The vine and the branches

'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.' (Joh 15:1–11,16–17)

Chosen to bear fruit

This famous passage of Scripture is very important to us because it deals with the fundamentals of Christianity: Why are we Christians? Why has God chosen us to be Christians? Why has God given us his Spirit? Is it just so we can have eternal life? No, that is important, of course, but there is far more to being a Christian than that.

In v16 Jesus said that we have not chosen him, but he has chosen us and has appointed us to bear fruit for the Father. The Greek word translated 'appoint' means to put or place someone in a position. Jesus has chosen us and has placed us in our position, as Christians, so we can bear fruit for the Father. God expects us to bear fruit for him.

The true vine

Let's look at this passage from the beginning.

'I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener (v1).'

The Greek word translated 'true' in that sentence means real, actual, not counterfeit but genuine. Jesus said: 'I am the real, the true, the actual, the genuine vine.'

There are many counterfeit vines in this world that we can attach ourselves to—religious leaders and gurus such as Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, whose teachings many cling to. But there is only one true vine who will enable us to bear fruit for God, and that vine is Jesus Christ.

The Greek word translated 'true' in this passage comes from the Greek word translated 'truth' in Joh 14:6:

Jesus answered, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through me.'

Not only is Jesus the truth, but he is also the true vine, the real vine, the genuine vine; and our Father is the gardener.

Fruitless branches

'He [the Father] cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful (v2).'

The Greek word translated 'cuts off' means to take away or to remove. Jesus said that his Father will take away, or remove, every branch in him that does not bear fruit.

Please note these are branches that are in Christ. Some Christians believe Jesus was referring to those who merely profess Christianity and are not true believers, but that was not what he said. He said: '…every branch "in me"…'.

The term 'in Christ' is used in the New Testament to describe born-again believers (Rom 8:1; 2Co 5:17); the apostle Paul said he was 'in Christ' (Rom 16:7). These are people who are in Jesus and know Jesus. Christians must bear fruit for the Father.

Pruning

The Greek word translated 'bear' in 'bears no fruit' is the word phero, and the Greek word translated 'fruit' is karpos. Both are used in the Parable of the Sower.

'It came up, grew and produced a crop [karpos: fruit, crop, harvest] multiplying [phero: bearing] thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.' (Mar 4:8).

By using the same Greek words in both teachings, the Bible is showing that producing a crop in Mar 4 and bearing fruit in Joh 15, are one and the same thing.

Jesus said that every branch in him that does bear fruit the Father prunes (Greek: to clean off, to cleanse from filth, to make clean, to purify, to remove defilement or imperfections). So the pruning Jesus spoke about in Joh 15 has to to do with cleaning us up, purifying us, removing imperfections from our lives and things that defile us.

We sing the chorus: 'Purify my heart…', and that is where a lot of the Father's pruning and cleansing takes place—in our hearts.

Jesus said:

'What comes out of a man is what makes him "unclean". For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man "unclean".' (Mar 7:20–23)

Sin has its origin in the human heart. We need to have our hearts cleansed so we can live godly lives and be more fruitful for the Father.

Cleansing through the Word

'You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you (v3).'

Jesus had already cleansed his disciples by the word he had spoken to them. God uses his Word to clean and purify our hearts as the following scripture shows:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Eph 5:25–28)

As Christians, it's imperative that we read and study the Word of God so the Lord can do this vital work of cleansing in our lives.

Remain in Jesus

'Remain in me, and I will remain in you (v4a).'

Jesus wouldn't tell us to remain in him if it wasn't possible for us not to remain in him. The wording of that sentence implies a condition: that if we remain in Jesus, he will remain in us. The converse must also be true: that if we do not remain in Jesus, he will not remain in us.

The Greek word translated 'remain' means to abide or to dwell. Jesus abides with us, and dwells in us, by his Spirit—the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9).

I used to believe that God would never take his Spirit from a believer no matter how they lived, but now I question that belief. After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband he prayed:

'Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.' (Psa 51:11)

We are told to remain in Jesus and then he will remain, and abide, and dwell in us.

'No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me (v4b).'

It is only as we remain in Jesus, and allow his life to flow through us, that we can bear fruit for the Father. We cannot bear fruit by ourselves: we must remain in the vine.

'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (v5).'

We can do nothing that will bless our Father in heaven unless Jesus Christ lives his life in us.

Discarded branches

'If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned (v6).'

Why are the branches that have not remained in Jesus, picked up, thrown into the fire and burned? Because they are not producing fruit and are, therefore, of no use to the Father.

Jesus said at the beginning of the passage that he is the true vine and his Father is the gardener. A gardener, or vine grower, grows a vine for one purpose only—to gather fruit from it—because the wood of a vine is useless for making anything with, it's only good for burning (Eze 15:1–6).

I believe Jesus chose to compare us to the branches of a vine for that very reason because our main purpose, as Christians, is to bear fruit for God.

In Jesus' day a fruit grower wouldn't tolerate a barren fruit tree, it would be a waste of space. He would cut it down, burn it, and plant another. This fact was referred to and given spiritual significance by Jesus in Luk 13:6–9:

Then he told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?"

' "Sir," the man replied, "leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig round it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down." '

And by John the Baptist in Mat 3:7–10:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.'

