John 15:1-11

Keep the commandments of Jesus to love God above all and to love others as much as yourself. Abide, dwell, in His love. Then we will bear the fruit of the Spirit to be shared with others.

We are safe  and secure in the loving arms of God.

John 15:1-11

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 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.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

With such a vinedresser, the branches can experience complete confidence and security.

Every branch is said to be in Christ. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” to speak of a Christian’s legal and family position as a result of God’s grace. The emphasis of in Me in this passage, however, is on deep, abiding fellowship. Jesus’ purpose was to move His disciples from servants to friends. This would involve a process of discipline in regard to His commandments. No plant produces fruit instantaneously; fruit is the result of a process. Such is also the case with believers. Prunes means “cleanses.” Once the fruit is on the vine, the vinedresser cleanses the fruit of bugs and diseases. The spiritual counterpart is cleansing which is done through the Word.

For the branch to produce more fruit, it must abide, which means to dwell, to stay, to settle in, to sink deeper. The way to abide in Christ is to obey. The believer who lovingly obeys the Word of God produces much fruit.

Apart from Christ, a believer cannot accomplish anything of permanent spiritual value. Not abiding in Christ has serious consequences: (1) The person is cast out as a branch, indicating the loss of fellowship; (2) the person is withered, indicating a loss of vitality; (3) the person is burned, indicating a loss of reward. The fire here is figurative, symbolizing either fiery trials or the fire at the judgment seat of Christ. Failure to abide produces spiritual disaster. 

The text has come full circle in showing how strategic it is for disciples to love each other, as Christ’s method of evangelizing the lost. Where there is good fruit, there are also seeds for propagation. The love of God the Father for God the Son is the measure of the love of the Son for believers. NKJ BIble.

Jesus is the center of the Christian faith—He is the source of life and the way to eternal life.

Grapevines are more plentiful if pruned. The pruning may refer to hardship that (eventually) produces faithfulness and closer relationship with God, such as the disciples are about to experience. Jesus also could be referring to the pruning of dead branches, which would entail removing what is undesirable. Jesus’ disciples, depend on the true vine (Jesus) for all things, including life. Jesus means that people cannot access God without Him, and consequently they cannot bear fruit. All life-giving things require access to the source of life, Jesus. The dead branches are people who are useless to God’s work—people like Judas, who chose to reject Jesus when faced with the truth. 

The people who reject Jesus will be judged on the last day—fire refers to judgment. The judgment is based primarily on rejection of Jesus because acceptance of Jesus’ ability to grant eternal life was His word and His command. Loving Jesus (i.e., accepting Him) involved keeping His commandments. Jesus wants the opposite of destruction for His disciples: He wants them to make God’s greatness known. 

The way His disciples prove to be His is by loving others as He loved them and by believing and proclaiming God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Faithlife Bible

Hosea 14:8 | “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’I have heard and observed him.I am like a green cypress tree;Your fruit is found in Me.”

Matthew 3:10 | And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 5:16 | Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 7:19 | Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.