John 15:1-2 (NIV) “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”
In the first 17 verses of John 15 (NIV Version) the words “remain in” is said eleven (11) times. Eleven times! “Remain”, Jesus says. He doesn’t say to “get into” or “move in” or “jump in”. He says to remain in the vine – which verse 1 says is Jesus himself. Verse 3 tells us that when we are in Christ, we have to choose to remain there.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “remain” as:
1. To continue in the same state or condition:
2. To continue to be in the same place; stay or stay behind:
3. To be left after the removal, loss, passage, or destruction of others: Only a few trees remain.
4. To be left as still to be dealt with: A cure remains to be found.
5. To endure or persist.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
What I find interesting is that remaining in the Vine it is our choice. Unlike a physical plant, such as a grapevine, on our world, we have the choice to stay plugged into Jesus and by staying plugged in we are choosing to bear fruit.
Notice, God never gives us an option of just hanging around on the vine without growth. God, the Master gardener clearly gives us ONLY 2 choices (verse 2). We choose to be pruned or we choose to be cut off. WHAT??? Read v2 again, “He [God] cuts off every branch in me [Jesus] that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (emphasis added). A branch either bears fruit or doesn’t bear fruit. THATS IT. We either get cut off (for not bearing fruit) or we get pruned (for bearing fruit). When this soaks in, this should shake us to the very core of our being. There is no other option. We will either bear fruit or be cut off. There is no choice to be set in the Vine and NOT bear fruit. We only bear fruit by remaining in Him.
v4 (NIV) “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.”
OK. Here’s the deal. It is impossible for us to bear fruit if we are not plugged in to the Vine; if we are not remaining in the vine – remaining in Jesus. Remember our definition? Our definition (#5) says that we are enduring and persisting in our bearing of fruit.
Let me take you back to John 15:2. Here’s the other cool part of this. If we are bearing fruit, we WILL BE PRUNED, not that being pruned is always so cool when its happening. Yes… often pruning is painful and we often will not realize what or why certain things happened, but remaining is enduring, persisting… another word for persisting is persevering. James 1:3-4 (NIV) tells us “because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
When we persevere, we become mature and complete according to James 1:4. At the end of John 15:2, God says that through this pruning, through this testing of our faith (to develop pereseverance), we “…will be even more fruitful.” So, God is promising to us, that if we remain in the vine, we will become even more fruitful.
OK… So what does that mean? What does it mean to be more fruitful? What is the “fruit” that I WILL BEAR if I am in the Vine? Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the very fruits of the Spirit of God (which is also Christ’s spirit). I don’t know about you, but when I think of Jesus, these traits ALL come to mind. This means when I bear fruit, I am becoming more and more like Christ in my heart… I am being transformed…
v7 (NIV) “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.”
So… Is becoming more Christlike a license to get what I want? Does this verse make God a “genie” whose bottle we can rub for 3 wishes? I think not. Let’s look at it and break it down… What do we know? We know that we HAVE to bear fruit if we are in Christ or we will be cut off. We know that being more fruitful is becoming more like Christ, more Christlike in our thoughts, our words, our attitudes, and our actions.
Let me ask this… When Christ was on earth, did he ever ask for anything that glorified his own personhood? I know this is a difficult question for the believer because we know that Jesus and God are the same, ultimately… but hang with me here. As a human, did Christ ever ask or seek to glorify his own humanity? Absolutely Not. Jesus never asked for one self-serving, self-gratifying, self-centered thing OVER God’s will. Even when he was praying so intently over the crucifixion that was imminant, over the very existance of his life on earth, his core desire was to glorify God and have God’s will be done, regardless of his own suffering and pain. As a human on earth, every request Jesus ever prayed was ONLY to do God the Fathers will and to glorify HIM…
I encourage you to read the entire passage of John 15:1-17. It is RICH!!!
So here are my personal take aways from today’s reading:
- So if I endure, persevere and remain in Christ, I have no choice but to bear more and more fruit in my life. God promises it. This fruit is the transformation of my old, self-centered, wicked man into a man more and more of Christ’s likeness. At a minimum, I will (notice I didn’t say “should”) see growth in the fruits of the Spirit in my own life. (v5)
- If I am in Christ and His words are in me (i.e. memorize scripture) then v7 says God will give me whatever I wish.
- If I am becoming more Christlike (#1) then what I wish for will not be for selfish, me-centered, trinkets and selfish ambitions. I will “wish” for those things that Christ wanted, namely that God the Father be lifted up and glorified in all the earth. I will want God to be glorified in all I do. I will NOT want me to be exalted or the center of my world, as that would take my mind’s attention and my heart’s affection off of God.
So my prayer today, Father God,
is that you would keep me plugged into the Vine. Help me to endure and persevere in such a way that You and You alone are glorified and lifted up in all I do today. Help me bear fruit today, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Running after Papa…