Repentance Is More Than Sorrow For Sin

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Luke 3:8

Fruit trees without fruit soon end up as firewood. Their blossoms may be pretty and fragrant, but they provide no nourishment, no seeds, no means of reproduction.

You can tell a tree—and a true Christian—by the fruit you see. Alexander Maclaren provides insight into John’s call for the fruit of repentance from his listeners along the Jordan.

WALK WITH ALEXANDER MACLAREN
“John demanded not only repentance, but its fruits. For there is no value in a repentance which does not change the life, even if such a thing were possible.

“Repentance is more than sorrow for sin. Many people have that, yet they rush again into the old mire. To change the mind and the will is not enough; real change is certified by corresponding deeds.

“So John preached the true nature of repentance when he called for its fruits. And he preached the greatest motive he knew when he pressed home on the sluggish consciences of his listeners the close approach of a judgment for which everything was ready, with the axe already lying at the root of the tree.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Repentance is more than saying I’m sorry.

Repentance is changing your mind about your actions. It is seeing that what you did was wrong, not just risky. It is turning around in God’s strength and moving in a new direction … God’s direction.

True repentance bears visible fruit: compassion, fairness, wholesome speech, contentment (Luke 3:10-14). Take away the fruit, and whatever you have left is not genuine repentance.

But it is cause for alarm. And a change of mind. And a change of direction. Before the axe falls and the root disappears with the fruit.