V
There is a heretical false teacher on this board who loves to put up partial posts of Jesus' final sermon in John 15. He usually only deals with vv. 1-6 as "proof" of his false gospel, that Christians can lose their salvation by not being perfectly obedient. In doing so, he illegitimately removes the context of the entire passage, and he at the same time utterly fails to deal with the original Greek that proves his lies to be just that.
I am going to refute this false view through a careful exegesis of the entire passage. I warn you now, this is going to be a long post, so I apologize, I know it is not wise to spew words upon words upon words for fear of losing the interest of the reader, but this is important, and I would urge you to read through what God has led me to post. Thanks in advance if you do, and if you do not, I understand that you don’t want to deal with the tediousness of reading such a long tome.
In this lengthy passage, Jesus states that if you abide in Him you’ll experience spiritual success. It’s guaranteed! So the only pursuit in your life that is guaranteed, the only area that you can truly count on is your relationship with Jesus Christ.
This passage explains the measure of success in a Christian’s life. In these eleven verses, Jesus teaches His disciples the spiritual art of fruit bearing, which is the purpose of our earthly existence and the definition of spiritual success. The key to fruit bearing is found in the theme of abiding – staying, remaining, continuing – in Jesus. In this context, “abide” means to live in Jesus as the branch “lives” in the vine.
In the final hours of His earthly life, Jesus has shared with His disciples what matters most to Him. He begins speaking to them on their walk from the upper room to Garden of Gethsemane (read John 14:31). On the way to the garden, they pass into a vineyard just outside the city walls. The remnants of the vineyard have been found in the 70 A.D. ruins that have been successfully excavated. Perhaps Jesus pauses here, but at any rate, He says, “I am the true vine” (15:1a).
There is only one True Vine. You can’t choose your vintage. It’s not a wine tasting to see which variety you prefer. Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel, just as the Old Testament writers also used the term “vine” to describe Israel. In all cases, the usage denotes the nation’s sinfulness, not her fruitfulness.
Israelites were the equivalent of sour grapes, which are still grapes, but not very good ones. Here, Jesus uses the figure of the vine to remind Israel of her past failures and to indicate that He is the one faithful Israelite, the only righteous Jews – the “True Vine.” He continues the simile of viticulture by calling the Father “the Vinedresser,” and by implication calls every believer “every branch in Me.”
The phrase “in Me” is used sixteen times in John’s gospel. In each case it refers to a life of fellowship or a unity of purpose. These are true believers. They are not posers, supposers, or declarers without any true connection to the True Vine. In John’s writings, “in Me [Christ]” is always a Christian.
Then we come to verse two, which our false teacher loves to color red, use font size “7,” underline, italicize and, if possible, make blink on and off. He leaps on the words “takes away” as his “proof” of lost salvation. Such is the lie of the false teacher and heretic.
This may refer to a new convert or an immature or struggling believer. In any case, In the KJV, NASB ASV, etc., the translation has Jesus saying that God “takes away” that branch that doesn’t bear fruit. The NIV renders it “cuts off.” But herein lies the problem. How the Greek is rendered depends on context.
The Greek word airo (air) can accurately be translated “takes away.” In fact, it is translated “takes,” “taken,” “takes away,” “taken away,” or some similar form of “take” 45 times in the NASB New Testament. Those translations are accurate in their context. But the word can also be be translated “lifts up.” In John’s gospel, that is how he uses the word most of the time. Since the focus here is fruit bearing, the rendering “lifts up” is preferred.
It is important to understand that Jesus is teaching His disciples in the spring when vinedressers did what He describes in this verse. As I’ve said many, many times, even today if you go to any vineyard, you’ll find grapes tied to poles or posts called trellises. If the vinedresser doesn’t do this the grapes may be stepped on and smashed into grape juice!
This is particularly true of a vineyard after a storm. Branches get beaten down by wind, rain, and hail. They lie in the mud, and if not discovered soon enough, will rot and not produce fruit. Kind of like when life beats us down and we don’t produce any good thing to the glory of God, because we simply don’t feel anything but unclean and useless.
