I am the True Vine (John 15:1-8)

2018-01-27

The first 12 chapters of the Gospel of John emphasize how salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ (justification). Starting in John 13, Jesus is with His disciples, teaching them what it means to live the Christian life (sanctification).

Jesus is the True Vine

As Jesus and His disciples left the upper room where they had the last supper, He told them what they needed to know in order to bear fruit. Let us look at what He told them.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:1-8)
  1. Jesus is the true vine. He is the true vine, which means there would be false vines out there. This true vine is the one that produces the real fruit of righteousness in the world. John 15:1
  2. God the Father is the husbandman. He is the one, as we shall see, manages and cares for each of the branches of the vine. John 15:1
  3. Branches without fruit are taken away. Years ago, I read a commentary about this by a viticulturalist, and this refers to branches that need to be taken away from the ground. Once lifted, they would begin to bear fruit. The branch that still does not bear fruit, is mentioned in John 15:6, which we will discuss later. The point here is that God works in these branches, so they produce fruit. As the purpose of the branches is to produce fruit, so it is the purpose for Christians to produce fruit. We need to be lifted up while we are learning what it means to abide in Christ. John 15:2.
  4. Branches that produce fruit are purged so they can produce more fruit. We see that God wants to maximize fruit from His people. If they bore fruit before, He helps them bear more. John 15:2
  5. We as believers are already clean. The disciples (and we) are already clean (justification). The purging in John 15:2 does not concern spiritual uncleanness, but rather a preparation for bearing more fruit (sanctification). See discussion concerning foot washing here. The Word of God pronounces us clean the hour we first believe (justification). John 15:3
  6. Jesus’ command is for us to abide in Him, and He will in us. We are already clean because of the Word, the Gospel. However, Jesus commands us to continue believing in that Word. John 15:4
  7. We abide so we can bear fruit. We do not bear spiritual fruit by Himself. Any good fruit is His fruit. The fruit comes from the vine, via the branches. If we do not continue in faith, we are going to be fruitless, and therefore, useless and purposeless. John 15:4
  8. We abide so we can bear much fruit. It is not just fruit we bear, we bear a lot of it! John 15:5
  9. Without Christ, we can do nothing. The Christian life is nothing less than that: Christ’s life in us. His life produces fruit. We in the flesh produce absolutely nothing spiritual. John 15:5
  10. If one does not abide, we are discarded. It is not immediately clear as to who the men are that gather the branches. One thing is for certain, if one stubbornly does not abide, after God’s continual encouragement and lifting up (John 15:2), He no longer bothers with him. The judgment of believers in Hebrews 10:26-39 applies here, and the same receives the chastisement as sons (Hebrews 12:8-9). In extreme cases, God will take their lives, as was the case of some of the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). John 15:6
  11. Our abiding results in efficacious prayer. There are two conditions: we abide in Christ (continue to trust Him) and His words abide in us (we know and obey His words). It sounds like we accept His desires as our desires. If we pray for what Jesus and we both want, then He will for sure answer the prayer. John 15:7
  12. God is glorified when we bear fruit. If we bear a lot of fruit, God is glorified. We should want to bear much fruit. John 15:8
  13. If we bear fruit, we are His disciples. If we do not bear fruit, then we must not be His disciples. John 15:8

So, What Does It Mean to Bear Fruit?

Most people think that the fruit we bear is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). This may be part of it, but I do not think this is the whole picture. The vine, a “grape tree,” produces grapes, and an apple tree produces apples, so the Christ tree is going to produce Christians. “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). If we are His disciples, then we will also make disciples.

Related

The Concept of Abiding in Johannine Literature