John 15:1-8 - Remain in Christ
- Chad Werkhoven
- Oct 13
- 4 min read
Jesus has big plans for you as you remain in Him.
John 15:1–8 (NIV)
CONTEXT: Jesus has just finished the Passover meal with His disciples in the upper room. Judas has just left to betray Him, and now they’ve headed out in the night for the Garden of Gethsemane, where He’ll be arrested. Jesus has been using these final moments to download a massive dose of theology onto the remaining disciples, who are tired, overwhelmed and terrified at this point. He gives them this metaphor to help them understand.
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also 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.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 3: God’s Preservation of the Converted
Because of
these remnants of sin dwelling in them
and also because of the temptations of the world and Satan,
those who have been converted
could not remain standing in this grace
if left to their own resources.
But God is faithful,
mercifully strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them
and powerfully preserving them in it to the end.
Summary
It's interesting the way that Jesus describes Himself here - not just that He calls Himself the Vine, for the Bible uses this metaphor to describe God's people often, but that He specifies that He's the true vine.
Jesus knew that His disciples - and us - live in a world of false vines, all of which beckon for our attention and allegiance. Judas had just made His move, cutting himself away from Christ and grafting himself to the world in exchange for a bag of silver.
Today you will face all sorts of temptation to do the same. You likely won’t be tempted to sell out your Savior to the local goon squad like Judas did, but the false vine that threatens you the most is even more insidious. Whereas Judas needed to help Jesus' enemies find Him, your enemy follows you wherever you go: Sarx - your old sinful nature.
Dig Deeper
Our strongest weakness has always been our deep desire for independence - we want to bear fruit by ourselves. It seems so limiting and constricting to remain in Jesus; and even more so to have Him remain in you!
Then there’s the perennial pruning that our Father, the gardener, subjects us to - it hurts! And so often He cuts away the things we want the most. There’s nothing that Sarx wants more than to break free from this perceived bondage and join itself to a less restrictive vine, or no vine at all.
Jesus knows how strong this temptation is. Adam fell for it, and Satan had tried to get Jesus to give into it as well. Over the next few hours, all of his disciples will have succumbed to it. So He pleads with them - and you - to fight against it. No branch can bear fruit by itself, Jesus explains, it must remain in the vine.
He goes on to warn them that apart from Me you can do nothing. Ultimately this quest for independence ends up withered, thrown into the fire and burned. The Canons echo Jesus' words of warning, reminding you that you could not remain standing in this grace if left to your own resources. So listen to Jesus' earnest call to remain in me!
Although Jesus' metaphor about the vine and the branches gives strong warnings about the consequences of abandoning the true vine, His words of encouragement ring out even louder. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, Jesus promises, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you! This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciple.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the gardener growing the one true vine;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will mercifully strengthen you in the grace once conferred on you and powerfully preserve you in it to the end;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 Peter 3
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