If we do not remain in Jesus we will not bear fruit and, like withered branches, will be picked up by the gardener and burned—a clear reference to hell (Mar 9:43–48).

A divine promise

'If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you (v7).'

Allowing our Lord's words to remain in us implies obedience to them. Jesus said that everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Mat 7:24).

If we remain in Jesus and obey his Word, allowing it to cleanse us and refine us, we can ask for whatever we wish and it will be given us. Why is that? Because the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (Jam 5:16–18).

Every prayer of Jesus was answered apart from one: when he asked to be spared from crucifixion. That request was not granted because it wasn't in his Father's will (Mat 26:39–44). But every other prayer was answered, not because he was the Son of God but, as the Son of Man, he fulfilled the conditions for answered prayer:

• he always prayed in his Father's will (1Jo 5:14–15)
• he always prayed with faith (Mar 11:20–24)
• he always did what was pleasing to his Father (Joh 8:29).

If we meet those conditions our prayers will be answered also.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, [Why is that?] because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. (1Jo 3:21–22)

Obedience to God and his Word adds power to our prayers.

Glorifying the Father

'This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (v8).'

Every disciple of Jesus who remains in him, and allows his words to remain in them, will bear much fruit and will bring glory to the Father.

We sing the chorus: 'Father I love you, worship and adore you, glorify your name in all the earth…'. Our desire is that our Father in heaven is glorified on earth. But do we realize that if we, the disciples of Jesus Christ, bear much fruit in our lives, then our heavenly Father will be glorified?

'To glorify' means to reveal someone as being great, important, or excellent. If we allow Jesus to live his life in us, then our Father in heaven will be seen to be great, important, and excellent—in other words, he will be glorified in, and through, us. This is how we show the world, and the Father, that we are true disciples of our Lord.

Remain in his love

'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (v9–11).'

Jesus said that as the Father had loved him, so Jesus has loved us (past tense). He then said that if we obey his commands we will remain in his love (future tense), just as he obeyed his Father's commands and remained in his love. The promise is conditional: remaining in Jesus' love depends upon us obeying his commands.

Some Christians believe that Jesus will always love them no matter how they live or what they do. That is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus said that he remained in his Father's love specifically because he obeyed his Father's commands. That means that if he hadn't obeyed his Father's commands he would not have remained in his love.

The words of our Lord must be studied carefully so that we do not deceive ourselves.

Jesus loved us before we were saved; he loved us so much he came to die for us. But now that we know him, his continued love for us depends upon our obedience to him. What was true for Jesus in his relationship with his Father, is also true for us in our relationship with Christ.

Jesus said that if we love him we will obey his teaching (Joh 14:23), which means that we prove our love for Jesus by obeying his Word. If we do obey him, the Father will love us and Jesus also will love us (Joh 14:21). Again, their love for us will depend upon our obedience.

The Lord has told us these things so that his joy may be in us and our joy may be complete (v11). Jesus wants us to have his joy. That joy comes from the love of Christ that is poured into our hearts when we walk in obedience to him and his Word. There can be no substitute for such love and joy in our lives.

Fruit that will last

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other (v16–17).

Jesus has chosen and appointed us to go and bear fruit for the Father—fruit that will last. The Greek word translated 'last' in v16 also meansto remain. The fruit we will bear as Christ's life flows through us will remain, it will endure, it will last, it will be permanent, because it has been produced by God.

True fruit

And now we come to the final point—the meaning of the word 'fruit' (Greek: karpos) which is used so often in this passage.

When I was a young Christian I believed that the Parable of the Sower was about bringing people to Jesus: some bring thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred people to the Lord. They reproduce themselves spiritually and that, I thought, was 'bearing fruit' for the Father.

But if the measure of our fruitfulness, in God's sight, is based upon the number of people we lead to Jesus then I, for one, have not been very fruitful in my life. I certainly haven't brought thirty, sixty, or a hundred people to the Lord (not knowingly anyway), and I don't suppose many other Christians have either.

To understand the biblical meaning of the word 'fruit' we need to look at how it is used elsewhere in the New Testament, and one of the most important uses of the word is found in Gal 5.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit (karpos) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:19–23)

When we remember that we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in Jesus, and that Jesus remains (or dwells) in us by his Spirit, then the meaning of the word 'fruit', as used in Joh 15, becomes clear to us—it is the spiritual fruit produced in our lives by Christ's indwelling Spirit.

To that list we can add the fruit (karpos) of righteousness that comes through (Greek: by the means of) Jesus Christ (Phi 1:11)—righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of God (1Jo 3:7). And the fruit (karpos) that we bear when we publicly praise his name (Heb 13:15).

Christian maturity

Luke's account of the Parable of the Sower says that the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures and do not mature (Luk 8:14).

The Greek word translated 'mature' means to bring to perfection or ripeness. Christian maturity, or 'coming to perfection', is not measured by how many people we bring to Jesus, but by the quality of the fruit we bear for God.

Righteous living—living in obedience to God—together with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, is the fruit he wants us to bear for him. Such fruit takes time to grow and to ripen in our lives and we can only produce that fruit as we allow Jesus Christ to live his life in us.