In the vineyard, a good vinedresser will prop the vines up so that they can receive the maximum amount of sunlight possible. The vinedresser does not “cut away” (contrary to the NIV) a vine because it has no fruit but gently lifts it up to sun so it has an opportunity to bear fruit in the future.
In the same way, God’s first step when we falter is not judgment but encouragement. God encourages new believers. He inspires downcast believers. He answers prayers. He performs miracles. He brings someone or something into their lives to lift them up (airo). As the vinedresser does the branch.
This is not the end of vineyard analogy. Jesus goes on to mention another kind of branch in verse two, one that bears fruit, and is pruned because it produces fruit, so it will produce more fruit. This too is a lesson in viticulture.
There are two type of pruning in a vineyard – the spring pruning – the Greek word being kaqairo (kathairo) and the fall pruning, which is spoken of in verse six.
Notice that kathairo is a compound word that includes the word airo. This is a marvelous play on words by Jesus, because He says through the use of this word that the branch is cleansed and lifted up.
Why? Well, our false teacher doesn’t understand this, but neither of these branches is in particularly good shape prior to the Vinedresser coming along to lift, cleanse, prune, and tie them into the trellis. Kathairo is used metaphorically in John’s gospel as well as by Mark, Matthew, Paul, and Peter to speak of expiating one from guilt.
With the grapevine, this pruning also includes cleaning or pinching off little “sucker shoots” from the branch—sprigs that draw away resources from the production of big, juicy grapes. Left to itself, the branch will favor more leafy growth over more fruit, so the vinedresser has to prune or clean away unnecessary shoots and extraneous growth to promote even greater fruitfulness, and it describes cleansing the branch of insects, diseases, and parasites.
The bugs, diseases, and unwanted sprigs represent things like bad habits, wrong thinking, unimportant activities, and lesser priorities—anything that distracts us from being completely fruitful, anything that hinders us from loving others to the fullest, the way Christ loved us. As we abide in the Vine, the Vinedresser removes these things from our lives to promote more fruit.
In verse four, Jesus tells the disciple they are “already clean (katharos) – and you will note again the similarity in the words used. Jesus’ teaching has cleansed the disciples and made them ready for ministry – fruit-bearing.
For the first time of ten uses of the word “abide” – meno (meno) – in a mere seven verses, Jesus emphasizes staying, remaining, continuing in Him. Contrary to what the false teacher will claim, that does not mean either “doing” in Christ, or “not doing” to the extent you disqualify yourself from Christ.
We must recognize that there’s a difference between work and fruit. It’s possible to perform a lot of work for Christ that isn’t necessarily fruitful. It’s also possible to do many things without Christ. It’s possible to do many things for Christ. However, anything of lasting value can only be done through Christ, by abiding in Him. Work isn’t done to abide in Him. Work is done because we abide in Him.
This is why Jesus says we’re not called upon to produce fruit, but simply to bear it. Bearing fruit is a natural outcome of being in Christ and letting Him live His life through us. Notice the progression from “fruit” (15:2) to “more fruit” (15:2) to “much fruit” (15:5).That’s what God wants from us. A detached branch in the physical or spiritual realm can’t live on its own. Be sure to stay as you go.
In verse six also, Jesus mentions the consequences of not abiding. Remember that the entire passage here is dealing with figures of speech: vines, branches, fruit. It would be a mistake to go outside the grape-growing analogy and decide that “thrown away” or “burned” is a metaphor for hell. It isn’t.
A branch that doesn’t remain attached to the vine withers, and out of necessity, is thrown away. Grapevines, in contrast to other types of wood, don’t have many uses. Their total value is that they can produce grapes. Vines don’t yield timber from which people can make other things. Similarly, a Christian who loses contact with Christ becomes useless and fruitless.
