from God's requirements to follow human ideas forfeits the qualities of Abraham's children, and natural advantages, national pride, and self-exaltation have no value without purity and obedience to God's commandments. The call to repent is a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit.
Boasting to have Abraham as father gives no security, because God is not dependent on those who so boast. He is able to raise up children to Abraham from stones to fulfill His purposes in purity and righteousness. His Spirit can give life to hearts as lifeless as desert stones, calling people from any background so they may do His will. Pride, selfishness, and cruelty reveal a heart unlike the obedient faith of Abraham, and ancestry and religious standing cannot make anyone God's people or secure His promise.
True children of Abraham do the works of Abraham in faith, love, and obedience, with piety, integrity, and purity of life. By such a life they fulfill the conditions of the covenant, for God's promises and blessings are conditional on obedience. Claims to belong to Abraham do not make people his children or heirs to God's promises when faith, piety, integrity, and purity are lacking, and God does not excuse sin in an enlightened people nor make past faithfulness, love, or special promises a safety in continued wrongdoing.
Ceremonial sacrifices have value only when they point to the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin. Those who failed to bear the fruits of repentance showed their conversion was not genuine and had rejected John's testimony and the Christ to whom Israel's sacrifices pointed. Those who truly accepted John's testimony would also accept Jesus as the Messiah to whom the sacrifices pointed.
As a tree is known by its fruit, so words, actions, and righteous conduct show a person's character. Justice, benevolence, mercy, and the love of God mark the lives of God's faithful people and must appear in daily life as the fruit of commandment-keeping. A high name, past faithfulness, outward forms, reliance on ancestry, or religious standing cannot save a fruitless or bad-fruit tree from being cut down and burned. Without true repentance and such fruit, profession of faith is worthless chaff for the fire and has no value and no part in Christ's kingdom.
Character of Genuine Fruit
The fitting fruit is justice, benevolence, mercy and love of God appearing in daily life as the result of keeping the commandments, and it is shown through faith and devotion, reliance on the Word, unselfishness, sincerity, self-denial, piety and Christlike conduct in speech and character in everyday life. Confession or baptism alone is not enough, for repentance must be proved by a changed life and not by profession, ancestry or claims of piety. Those who claimed favor because they descended from Abraham were required to show conduct worthy of repentance, since ancestry and profession cannot replace good fruit. Without true repentance and such fruit a person has no part in the kingdom of Christ but is worthless chaff for the fire, while each church is to show by its way of life that it has turned from sin. Genuine conversion purifies the heart and sanctifies the affections, so fine words or a show of religion do not prove repentance when ordinary speech and behavior remain corrupt, but a changed heart produces good fruit.
The fruit includes humility and teachability, with pride and self-esteem brought low, crooked ways made straight and wrong habits changed. This reformation reaches the heart and produces a clean heart, a pure life and practical change in harmony with the will of God, for outward profession and religious forms alone are of no value. It involves a purging of heart, mind and soul that makes character ready for the way of the Lord. The Holy Spirit received and retained through obedience identifies people as God's children, and baptism must be lived out in a new life united with Christ, without which baptism and profession have no value. The actual reforms that follow are humbling oneself before God and turning from pride, self-exaltation and wrongful conduct, made urgent by the brief remaining time.
Those to be sanctified through the truth give up their idols, confess their sins and show by their lives that they have turned from sin. That surrender includes little images of Christ and trinkets and bracelets and rings and costly ornaments. It belongs to the message to prepare the way of the Lord because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, to be echoed through cities and towns and villages in the loud cry, joined to refusal to trust in having Abraham for father and to the warning that the axe is laid to the root and every fruitless tree is cut down and burned and Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and thoroughly purge His floor to gather wheat and burn chaff with unquenchable fire.
The fruit is seen in newness of life in Christ by following His example and reflecting His character and turning from former desires. Those who once loved sin come to hate it, with pride giving way to meekness, vanity to seriousness, profanity to reverence, drunkenness to sobriety and impurity to purity. Priorities also change, as worldly display is set aside and a meek and quiet spirit is valued. A covetous, self-centered person who recognizes sin through the law and repents bears such fruit through changed conduct including self-denial and generosity.
Its fruits include correcting wrongs and making reparation where possible, for a patched-up character, selfish motives and pursuit of worldly standing do not show thorough repentance. When someone has wronged another by word or deed, fitting actions are confessing the sin directly to the person harmed, seeking forgiveness, reconciling and making restitution, and bitterness, wrath and malice toward a fellow believer are likewise to be confessed and addressed personally. Reconciliation and righting the wrong demonstrate repentance. Confession of wrongdoing alone is not enough, for repentance calls for efforts to repair the harm done, including helping restore the institution injured and easing the financial burden caused by one's actions. In the case of abandoning family and neglecting a wife, repentance requires the husband to make amends by taking responsibility, helping ease her burdens and changing his conduct, without which repentance is not genuine and he remains accountable for neglect.
