Practical Result of Salvation
Luke 3:1-14 records four groups of people that came to the baptism of John. The first group was religious but lost Pharisees, whom John refused to baptize because they had no internal fruits of salvation. The second group (the general mass of the population) was the common people, who after they were saved asked, "What shall we do?" The third group (the hated group) was Publicans, who after they were saved asked, "What shall we do?" The fourth group (the feared group) was the soldiers, who after they were saved asked, "What shall we do?" The Pharisees weren't saved and John refused to baptize them. They had cleaned up the outside but inside they were full dead of men's bones. John refused to baptize them because they were lost. The common people, the publicans and the soldiers all asked the same question, "What shall we do?" None of these three groups asked about salvation, because they were already saved. They asked what they needed to do to show the world they were believers. John answered them differently because they needed different answers according to their personal situation.