Abide In Christ (John 15:1-17)
Once a person is saved is he always saved?
As a youth growing up in Church, we were taught that once we are saved, we are always saved. Over the years some of my closest friends in my youth days have strayed away from the faith. One dear friend who was baptized during his teens, turned away from the faith and he recently told me that he does not believe in Jesus. I have another friend who walked down the steps of the old national stadium together with me during the Billy Graham Crusade in Singapore, we went through the same follow-up sessions together, he is now a staunched Buddhist living a moralistic life. Another friend who once serves as a volunteer reaching out to the boys staying in the Boy’s Home with the gospel has now a dedicated room in his shop filled with many idols.
When we were growing up together as teenagers we were all very certain we were saved but were we? Are these friends of mine saved? Does once saved always saved apply to them.
Jesus is the True Vine and those who abide in Him will bear much fruit.
The big idea for the sermon is Jesus is the True Vine and those who abide in Him will bear much fruit.
Abide in Jesus and we will bear much fruit (Jn 15:1-6)
In the gospel of John 15, we see Jesus giving His seventh and final I am in the gospel, “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine dresser.”
In this verse, I want to bring to our attention two persons: The True Vine and the Vinedresser. Jesus says I am the true vine, not just the vine but the true vine? What does He mean?
When Jesus says He is the True Vine, it is not used in contrast with a false vine rather it refers to Jesus as the one, perfect and enduring vine. He is the one true and perfect Vine.
His statement implies a contrast with an imperfect vine and for the original hearer they will think of Israel.
Any Jews worth his salt will know that in the Old Testament, Israel is often symbolized as a vine, representing its relationship with God, His care, and the expectations for faithfulness and fruitfulness.
However, when we examine closer the use of this image in the Old Testament, it is often brought forward as a symbol of Israel’s degeneration, rather than her fruitfulness. For examples, the point of Isaiah’s chapter 5, reference is that the vine has run wild, producing sour grapes. “Jeremiah 2 terms Israel a “degenerate” and “strange” vine.
So in Israel we have the vine planted by God, the Vinedresser. It was meant to be fruitful but it was not fruitful at all. They have failed.
Israel was chosen by God to enter a covenant relationship with Him. Out of the four covenants He gave to the people only one came with a condition. The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. Israel failed to keep the covenant. What is implied in their failure is that it serves to affirm the fallen nature of humankind. The people of Israel like the rest of people from all other nations are sinners in need of Jesus. For Jesus alone can bring salvation.
By contrast, Jesus is the true vine. In Isaiah 53:2, Jesus was described as young plant that came out of dry ground. In the gospels, we learnt that He was despised of men, but He was perfect and beloved of the Father who, indeed, declared Him to be His “beloved Son” in whom he was “well pleased” (Matt 3:17; 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). Jesus is the One who, by His very nature as the true vine.
What Israel failed to do, Jesus did. Jesus is the true vine because He fulfilled what Israel failed to do.
The next person is the vinedresser and within the context of the passage the vine dresser is with reference to God. God is the Vinedresser for Jesus said it Himself, “My Father is the vinedresser.”
What does God do as the vinedresser? Listen to what Jesus said, “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. (Jn 15:2)”
Who are the branches? We are the branches. We who are in Christ, we are all the branches that belongs to the true vine. But that present a problem. How are we to understand, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away? And what about John 15:6, “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.”
If the branches refer to believers, does that means therefore as believers we are capable of not bearing fruit and when we do not bear fruit we will be cut off. Does that mean therefore we will lose our salvation?
The answer is no but how do we then explain what is said here?
A good place to start is to interpret passages like this in the light of clearer passages. We do not have to look; there are several passages in John where the security of the believer is clearly assured:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)
If we move to the epistles, we can find examples for the apostle Paul such as Ephesians 1:13-14, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
Scriptures affirms the security of our salvation. If our salvation is secured, then who are the branches that are cut off and thrown into the fire? They are dead branches. Meaning they are those who professed to be believers. How do you identify a false professor of faith. The lack of fruit.
Regardless of how attached this branch may appear to be on the surface, it is lacking the one absolute evidence of attachment — fruit! What does that mean? It could mean someone who comes to church regularly but other than a regular attendance there is no evidence of a life transformed by the gospel. It may mean someone who knows the gospel well and could even be a good teacher of the word but there is no ounce of grace in the person’s life, someone akin to a Pharisee.
For those of us who abides in Christ, God the Vinedresser will continue to prune us. Pruning involves slicing away all the diseased and unhealthy part of a plant for the plant to be healthy and to grow and to flourish.
