30th Mar 26 | 12:49
Daily Study
Works befitting repentance
Acts 15 – Series 1/Episode 68 – Mon, 30th Mar 2026 – Works befitting repentance - _Acts 15:01-21_ – THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL – _Acts 26:20_
Acts 15:19-21 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, (20) but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. (21) For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.\\\\\\\"
Gentiles who are turning to God
Turning from sin and turning to God is repentance. Another dimension that we must investigate is works befitting repentance. Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
There needs to be ongoing work in our lives that demonstrates repentance. Scripture never treats repentance as a single emotional moment. It is a lifestyle—a continual turning toward God that produces visible, tangible change. What does it mean to do works befitting repentance?
John the Baptist explains to us the fruits of repentance. Luke 3:8-14 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.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (10) 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.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
People asked John what they should do, and John gave them specific works that need to happen in their lives that demonstrate repentance.
People asked the same question to Jesus, but His response was different. John 6:28-29 Then they said to Him, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (29) Jesus answered and said to them, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Is there a contradiction between John the Baptist and Jesus?
John’s ministry was to prepare the people for Jesus. Luke 1:17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
John is not giving the people a way for salvation, but he is showing the people how to be ready for the Messiah who would come and give them salvation. What John explains in Luke 3:8-14 are the fruits and not the root.*
Jesus gave people the root, which is faith in Him. The root of all obedience is faith in Jesus. Good works cannot produce salvation. _Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast._ But we are saved for good works. _Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them._
Works do not produce righteousness, but it is faith in Jesus. Galatians 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Faith in Jesus produces the works of repentance that John the Baptist is talking about. James 2:20-24 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? (22) Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and *by works faith was made perfect*? (23) And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" And he was called the friend of God. (24) You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. / James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
It is only when we abide in Christ that we produce good fruit. John 15:4-5 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (5) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
It is God who works in us to produce the works befitting repentance. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.