Post by Cindy on Feb 1, 2022 10:45:45 GMT -5
““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:1–8)
The vine-&-branches concept makes an ideal metaphor of the Christian life because it's filled with parallels to our relationship with Christ. A branch grows through its connection with the vine, & we grow because of our relationship with Christ. A branch is nothing apart from the vine, & we can do nothing apart from Him. A branch draws strength from the vine, & we become strong through Him. In the metaphor of John 15, Christ is the Vine & the Father is the Vinedresser. The person who abides discovers that his soul is nourished with the truths of God as he stays in a close, living, energized relationship with Christ. The natural result of that is spiritual fruit.
Bearing fruit isn't a matter of being strong, weak, good, bad, experienced or inexperienced. Whatever your gifts, accomplishments, or virtues, they can't produce fruit if you're detached from Christ. We bear fruit not by trying, but by abiding. To bear genuine fruit, you must get as close to the True Vine as you can. Strip away all the things of the world. Put aside the sins that distract you & sap your energy; everything that robs you of a deep, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. Stay apart from sin & be in God’s Word. Having done all that, don’t worry about bearing fruit. It's not your concern. The Vine will merely use you to bear fruit. Get close to Jesus, & His energy in you will bear fruit.
Fruit is not outward success. Many think that if a ministry is big and involves a lot of people, it is fruitful. But a church or Bible study group isn’t successful just because it has many people—human effort can produce big numbers. Some missionaries minister to just a few people, but those servants of Christ bear much fruit. God produces real fruit in our lives when we abide.
Real fruit is, first of all, Christlike character. Christlike character is not produced by self-effort. It grows naturally out of a relationship with Christ. We don’t first try to be loving, and when we have become loving, try to be joyful, and so on. Instead, those qualities become part of our lives as we abide in Christ. 2nd, thankful praise to God is fruit. Help to those in need is a 3rd kind of fruit offered to God. A gift to someone in need is fruit, if it is offered from a loving heart in the divine energy of the indwelling Christ. Scripture says converts are another type of fruit. The way to be effective in leading people to Christ is not solely by being aggressive; rather it is by abiding in Christ. Concentrate on your relationship to Jesus, & He will give you opportunities to share your faith. As you become closer to Him & more like Him, you'll discover that sharing your faith is a natural outgrowth of abiding.
You may not always see fruit immediately, but fruit will be borne. There are 2 conditions to John 15:7: ““If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” First, we must abide. “Abide” refers to salvation and indicates that the promise is only for real believers. Still, many who are true branches do not always get answers to their prayers. It may be because they are not meeting Jesus’ second condition, which is, “If … My words abide in you.” He means we must have such high regard for all of Scripture that we let it abide in us, that we hide it in our hearts, and that we commit ourselves to knowing and obeying it. To meet the first condition, a person must be a Christian. To meet the second condition, he must study all of Scripture to govern his life by what Christ has revealed. Christians who are abiding in Christ and controlled by His Word are not going to ask anything against God’s will. Because they want what God wants, they are guaranteed answers to their prayers. Our prayers will be answered if we follow Paul’s example in 2 Cor 10:5, “[We are] casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” We must rid our minds of everything that violates God’s truth and will. When we think according to the will of God, we will pray according to the will of God and our prayers will be answered.
MacArthur, How to survive in a world of unbelievers
The vine-&-branches concept makes an ideal metaphor of the Christian life because it's filled with parallels to our relationship with Christ. A branch grows through its connection with the vine, & we grow because of our relationship with Christ. A branch is nothing apart from the vine, & we can do nothing apart from Him. A branch draws strength from the vine, & we become strong through Him. In the metaphor of John 15, Christ is the Vine & the Father is the Vinedresser. The person who abides discovers that his soul is nourished with the truths of God as he stays in a close, living, energized relationship with Christ. The natural result of that is spiritual fruit.
Bearing fruit isn't a matter of being strong, weak, good, bad, experienced or inexperienced. Whatever your gifts, accomplishments, or virtues, they can't produce fruit if you're detached from Christ. We bear fruit not by trying, but by abiding. To bear genuine fruit, you must get as close to the True Vine as you can. Strip away all the things of the world. Put aside the sins that distract you & sap your energy; everything that robs you of a deep, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. Stay apart from sin & be in God’s Word. Having done all that, don’t worry about bearing fruit. It's not your concern. The Vine will merely use you to bear fruit. Get close to Jesus, & His energy in you will bear fruit.
Fruit is not outward success. Many think that if a ministry is big and involves a lot of people, it is fruitful. But a church or Bible study group isn’t successful just because it has many people—human effort can produce big numbers. Some missionaries minister to just a few people, but those servants of Christ bear much fruit. God produces real fruit in our lives when we abide.
Real fruit is, first of all, Christlike character. Christlike character is not produced by self-effort. It grows naturally out of a relationship with Christ. We don’t first try to be loving, and when we have become loving, try to be joyful, and so on. Instead, those qualities become part of our lives as we abide in Christ. 2nd, thankful praise to God is fruit. Help to those in need is a 3rd kind of fruit offered to God. A gift to someone in need is fruit, if it is offered from a loving heart in the divine energy of the indwelling Christ. Scripture says converts are another type of fruit. The way to be effective in leading people to Christ is not solely by being aggressive; rather it is by abiding in Christ. Concentrate on your relationship to Jesus, & He will give you opportunities to share your faith. As you become closer to Him & more like Him, you'll discover that sharing your faith is a natural outgrowth of abiding.
You may not always see fruit immediately, but fruit will be borne. There are 2 conditions to John 15:7: ““If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” First, we must abide. “Abide” refers to salvation and indicates that the promise is only for real believers. Still, many who are true branches do not always get answers to their prayers. It may be because they are not meeting Jesus’ second condition, which is, “If … My words abide in you.” He means we must have such high regard for all of Scripture that we let it abide in us, that we hide it in our hearts, and that we commit ourselves to knowing and obeying it. To meet the first condition, a person must be a Christian. To meet the second condition, he must study all of Scripture to govern his life by what Christ has revealed. Christians who are abiding in Christ and controlled by His Word are not going to ask anything against God’s will. Because they want what God wants, they are guaranteed answers to their prayers. Our prayers will be answered if we follow Paul’s example in 2 Cor 10:5, “[We are] casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” We must rid our minds of everything that violates God’s truth and will. When we think according to the will of God, we will pray according to the will of God and our prayers will be answered.
MacArthur, How to survive in a world of unbelievers
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