For us as branches of the true Vine, God our Father prunes us from the sinful pleasures of the heart, He prunes us from the idols of our hearts, He prunes us from the values that shaped our culture in order that we may be shaped by the gospel culture.
Often pruning is painful but absolutely necessary. Pruning is a part of the sanctification process, as it involves removing impurities and fostering spiritual growth.
But note pruning only involves those who the followers of Christ. Where do we see that?
Look with me at John 15:3-5. John 15:3 tells us that we are already clean because of the word that Christ has spoken to us. It is the word that gives us life — that cleanses us. This can only imply that we are saved.
Here this Jesus is reassuring his disciples that they are branches that will bear fruit. Abiding in Christ and bearing fruit are not what saves us rather they are evidence of our salvation in Christ.
In response to our salvation, we are exhorted to continue to abide in Christ and to bear fruit.
To abide is to remain in Christ. This makes all the sense, if Christ is the vine and if we are the branches that means we came from the vine. If we are the branches that came from the vine, we will remain in the vine. Not only will we remain we will bear fruit. But we can only bear fruit if we abide in Christ. On our own we cannot bear fruit. A dead branch cut off from the True Vine cannot bear fruit.
Who are the ones who will bear much fruit, they who abide in Christ. And who are the people one who abide in Christ they must be the disciples of Christ.
Abide in Christ because we are His disciples (Jn 15:7-8)
Let us understand this better by unpacking John 15:7-8, “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.”
The word abide can be translated from Greek as, to stay, to remain, to live or to dwell. The implication is in abiding in Christ we are following the example of our Lord in walking a life that is obedient to God. This is what disciples do. Simply put if we abide in Christ, we are His disciples and one of the hallmarks of us as disciples of Christ is we will bear much fruit.
So how do we as believers remain or dwell in Christ? Jesus says abide in me and my words abide in you. Remain in Christ is to remain in His word, and His word will remain in us. This is important to understand What does it mean to remain in His word?
Friends our very life hangs on the word of God. We must never trifle with the word of God. It is a matter of life and death. Life as we know it begin with the word of God. The psalmist declare in Psalm 33:6, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. Our very life depends on His word — “He upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb 1:3)”
We can only be saved by the word of God, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone (Rom 1:16).
Our spiritual life begins with the word of God: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (Jas 1:18). “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet 1:23).
We go on living by the word God: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).
If we abide in Christ and His word abide in us, we have this assurance, ““ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
What does it mean?
It does not mean if you ask for a million dollars you will get. What it does mean is if you remain in His word, if you walk in accordance to His word, what you ask will be in accordance to His will and He will answer.
The psalmist in Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
If we delight in Hs word, what we desire will be what God desire and hence our desire will be satisfied.
This is the second time in the gospel of John; Jesus first assures His disciples that He will answer their prayers in accordance with their desires and wishes in John 14:13-14. In John 14, His aim was to comfort His disciples. The second time He assures His disciples they can ask whatever they wish, and it will be done, it was to encourage His disciples to remain in Him and to bear fruit.
The ultimate aim however goes beyond comforting or encouraging. The promise is given for the sake of God’s glory.
How is God glorified? By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
What marks someone as a disciple of Christ is fruit bearing and what enables a disciple to bear fruit is by abiding in Jesus. And all this is done for God’s glory. Friends, God is glorified not by praise and worship alone but by His followers also bearing much fruit.
God is glorified not by praise and worship alone but by His followers also bearing much fruit.
Thus far what is clear is when we abide in Christ, we will bear fruit. What is not answered as yet is what kind of fruit are we talking about? Up to now, John has not told us what fruit we are to bear.
So how can we really know if we are truly abiding in Jesus and bearing fruit?
Abide in Jesus and we will remain in His love (John 15:9-13)
To abide in Jesus is to abide in His love. What kind of love are we talking about here.
We have the answer here in John 15:9, “ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved You. Oh the richness of God’s love is beyond our human comprehension but let us try to capture a small part of it. The verb that was used in the original language for “has loved” is the aorist verb and often aorist is used to signal the perfection and completeness and in the passage, it used in the context of God’s love. It is a love that exist even before time began. An eternal love.
How are we to understand this completeness. Think of every synonym related to perfection and completeness and we will only scratch the surface. The closest we can get it understanding this love is the cross but who can fully comprehend the depth of the love that was expressed on the cross.
The disciples at this point in history have not yet seen the expression of this perfect and compete love. But we on this side of cross have seen it and we know Jesus has indeed loved us as the Father has loved Him, with the kind of perfect and complete love, that is way beyond our human understanding. When we say we abide in Jesus, what is implied is we are abiding in His perfect and complete love.
