Matthew 3: No Grandfather Clause

God made Abraham a promise that all the generations to come after him would be blessed. However, that blessing isn’t exactly automatic. We have to be intentional about claiming it for ourselves and applying it to our lives.

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist sharply rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to the place where he was baptizing. He warns against any thought of entitlement to salvation or inheritance of righteousness because of their heritage. Instead, John the Baptist strongly admonishes them to adopt a lifestyle that reflects their accepted and applied salvation.

“Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Matthew 3:8-10, HCSB

We can come from a long line of parents and grandparents that have loved and served God as far back as we can count, but unless we follow the example of those before us by appropriating the promise of salvation to our own lives for our own selves, our lineage means nothing. We’re not “grandfathered in” simply because someone waaaaaayyyy down the line way back when chose to live for God, just like the Pharisees and Sadducees did not inherit righteousness simply because they could trace their bloodlines back to Abraham. Instead, they, like us, were faced with a choice to live a life consistent with salvation, or not.

When we accept the gift of salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ, our lives are forever changed… but not automatically. Yes, it is a landmark moment; but we have to make conscious decisions from that point on to live in a way that reflects and brings honor to God. We cannot continue living the same way we did prior to our salvation experience if we want to be counted righteous. And, though we’re not saved by works, our faith is demonstrated by the things we think, say, and do– the “fruit” we produce. That is why John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees about producing “fruit consistent with repentance.” Their actions had to line up with the life they claimed to lead. Their–and our– eternal salvation depends on it.