“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith”

 

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 3:7-14:

In our last lesson we discovered the commission of John and that his charge came directly from God. In This lesson we will begin to look into his teaching and the expectation that God had for His people prior to the coming of the Chosen One.

Text#1:

Luke 3:7-9 “Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Brood of Vipers: Here Luke states that John addresses the multitudes that came out to see him at the river Jordan as a “Brood of vipers” , However, if we coordinate this with the same account found in the Gospel of Matthew, we find that although the statement is directed for the multitudes to hear it is specifically for the Pharisees and the Sadducees ( Matthew 3:1-12 ).

“Generation of vipers” or “Brood of vipers” is used as a figure of speech meaning, a class of vile and poisonous characters (vipers are conceal and strike predators, concealing themselves in a camouflaged environment to attack their unsuspecting prey). These leaders of the Jews only came out with the multitudes for outward appearance. John's indictment is that they were nothing more than base sinners even though they portrayed lives of self-righteousness.

Fruit Worthy of Repentance: John continues his scathing indictment of the leadership of the Jews and all who practice the hypocrisy that they embodied. It was never enough in the instruction of God to simply say that you would change. God always expected repentance to be active and measurable. Thus the leadership of the people was to no longer just say, but most importantly, do (see: Matthew 23:3 )!

Children to Abraham: The Jews of this day had placed great store on their physical birth and the importance of their tribal heritage that traced back to Abraham, their father. Here John dispels this misplaced trust in their physical birth over the righteousness of God. This was the same misconception Jesus dealt with when He taught Nicodemus that He must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus could not count on his heritage to achieve citizenship when the kingdom came; but a rebirth of water and the Spirit or revelation of God ( John 3:1-7 ).

The Axe is Laid to the Root: This illustration shows that a certain preparation has begun to fell this particular tree. The tree being spoken of here is the tree of unrighteousness and all who practice such behavior of the people of God. This describes a specific and certain judgment in the preparation stages for all those of God's people who would reject God's righteousness for their own desires. This will play out in more detail in future chapters; however, consider the horrible destruction of the city of Jerusalem and on all the Jews who rejected John, Jesus, the Apostles of Christ, and the Gospel of salvation. We know historically that Christians did not suffer in the destruction of the city because they heeded Apostolic warnings to flee (Christians of Jewish decent in particular).

Text #2:

Luke 3:10-14 “So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?" 11 He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." 12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." 14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

Up to this point John had been preaching in general terms, now the people wanted him to be specific concerning the fruits of righteousness. In the teaching of both John and Jesus to the Jews, two great overlapping themes consistently appear: “Love the Lord God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself”. Matthew 22: 37-39 ; Luke 10:27 The first portion of this two part regard for righteousness is addressed in the order to bear fruit worthy of repentance, which can only be achieved through the love of God ( I John 5:3 ). The second portion is the focus of the teaching of John in this specific instruction.

Specific #1: This teaching concerns their attitude towards the down trodden and needy. The interesting thing concerning this instruction is that it was absolutely nothing new to them. The children of Israel were well aware of the statutes and instructions God had given them towards one another ( Leviticus 19:10 ; Deuteronomy 15:11 ; Hosea 6:6 ; Matthew 9:13 ). The prophet Isaiah who prophesied to Israel during a time of economic abundance and religious indifference, concerning the outward show of fasting verses the heart felt concern for their brethren they should have had, should be considered here, note:

Isaiah 58:6-7 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?”

There isn't any place in this instruction where it condemns anyone for having a tunic or food! The condemnation comes from a complete lack of concern for those who haven't any, when abundance exists. Many excuses are made today and probably then as well, concerning the qualifications of the needy; however, suffice it to say that if a man's heart is right concerning his fellow man, the truly needy will be found, and aided. Also note that the instruction is individually given and not institutionally instructed!

Specific #2: This teaching comes directly to a class of Jewish citizens who worked for the occupying country of Rome . The occupied nations of Rome enjoyed many freedoms to certain extents; however, they were all taxed heavily. In many instances it was Roman policy to use men of the local nations to accumulate their taxes. This way they had local experts in trade, crop production, livestock, etc… This insured that the local people were never able to get away with not paying their taxes. In addition, these tax collectors extorted their brethren for their own benefit!

Note, John did not tell them to resign from their positions! Instead, he demands that they discontinue the misuse of their brethren for their own gain.

Specific #3: Both John and Jesus came to the lost sheep of Israel . It was the people of Jerusalem that had come out to John at the Jordan . So, the soldiers being mentioned here were of Jewish nationality. The Jews were allowed to have a local paramilitary presence in the larger cites for local law enforcement and the control of crowds (see: Acts 4:1 ; the Captain of the temple was in charge of the temple police force that was stationed at the tower Antonia, they were in charge of temple order).

Again, the instruction does not consist of resigning from their positions, but that they quit extorting and brutalizing their brethren for personal gain.

In the specific teaching of John to the multitudes that came out to him at the Jordan , we get a very clear visual of the social ills that plagued the people of God. Combine this with the hypocrisy of their religious leadership and it is no wonder the people are in such need for repentance!

Note: Consider the impact that both John and Jesus had on the land of Judea when they appeared preaching the righteousness of God. Although they had many followers, very few had any real conviction. The leadership of the people, with just a handful of exceptions, hated and despised them both. Yet, the impact of their teaching is felt two thousand years later to this very day and time!

We often wonder how such blindness could have existed in the face of such wisdom, not counting the miraculous evidence the coexisted with the teaching.

However, consider this very day and age! If two men were to stand up and proclaim to the people today the need to repent in order to avoid destruction and to love God with all our hearts; to consider our fellow man like ourselves, what would be the result? Even if they were witnessed by the production of real and discernable miracles, what would be the result?

Would the ministers of the multimillion dollar ministries give up their gain to follow them? Would any more conviction exist to serve the Lord than in the presence of the inspired word of God? Or would there be a handful of faithful who would work the righteousness of God and would any of us be one?

Again, we did not get very far in the text; however, we have covered some extremely thought provoking instruction. In light of the message of John, it is important that we understand that He was instructing a return to righteousness under the Law of Moses. This return to righteousness under that Law, would prepare the people for the One that would come after him. John will introduce Him in the next lesson and state emphatically that He would bring revelation and judgment to the land!