Walking the Talk

John was the real deal.  He lived a different way.  He preached a different way.  The Pharisees (who lived strictly to Old Testament law, forgetting about mercy and grace) and the Sadducees (who added to the law as it suited them best and were low on faith)...they hated John and the Jesus he was preparing a path for.

If it seemed like a jump in time from Chapter 2 - 3, that's because it was.  Almost 30 years had passed.  Now we're introduced to John who brings up one huge thing.  Repentance.  Sounds like a scary concept, and if you don't really understand what it means - yeah, I can definitely see why people shy away.  I looked up the word in my Bible's dictionary: "to experience sorrow for and seek to change wrong behavior".  It's an important truth to understand.  John was telling the people that they needed to admit their sin to God first, and then God would give them what they need to change their ways.  THAT is what so many people don't understand even today...God does not ask us to clean up our act first, or be a "better" person before we come to Him. 

However, John was also teaching that when we seek God's help in changing our behavior...that the change in our lives becomes something visible that others can and should see.  Verse 3:8 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentence".  God expects us to walk our talk, like John did.  Other people will see it too, so the challenge here is whether we are seen as hypocrites or the real deal.