Have you ever planted something that didn’t yield any produce? Maybe an apple tree, or a raspberry bush. If it never gave you any fruit, you probably tore it out and put something new in its place. Jesus speaks of us in the same way. If we don’t produce the fruit of repentance, we too will be cut down. Repentance is a matter of life and death. Which will you choose?
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 26, Section.2). Ethnic diversity. Racial reconciliation. Social injustice. Gender equity. Rights for the disabled. It may sound like the political agenda of the left, but these phrases describe important themes from the Bible. The New Testament places race, class, and gender in the context of the good news about Jesus Christ.