[Manny Varela]

MATTHEW 3 – SPIRITUAL FRUIT
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:7

Israel was a blessed nation and shared an extraordinary relationship with the Jewish people and in doing so, the nation of Israel became a blessed country. God’s love would be demonstrated by providing Israel the Torah, the law of God.

This Law would disclose God’s expectations, a manner to live, as well as provide many prophecies that would eventually unfold before the nation of Israel. In return for obedience to God’s law, the Lord would ascribe righteousness and blessings to them.

Although God was patient and gracious, the Hebrew people would eventually depart from the law of God and would begin to depend on their righteousness. Paul would painfully say that although the Hebrew people had a zeal for God, they did not have it according to God’s way. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness” went about “to establish their righteousness” while “not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Sadly, The result was “spoiled fruit”.

CHALLENGE

Sadly, self-righteousness and independence from God, continue to be the trend in many religious circles. The disciple Matthew warns us that unbridled self-righteousness eventually leads to spiritual calamity. Only true dependence on God and repentance in Jesus Christ leads to the fruits of eternal salvation.

[Jacob Mannon]

2 Chronicles 7:14 “and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” God teaches us in the Old Testament that if we depend on His strength and power and not our own, we will be forgiven and healed. In order to do that we need to humble ourselves and repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our savior.

-Jacob.

[Jason Springer]

In this passage, Jesus is trying to teach the Pharisees and Sadducees that they can’t rely on their heritage or their forefather’s faith to obtain righteousness. But true righteousness can only come from Jesus as He is the only one who could and did live a sinless life out of obedience to God and out of love for us. Romans 5:8 says “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus never asks for us to come to Him perfect but as we grow in our faith we should see growth in our obedience to His commands as He changes our hearts.

[Braden Binegar]

This passage talks about how God is telling his people that they are special and set apart from the people of other nations that they are to be an example and to show the world what it means to follow God yet still people are selfish and self-righteous and would rather choose that than follow God.

[Amy Hastings]

The passage above tells us about God teaching to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the “brood of vipers” is an understanding that they are mentioning the harmful actions they took. They were overpowerful but they could not keep relying on each other as Jesus is the true one to rely on with everything. Jesus has faith and love for everyone even if they are labeled as a viper. He pushes us and drives us to live for more.

[Latoya Stoudmire]

this passage speaks to us about the dependence we need to have on God. There’s a saying that goes when we make plans God laughs only our father and heaven knows what is best for us. He knows our heart and with that being said a person wanting to be righteous can’t do that without God and anytime you try to do that without God typically you fail. you will not bear fruit. God does not bless anything that he’s not part of and we can not lean on our own righteousness because as humans we will always fall short. The Bible tells us that in times when we are weak, God is strong for us. God wants us to lean on him for anything and everything. I feel as though anytime I’ve tried to tackle a battle alone. I’ve come out more stressed and alone. Yet With God, I feel as though I can conquer anything, and that is the righteousness that he wants us to lean on.

[Kanthony]

Latoya,
I agree with this. God has a plan and we have to listen to Him. He knows what He is doing. We have to always shine His light in everything we do, say, and type. Listening to Him is key!

[Author]

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