Now if to abide in Jesus is to abide in His love, what implications does that have to our fruit bearing.
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.
In John 14:15, Jesus told His disciples, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” now He is telling then if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love. Is He saying the same thing?
They may sound similar but there is a key difference. In John 14:15, Love is the root of obedience, it is motivation and source of our obedience.
Here in John 15:10, obedience is the pathway to abiding in love. It is the means of remaining in His love. It does not mean we are to earn His love through obedience, rather it is our obedience that keeps us in His love.
Our obedience to Jesus is not and should not be drudgery. When Jesus instructs His disciples to obey His command, His aim is for them to have His joy in them, it is so they can have complete joy. The purpose of obedience is joy not drudgery! Joy is the goal.
The world will not see joy as the goal for obedience, because our desire of obedience is marred by sin no matter how good the intention. When you dig deeper, underneath all the good intention there exist a desire to control, a desire for power. Even parent desiring the obedience of their child, as loving and good the intent, there always will be some form of selfish motive mixed in. But the desire of the Lord for our obedience is that we may experience His joy.
We are called to love each other not because we are so lovable but because we are so loved.
The commandment that He has for us is to love one another. What must motivate us to love one another is because Jesus loves us. We are called to love each other not because we are so lovable but because we are so loved. Let the love that came to us flow out of our lives into the life of others. We are abiding in Christ and bearing fruit if we do this.
Another way we can know that we are in Christ and bearing fruit is through the intimacy of our relationship with Jesus our Friend.
Abide in Jesus for He is our friend (John 15:14-17)
A guy and his girlfriend were walking down the street in the middle of summer. Some guy walked up and tried to stab me, but the guy must have been under the influence of something because he fell over and started screaming at the man. He got back up and came charging at him again. Instinctively his girlfriend pushed him out of the way and took the hit. She got stab in the stomach and the assailant ran away. The man tried to stop the bleeding but couldn’t and she died by the time the ambulance came.
Often when we hear stories like these, we will feel kind of overwhelm, for we stand before something that is sublime. It is the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of one’s life. We understand and resonate with what Jesus is saying.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
Humanly speaking this is the greatest love we can express as humans. But Jesus when He said these words, He was not only stating a fact but He is also referencing His own death, a death that surpasses any sacrifice we humans can make.
His death was an exceptional death. Let me try to explain. When we sacrifice our life for a friend, it is heroic, it is extraordinary. It is a sacrifice but as a mortal the sacrifice that we have done, is the shortening of our life. We are really giving up our life for eventually we will die, our sacrifice is at best an expedited death. Jesus need not have to die at all.
His death is an exceptional death because He knew He would die. He was born to die for our sins. It was a deliberate death. Often times when someone sacrifice their life, it is often more of a calculated risk. Sometimes we live to celebrate our own heroics but sometimes we die. For Jesus He knows He will die, He chose to die.
But there is something even more extraordinary about the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus says in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Before we consider what He means when He say we are His friends when we do what He commands.
Consider this, when were we His friends? Beloved we were His enemies. When He died on the cross for our sins, we were still Hs enemies, rebel who have rejected God’s rule over our lives, rebels who rejected Jesus as King over us.
When did we become His friends? When He died for us. We can be His friends only because of His electing grace toward us manifesting itself in the atoning sacrifice.
Now let us unpack the verse, you are my friends if you do what I command.
It is a simple obedience because we are His friends.
Let us first be clear of one thing, it is not our obedience that qualifies our friendship Jesus, this is not what the verse is saying. Rather our friendship with Jesus is characterized by our obedience. What Jesus expects of us His friends is simply our obedience. An obedience that is continuous and an obedience that covers all that He commands.
It is a simple obedience because we are His friends. He is not asking us to obey Him as a slave obeys His master. No, He is asking to obey Him because His friends.
What is the difference?
A master’s primary expectation is that his needs are served and there are consequences for failure to fulfil what the master desires. As friends, Jesus has our welfare in mine. Our obedience to His command is for our ultimate good.
Listen to what He says in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
A master demands obedience in all his subjects and the master will simply tell them what to do. As a friends of Jesus we are informed of His thinking, our obedience comes with a sense of confidence and privilege because we are privy to what He knows from the Father. While Jesus can certainly demand our absolute obedience without having to inform us of His motives, plans, purposes. But He chose to inform.
How is it possible for us to be His friends when we were His enemies, living in rebellion against Him. On our own we will never choose Jesus as our friend on our we can never choose Jesus as our friend. Never, never, never because we are sinners, sinners, sinners. The simple truth is Jesus chose us (John 15:16).