Repentance is evidenced by faithfulness to God in the duties and place to which a person is called, each doing their own duties and relying on Jesus for support and strength, and it does not require abandoning those duties or copying an austere, isolated life. A profession of faith alone does not prove a saving connection with Christ, for that connection is shown by conformity to the will of God in words, conduct and character. Remorse and brief efforts to improve are not enough when people return to fault-finding, whispering, backbiting and spreading evil, and even those not guilty of obvious outward sins must show sorrow for sin and its fruits, since respectable reputation or religious profession cannot replace a changed heart and life. Repentance must produce visible reformation of life and character, giving up a faultfinding spirit that lowers the standard, and overcoming unhappiness, fretting, impatience, jealousy, envy and speaking against brethren and reporting things incorrectly about them, for only the faithful overcomer who reforms in this way wins eternal life and without reform will be weighed and found wanting. A person must restrain and change their own conduct and not merely blame temptation or pray, for prayer without this fruit is ineffectual, while patience, freedom from fretting and envy, and truthful, kind speech are fruits that show Christian character and without them profession does not establish a person as a Christian.
Spirit, Baptism and Pardon
The fitting fruit demanded is not produced by human resolve but by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit speaking to the heart and giving conviction, so that the one who has heard God's voice, received conviction, and been transformed brings forth fruit unto eternal life. That Spirit is received and retained through obedience, and His presence identifies people as God's children in a life shaped by Christ in humility, teachability, and obedience to His words. Without that inward change and transforming power no outward ceremony such as baptism gives any benefit, for outward profession and religious forms alone are of no value. Hearing the warning or being impressed by preaching is not enough when pride, ambition, and corrupt practices remain without evidence of a changed heart, and repentance must reach the heart to produce a clean heart, a pure life, and practical reformation in harmony with God's will, including heeding His warnings, leaving sin, and living in harmony with that will.
Baptism must be lived out in a new life united with Christ, for those who responded to the preaching of repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near confessed their sins, were baptized, and accepted what was essential for sharing in that kingdom. Without that changed life, baptism and profession have no value. A profession of faith alone does not prove a saving connection with Christ, since that connection is shown by conformity to God's will in words, conduct, and character, each doing their own duties while relying on Jesus for support and strength. It is not made by merely signing a covenant or responding to an appealing preacher, but by a response directed to Christ that lasts and produces good works.
Works genuinely fitting for repentance, together with confession, lead to forgiveness and God's favor, for wrongs must be humbly confessed and the person thoroughly converted with conduct giving evidence of repentance. Such repentance would have guarded workers from the enemy's snare. When God's people turn from departing from plain Bible truth, they change course, do works of righteousness, and avoid repeating their sins, and such thorough repentance brings pardon and restores them to favor, which God waits to see before granting pardon and blessing.
Warning of Coming Judgment
The demand for fitting fruit places every fruitless tree under judgment, for repentance must produce a changed life that gives evidence of genuine repentance. The axe is laid to the root, and every tree not bearing good fruit is cut down and burned. Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and will thoroughly purge His floor to gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. Profession without true repentance is worthless chaff for the fire and has no part in His kingdom, for a high name cannot save a fruitless or bad-fruit tree, and justice, benevolence, mercy and the love of God must appear in daily life as the fruit of commandment-keeping. Descent from Abraham cannot replace genuine repentance, because God is not dependent on outward heirs and is able to raise up children to Abraham from stones to fulfill His purposes in purity and righteousness, while true children of Abraham do the works of Abraham in faith, love and obedience.
The call to bring forth such fruit is joined to the warning to flee from the wrath to come. Like John, the call lays the axe at the root of the tree and stands in marked contrast to assurances of peace and safety. It presses a life-and-death decision in view of Christ's coming and the judgment that removes what bears no good fruit, and people must heed the truth about coming judgments rather than cling to worldly security. Religious status does not excuse sin, for those who claim piety must bring forth conduct worthy of repentance. The same urgency warns both worldlings and church members, confronting sin directly and calling for a change that turns from sin.
As Noah obeyed without questioning doubt while the world rejected warning and was destroyed, so testing comes in the days immediately before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. The great mass side with the deceiver and are overwhelmed in swift and irretrievable destruction. But those who heed the warnings and bring forth fruits meet for repentance shall dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide under the shadow of the Almighty, with the promise of long life and salvation.
Without such fruit, those who claim the truth while following a crooked, wayward course bring it into disgrace and become stumbling blocks to others. They face rejection by the True Witness. Without reformation of life and character a person cannot be acknowledged as a Christian, and without reform he will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. Such fruits determine whether a person can be trusted with responsibility, for acknowledging past wrongs is not enough when conduct and influence still show no genuine change. Only the faithful overcomer who reforms in patience, freedom from fretting and envy, and truthful, kind speech wins eternal life.
