OCTOBER 4, 2026 – WHAT SHALL WE DO?
READ: Luke 3:10-20: … And the people asked him, saying, ‘What shall we do, then?’ … even tax collectors … also soldiers … what shall we do? … He is coming who is mightier than I … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire …
You cannot earn your salvation yourself, yet the Lord requires of us a life that is fitting for His grace. He engages our responsibility as a response to His work of grace.
Regeneration is a matter of the heart, but it must also become evident in our conduct, actions, and speech. Regeneration occurs only through the work of the Holy Spirit, but at the same time the LORD also calls us to repentance unto faith.
The Canons of Dort speak about this in Chapter III/IV, Articles 11-17: ‘… And when the will is renewed … being moved by God, it also itself becomes active. Therefore it is rightly said that man himself believes and repents by the grace which he has received …’
The people, the tax collectors, and the soldiers realize through John’s preaching that they are sinful and guilty. They ask: ‘What shall we do?’ They realize that their lives ought to be different, that they must fight against sin and do what is good and pleasing. How far they go in examining themselves is evident from the fact that ‘all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not’ (v.15).
That thought also arises from John’s striking answer, which is so different from that of their teachers of the law. John directs them all to love their neighbor, as this must become evident in their actions (compare what the Lord requires of us in Matt. 25:35-46).
The things John asks of the people cannot be accomplished without the atoning work of Jesus Christ and the life-giving work of His Holy Spirit. John then points to this: ‘He is coming who is mightier than I.’ As a herald, John prepares their hearts (cf. Luke 1:17), so that the people, with all their sin, will realize that they cannot do without Jesus. ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’; this points to the sanctifying and purifying work of the Spirit (compare the flames of fire at Pentecost). Everyone will have to do with Christ. Those who reject Him will burn eternally (v.17).
What should we ‘do’ in our own time?
Sing: Hymn 14:4 (1984) / 18:4 (2014)