John 15:1-2 ESV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is metaphorically being spoken of
here as the true grapevine, and God the Father as the vinedresser, i.e. “a
person who cultivates and prunes grapevines” (M-W Dict.). And, we who believe
in Jesus are metaphorically being spoken of here as the branches of the grape
vine.
God the Father, as the vinedresser, nurtures, encourages,
helps and develops us in our walks of faith. And, he prepares us for works of
ministry that he might use us in the lives of others to spread his gospel of
grace and his love to the people of the world, and to other believers in Jesus,
too.
Nonetheless, we must bear fruit (results) which proves that
we are truly his disciples. In other words, there must be evidence in our lives
that we are walking by faith and that we are not still living to please our
flesh. There must be outgrowth from our lives, a product of our faith, which
shows (demonstrates) that we truly are followers of Jesus.
For example, if we say we believe in Jesus and in what he
did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, then we must believe what he
taught us and what his NT apostles taught us with regard to the requirements
for our salvation. For, the scriptures teach us that, if we want to have
eternal life with God, that we must walk according to the Spirit of God and no
longer according to the flesh, for if we walk according to the flesh, we will
die in our sins.
Yet, notice with me the wording here, for Jesus said, “Every
branch IN ME which does not bear fruit he takes away.” The branches cannot be “in
him” if they did not initially have genuine faith in Christ Jesus. I know many
people want to say here that this is speaking of those who made a profession of
faith in Jesus only, but the context does not bear that out. This is speaking
of those who were once part of the vine, but who did not become fruit-bearing
disciples (followers) of Jesus, and so they are cut off (See: Rom. 11:17-22; 1
Co. 15:2; Col. 1:21-23; 2 Tim. 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6, 14-15).
So,
what this is saying, too, is that our salvation is not a one-time event and
then we are good to go until we die, and then we get to go to heaven.
All
throughout the New Testament we learn that we must continue in Christ, and we
must remain faithful to him, and we must live according to the Spirit, and not
according to our flesh, and that we will reap what we sow. Basically, our
salvation is ongoing and will not be complete until our Lord returns. So, we
may begin well with Christ, but if we don’t continue, then we can be cut off
and thrown away and burned in the fire (see next section).
Thus,
we should never take our salvation for granted, or take for granted our Lord’s
grace to us, or think of his grace as permission to continue in sin.
And, the
reason that God prunes those of us who are bearing fruit is to keep us from
returning to our old fleshly ways, to humble us, and so we can share in his holiness
(compare to Hebrews 12). And, the Lord pruning us is the same as him
disciplining (chastising, reproving) us, and it is for our good. For, when we
go through suffering and hard times, we will turn to him, and he will do his
work of refining us and conforming us to the image of Christ.
John 15:3-6 ESV
“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
Jesus is speaking here to those of us who are truly his by
faith in him. We are clean because he made us clean. We can do nothing in
ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Nonetheless, our salvation
is conditional to us walking by faith, and not walking according to the flesh.
Where the confusion comes into play many times, with regard
to our salvation, is that people have this mindset that God’s grace is merely
him forgiving our sins and promising us heaven when we die. They forget that
Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24),
and that we must walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh,
if we want to have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn.
1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; cf. Tit. 2:11-14).
Thus, we must know here that our salvation is a process, not
a one-time event and then we are good to go to heaven no matter what. For, we
are saved (past), we are being saved (present) and we will be saved (future)
when Jesus Christ returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with him
forever. Some people refer to this as the process of sanctification.
Thus, if we understand our salvation as a process, then we
will understand the words of Jesus here when he says that we must abide in him.
We must live in him, in his truth, in his ways, according to the Spirit, and
not according to the flesh. We must develop a close intimate relationship with
him via time spent with him, throughout our days and nights, in his word, in
prayer, in fellowship with him, and via obedience to his commands.
We must regard our lives as no longer our own, for Jesus
bought us back for God with his blood, thus we are to honor God with our lives.
And, if Jesus is truly our Lord, that means he is master-owner of our lives,
and he is the one who is now directing our steps and showing us the way in
which we are to walk.
It is possible to appear as though we are bearing fruit for
God’s eternal kingdom when we are not, for there are many “good deed doers” out
there. Even atheists can do “good deeds.” So, this is not about just going
around the world doing good things for other people, though that is certainly
part of it. But, this is about giving our lives wholly to Jesus Christ, obeying
him, doing what he requires of us, forsaking our idols and sins, living holy
lives, pleasing to God, and no longer being conformed to the ways of this
sinful world (See: Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:17-24).
John 15:7-11 ESV
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
If we are truly abiding in Christ, in the truest sense of
what this means, then what we “wish” will be in line with God’s word and with
his divine character and will for our lives. So, this, in no way, is suggesting
that Jesus is a genie in a bottle there to grant our every desire just because
we claim him as our Savior.
Also, we must prove ourselves to be his disciples. For,
there are many who give lip service only. There are many who fake their Christianity
for their own selfish purposes. And, there are many who just use Jesus to
escape hell and to go to heaven when they die, but they truly do not revere him
as their Lord God.
So, there is this phrase which says, “The proof is in the
pudding.” It basically means that it must be tried and tested to prove how good
it is. And, that is the same for us. We must be tried and tested to see whether
or not our faith is genuine, and the genuiness of our faith will be proven by
our fruit (outgrowth), which is in keeping with repentance.
One of the strong themes of the book of John and 1st,
2nd & 3rd John is that love for God equals obedience
to his Word. If we love him, we will obey him. If we don’t love him, we won’t
obey him. If we don’t obey him, thus we do not love him or know him. And, he
does not know us.
So, don’t buy into the lies which tell you that being under
grace means you don’t have to obey God. For, God’s grace, which brings
salvation, instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly (worldly) lusts
(passions) and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait
for Christ’s return.
Thus, we must hold on to the faith which we profess, and we
must walk in it, not just talk it. And, we must take our Lord’s yoke upon us,
i.e. we must be slaves to his righteousness, because he is the one who carries
the burden of it for us. All we have to do is yield our lives to his control
and let him work his grace and his power and strength in our lives, and we just
have to cooperate with him in doing what he says. But, it is his power that
does the work in us, and not us operating in our own flesh.
Unshakably
An Original Work /
November 29, 2018
Based off various
scriptures
Cast your cares upon your Lord.
Come to Him
All you who’re weary.
Know that He will
Give you rest.
Take His yoke upon you
And learn from Him
And you’ll find your rest.
For His yoke is easy
And His burden’s light.
It’s His to bear.
Find the peace of Christ in heart.
Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts,
And be then
So thankful.
And, the peace of God
Which is beyond all
We can comprehend
Will guard your hearts
And your minds in Christ,
For He is Lord of all.
Hope in God will not betray.
Let us hold
Unshakably to
The hope that
We now profess.
For the One
Who promised hope
Is faithful to
His ev’ry word.
Therefore, with minds
That are sober,
Set your hope
On Christ’s return.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
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