MESSAGES
New Creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Once, John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River when he noticed that several Jews — Pharisees and Sadducees — were seeking baptism driven only by fear or dread of God's wrath. Immediately, John reprimanded them, saying:
Matthew 3:7-8 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.”
John the Baptist wasn't interested in baptizing as many people as possible. His message was clear: repenting from sins was necessary, because the Kingdom of God was near.
Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
John scolded them because there was no real change in their attitudes. They sought baptism as an empty ritual, believing it would save them from God's wrath. That's why they were called “vipers”, because they were trying to escape judgment without true transformation.
Matthew 3:7 You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
John the Baptist also firmly urged them to show, through their actions, true repentance.
Matthew 3:8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
The apostle Paul reinforces this truth:
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
False conversions still exist in the Christian world. People who claim to be converted, but who have never changed their thoughts or actions, continue to sin and give a terrible testimony to those around them.
People who say they have given their lives to Christ, but still live according to the values of this world, ignoring the Word of God and the Gospel.
Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Whoever truly CONVERTS their life to Jesus — as the verb itself suggests — changes their thoughts and attitudes. Before Christ, we lived lost and without hope; but in Jesus we find the peace and the life that God wants for us.
If you have already converted and been baptized in water, SHOW PUBLICLY, every day, THAT YOU ARE A NEW CREATION. That way, when many witness the transformation in your life, they will want to know the God you serve.