Pattern for Present Preaching
John's example requires faithful preachers to plainly rebuke sin and to demand from professed converts the evidence of a changed life proving genuine repentance, giving a pointed and uncompromising warning that places fruitless trees under judgment so that people are not deceived. That message is to be given even at the cost of life, fearlessly rebuking iniquity even in kings and confronting error rather than leaving men in deception. Men connected with God's institutions who have rejected light and chosen a perverse way, who hate reproof and refuse the light given to direct their feet, must be converted and bring forth such fruits, or they will become decoys leading souls from truth by undermining confidence and planting doubt and questioning.
A message similar to John's, as direct as John's and in the spirit and power of Elijah, is to be heard now. It is to be echoed and reechoed through cities and towns and villages in the loud cry, pressing the necessity of heeding the true issues for this time and calling people to live in this world the life they must live to prepare for the future life that measures with the life of God. Its fitting fruit is serving God with full purpose of renewed heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Christ, refusing side issues and the multitude of questions brought in by minds not worked by the Spirit, refusing to trust in privilege, and putting away idols and costly display while standing under the warning that the axe is laid to the root, every fruitless tree is cut down and burned, and Christ will baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire and thoroughly purge His floor to gather the wheat and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. The work is to be carried on for those who need the truth without souls being drawn aside and without men diverting minds from those issues to fallacies and satanic scientific presentations.
Those who preached William Miller's message and the first angel's message gave this call again as John had given it, warning to flee from the wrath to come and laying the axe at the root. Their testimony aroused the churches and made manifest their real character. Many united with the churches received the message, saw their backslidings, repented with bitter tears and deep agony of soul, humbled themselves before God, and then helped sound the cry that the hour of judgment is come.
The same work of calling for repentance is to be done just before the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. Like John's, the call lays the axe at the root and stands in marked contrast to assurances of peace and safety, urging both worldlings and church members to flee coming wrath and prove repentance by a changed life turning from sin. Professors of religion are roused from false security to see backslidings, worldliness, unbelief, pride and selfishness, to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation, and to fix on heaven affections once clinging to earthly things. Sinners inquire with weeping what to do to be saved, the dishonest make restitution, heartfelt confessions are made, parents' hearts are turned to children and children's to parents, those who find peace long for others to share it, and souls plead with God in earnest intercession and all-night wrestling for pardon and for the conversion of relatives and neighbors. In the time just before Christ's second coming that testimony will be even more pointed, and it can only be given by those who have John's spiritual experience of beholding God until self is lost sight of.
Personal and Corporate Application
Backslidden church members are called to turn from backslidings and prove repentance by its fruits in life. Both worldlings and professed believers are urged to flee coming wrath with a changed life that lays the axe at the root in contrast to assurances of peace and safety. That fruit appears when professors are roused from false security to see backslidings, worldliness, unbelief, pride and selfishness, seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation, and fix affections once clinging to earthly things upon heaven. It is further seen when sinners inquire with weeping what to do to be saved, when the dishonest make restitution, when heartfelt confessions are made, when parents' hearts turn to children and children's to parents, when those finding peace long for others to share it, and when souls plead in earnest intercession and all-night wrestling for pardon and for conversion of relatives and neighbors.
Each church is to show by its way of life that it has turned from sin. Its visible fruit is Christlike conduct, self-denial, piety, and obedience to God's commands. Such reformation must be visible in life and character or a person cannot be acknowledged as a Christian, with brief remaining time making urgency. The reforms are humbling the proud heart before God and turning from pride, self-exaltation and wrongful conduct, setting wrongs right and living righteously rather than making excuses when reproved, and coming to the light when reproof comes close and cutting so deeds are reproved instead of hiding deformity of character or finding fault with message or messenger to strip it of divine power. That fruit is righteousness and true sanctification of the entire man unto eternal life as part of the sanctified life.
Acknowledging past wrongs is not enough when conduct and influence still show no genuine change. Public and personal confession must be followed by much more change, as seen where Sister D.'s public confession and confessions to individuals showed some fruit though much remained to be done. Such fruits determine whether a person can be trusted with responsibility, and works genuinely fitting for repentance together with confession lead to forgiveness and God's favor and would have guarded workers from the enemy's snare. In one family case this required a husband who had abandoned his family and neglected his wife to make amends by taking responsibility, helping ease her burdens, and changing his conduct, without which his repentance was not genuine and he remained accountable for neglect. In another case involving A. R. Henry, genuine repentance required humbling the proud heart and turning from the wrong course, with covetous desire for money not to be gratified since yielding would sustain rather than correct him.
Men connected with God's institutions who have rejected light and chosen a perverse way, who hate reproof and refuse to follow light given to direct feet in the right way, must be truly converted with such fruits. Unless converted they will become decoys leading souls away from truth by undermining confidence and planting seeds of doubt and questioning, and the pointed message is to be given even at cost of life so people shall not be deceived. John applied the call by rebuking the nation's pride and formalism and by requiring repentance of sins and thorough conversion from all, rich and poor, honorable and lowly, reading hearts and fearlessly pointing out particular sins. A mere claim to be righteous is not enough, and without this change none can enjoy God's favor or have part in the Messiah's kingdom whose coming was announced. Those who heeded came confessing sins and were baptized in Jordan with conduct fitting a changed heart.