But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. - Matthew 3: 7-8 (ESV)
John the Baptist came with the same message of repent for the kingdom of God is at hand that Jesus preached. So along come the Pharisees and Sadducees one day and John cuts them to the quick! Who told you to come and escape the wrath yet to come? You brood of vipers! We all know these words but sometimes forget the caveat. "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." John is basically saying - we will see how sincere you were. You cannot merely come to get dunked even by John the Baptist himself. You cannot merely come up for a two minute altar call. You cannot merely repeat a three sentence prayer. We will know if there was a true regeneration based upon the fruit you bear in keeping with the repentance you claim! It is not that God's marvelous grace frees us from the law in this life but rather that we will not be judge by the law for our eternal life. It is not that we now get to discard the law but now we should be desiring to keep it because of Calvary! The work of the cross should compel us to want to keep the laws of God because we know we serve a good God who wants what is best for us!
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life! - Psalm 119: 33-40 (ESV)
Read the passion with which the Psalmist writes these words. Does the law sound like a millstone around his neck? Does it sound like something he dreads? Of course not. The truth is that the hyper-grace, antinomian teachings of Joseph Prince are appealing to our flesh because we prefer the world to God. We prefer to delight in our sin than delight in His commandments. Your rules are good! I long for Your precepts!
Legalist! Hardly. I am not saying we should long for the laws of God because we can be saved through them. I am saying we should long for them because He has already saved us through His grace. We ought to want to. The Bible teaches us:
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." - 1Peter 1: 13-16 (ESV)
Read these verses very carefully beloved. What is Peter teaching us? We set our hope fully on the grace of God that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The grace of God is a phenomenal thing in that it allows our sin sick souls access to God eternally. Yet now, in the temporal, we ought to be sober minded. We ought to be obedient children. We ought to not be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance! The result in the temporal? Holiness! That is what we ought to be striving for. This is what repentance is supposed to be and that is the final thought for today. The reason Prince can get so many to follow his heresy is that it is a direct outgrowth of the purpose driven model where sin and repentance take a back seat to "inviting Jesus into your heart" and "just say yes to Jesus." That is a gospel of a false Christ. A gospel that cannot save anyone. A gospel of believing in vain.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, - 1Corinthians 15: 1-4 (ESV)
Someone once said that it is a fool's errand to strive to get to know a false god better. Yet that is what is going on constantly in Christendom today. Hundreds of thousands of people who think they are saved and will stand before Christ who will accuse them of lawlessness when they had been led to believe the law no longer mattered. It does matter beloved. Not only does it matter to God but it ought to matter to us. Do not confuse the temporal with the eternal. We are to bear fruit in keeping with our repentance. We ought to strive to keep the law not out of obligation but out of love. There is no middle ground between two extremes. There is only the truth. The lies of legalism are no better than the lies of hyper-grace. Both bind the person into a false belief in salvation. The legalist is bound by thinking everything they do matters to their salvation. The antinomian is bound by thinking nothing they do matters. Neither position is biblical.
Reverend Anthony Wade - February 2, 2015
