DBR Notes: Matt 3:1-12

The crowds felt the tension of John’s kingdom preaching. The coming accountability prompted action (Matt 3:5-6). Their repentance was genuine and evident by their immersion and confession (full agreement) of sin.

Religious leaders, many of them, felt the tension, too (3:7). Their response, however, was surface only (5:20; 23:27). John challenged them to present fruit to validate/harmonize with their repentance (3:8). Real repentance is the real remedy to the real “wrath to come.”

Some Lessons:

• Accountability is certain and lies just ahead (Matt 3:10, 12; 2 Cor 5:10).

• Repentance is intellectual (root/heart), volitional (the will), and behavioral         (fruit/deportment).

• Fruit tells the truth (Matt 7:16-20; John 13:35; 14:15).

-Mike Sanders,  is a  Retired  UPS Pilot, and former minster @ Buechel Church of Christ