MATTHEW 21:28-3228But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. (Matthew 21:28‑32).
“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons [children]; and he came to the first, and said, ` Son [child], go, work to-day in my vineyard.' He answered and said, I will not:' but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, ` I go, sir:" and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his [literally the] father? They say unto Him, ' The first.' Jesus saith unto them, ` Verily I say unto you, that the publicans [tax-gatherers] and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans [tax-gatherers] and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
IN the case of the first-mentioned son there is profession without obedience. John the Baptist came in the way of righteousness exhorting to repentance, and to fruit-bearing worthy of that repentance.
In some of his hearers, the natural enmity and rebellion of the heart having been manifested in actual practice, John's testimony was believed, and repentance followed.
In others, a vain profession and a religious garb keeping out of view the real condition of the heart, his testimony was rejected, and there was no repentance.
John also testified of Christ as the Lamb of God, the taker away of the sin of the world. The convicted sinner having set to his seal that God is true in His condemnation of sin, goes on to confide in Him for His grace on the ground of redemption. There is repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ; and this faith, working by love and gratitude for sins forgiven, leads to obedience and fruit-bearing.
On the other hand, where there is self-righteousness and an outward religious profession, without a deep inward work of the Spirit of God, convicting of sin and of the natural enmity and rebellion of the heart to God, the need of repentance is not felt, and necessity for the atoning sacrifice of Christ is either overlooked or denied, and the obedience rendered is mere will-worship, and not loving subjection to the will of a heavenly Father. It is as Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, professing, "All that Jehovah hath spoken will we do, and be obedient;" but ere Moses was come down from the mount the law was broken in its essential requirements, and Moses shattered to fragments the tables of the covenant, thereby signifying that all hope of salvation on the ground of human obedience was at an end.
Sinners of the Gentiles, convicted by the Spirit of God of their sinfulness and rebellion, have been led to repentance, faith, and obedience. Whereas the nation of Israel, together with the moral, the self-righteous, trusting in a religious form and outward profession, have been stumbled by the humbling doctrines of the cross, and have rejected the grace of God through a crucified Redeemer, as testified by the Apostle Paul: "The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone" (Rom. 9:30-3230What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; (Romans 9:30‑32)).