Jesus has every right to choose because He paid the ransom for our sins. But here is the thing, He did not need to choose us as His friends, we do not deserve it but He did.
Dear ones, Jesus may have chosen us to be His friend but never see Him as our equal, He is our Saviour and our King.
Beloved it is not us who chose Jesus to be our friend it is Jesus who chose us to be His friends. Had not Jesus chosen us to be His friend, we will never become His friends.
We must approach Jesus our friend in gratitude always bearing in mind that the friendship exists because He has stooped to our estate.
Jesus is our friend! Jesus the King of kings, chose us to be His friend. Jesus the Lord of Lord has chosen us to be His friend. Jesus the Son of God has chosen us to be His friend. For us to be His friend, God the Son became a man to live a life we were supposed to live. For us to be His friend, God the Son became a man to be our substitute, to die the death we deserve to die.
As our friend, He says to us, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
As our friend He says to us, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” What a privilege He has given to us.” Not only is it a privilege but there is assurance that we can bear fruit because He has given us the means. For He says to us, “so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
Now for the answer that we have been waiting for, what does it mean to bear fruit.
The emphasis on going and bearing fruit in John 15:16, have suggested to many commentators, that it refers to new converts.
Quoting DA Carson, “The fruit primarily in view in this verse is the fruit that emerges from mission, from specific ministry to which the disciples have been sent. The fruit, in short, is new converts. One purpose of election, then, is that the disciples who have been so blessed with revelation and understanding, should win others to the faith—fruit that will last (c.f. John 8:31).”
We can say one of the meanings of bearing fruit is evangelism. And this is not wrong because as His followers we have been commanded to go and make disciples of all nations.
Another clear understanding of bearing fruit is in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
This does and must mark us as disciples of Jesus.
But John has another focus when it comes to bearing fruit. John 15:17 our final verse for this morning.
“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” One of the fruits of Spirit is love and love is not just noun, it is also very much a verb. It is not merely descriptive but it is prescriptive. We display the fruit of the Spirit by loving one another. This is not new but it is worth repeating because the Lord repeated it. We probably have heard this call to love one another many times, we have been given example to love one another many times. But let me add one more example this morning. Let us love one another by being friends with one another. I used to think the call to love one another does not mean we are to be friends with one another. Now I ask why not? Jesus loves us and calls us His friends. He calls us who have been unfaithful numerous times His friends. He call us who have been nasty to others His friends. He call us ungracious and unloving in our ways His friends. He calls us who have been self-righteous His friends, He calls who have been selfish, His friends, He calls who have been uncaring His friends, He calls us who have been unfaithful His friends, He calls us who have been lying His friends. The list can go on and on. Can we not love one another as friends?
What does it mean to love one another as friends? Think about this way, in our sinful and capacity to love and care for some people whom we consider as good friends. In our limited ways we know how to make some sacrifices for our friends and they consider good friends because we know how to be good to them. These are friendships that are not unique to Christians. I have non-Christians who are closer to me than some Christian friends sadly because they are more trustworthy.
I say sadly because we who are in Christ rightly should have been transformed by the gospel. We who are in Christ belong to a special community, the gospel community. We are all one in Christ, we are all branches from the One True Vine. Should bond with one another not be closer than our bond with those outside our gospel community? I am not saying we cannot be friends with those outside why is not our bond with one another not closer. We can cite years of friendship, we can cite affinity, we can cite similar interest, we cite similar bandwidth but what about us all being one in Christ?
How can us loving one another as friends look like?
Begin by us willing to be a friend to others.
Not all of us are extroverts and not all of us are comfortable with interacting with people. But all of us can smile and unless because of medical condition, all of us can talk, all of us have ear to listen. Start there. We may not be courageous to approach but we can be approachable.
I know in a church community, some of us are feared by others or we may come across as harsh and demanding, I must confess that over the years as a pastor, I do confess that there are some people in the church, whenever they tell me pastor can I walk to you? My heart would just sink because I know exactly what they are going to say to me and it is often very critical. Likewise I am sure there are people whom I say I want to talk to them and their heart sank as well. But why must this be the case? Can we not change, can our not bring comfort instead of discomfort to others?
Friends, loving one another also involve us learning to forgive one another, learning to accept one another, learning to not take offensive, in singlish, don’t be so sensitive can or not. Can we in humility consider others above ourselves, can we learn to put others first?
Jesus loves us and He is has chosen to be His friend. Let us love one another and choose one another to be our friends.