As far as God is concerned, there’s no reason for you to live, except to bear fruit. If you’re not fruitful, you are useless to Him.[SUP]26[/SUP] He might as well just take you to heaven right now. But instead of doing that, He brings divine discipline upon useless believers. Fire is a common symbol in the Bible for God’s temporal judgment on His people. God lights a match under us and begins to burn us with fiery trials. His purpose is to draw us back to the vine.
He may use depression, loneliness, and financial trouble. We think we’re just unlucky, when in truth, God is the one burning us. God will not let the fire go out until we reattach ourselves to the vine. God takes His relationship with us very seriously, so when we stop abiding or pursuing intimacy with Him, He will do whatever it takes to get our attention, and it could get hot.
What do we get by continuing to abide in Christ? Briefly, perfect prayer (v. 7), proven discipleship (v. 8), unlimited love (vv. 9, 10), and the full joy (v. 11) of being in Christ.
This monstrous post (and again I apologize) will be attacked by the false teacher and his cronies. He refuses to understand, he refuses to be enlightened, he will continue to try to drag down true believers with his false doctrine. Pay him no heed. Know that once you are in Christ, nothing can shake you loose. You can decline your spiritual food, but as this passage proves, God will find a way to bring you back – or, without your awakening, He will simply bring you home to Him (1 Corinthians 5:2-7). Don’t be that guy.
I am going to refute this false view through a careful exegesis of the entire passage. I warn you now, this is going to be a long post, so I apologize, I know it is not wise to spew words upon words upon words for fear of losing the interest of the reader, but this is important, and I would urge you to read through what God has led me to post. Thanks in advance if you do, and if you do not, I understand that you don’t want to deal with the tediousness of reading such a long tome.
John 15, NASB
1 "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 it so 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, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing *.
6 "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.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever * you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
1 "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 it so 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, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing *.
6 "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.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever * you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
In this lengthy passage, Jesus states that if you abide in Him you’ll experience spiritual success. It’s guaranteed! So the only pursuit in your life that is guaranteed, the only area that you can truly count on is your relationship with Jesus Christ.
This passage explains the measure of success in a Christian’s life. In these eleven verses, Jesus teaches His disciples the spiritual art of fruit bearing, which is the purpose of our earthly existence and the definition of spiritual success. The key to fruit bearing is found in the theme of abiding – staying, remaining, continuing – in Jesus. In this context, “abide” means to live in Jesus as the branch “lives” in the vine.
In the final hours of His earthly life, Jesus has shared with His disciples what matters most to Him. He begins speaking to them on their walk from the upper room to Garden of Gethsemane (read John 14:31). On the way to the garden, they pass into a vineyard just outside the city walls. The remnants of the vineyard have been found in the 70 A.D. ruins that have been successfully excavated. Perhaps Jesus pauses here, but at any rate, He says, “I am the true vine” (15:1a).
There is only one True Vine. You can’t choose your vintage. It’s not a wine tasting to see which variety you prefer. Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel, just as the Old Testament writers also used the term “vine” to describe Israel. In all cases, the usage denotes the nation’s sinfulness, not her fruitfulness.
Israelites were the equivalent of sour grapes, which are still grapes, but not very good ones. Here, Jesus uses the figure of the vine to remind Israel of her past failures and to indicate that He is the one faithful Israelite, the only righteous Jews – the “True Vine.” He continues the simile of viticulture by calling the Father “the Vinedresser,” and by implication calls every believer “every branch in Me.”
The phrase “in Me” is used sixteen times in John’s gospel. In each case it refers to a life of fellowship or a unity of purpose. These are true believers. They are not posers, supposers, or declarers without any true connection to the True Vine. In John’s writings, “in Me [Christ]” is always a Christian.
Then we come to verse two, which our false teacher loves to color red, use font size “7,” underline, italicize and, if possible, make blink on and off. He leaps on the words “takes away” as his “proof” of lost salvation. Such is the lie of the false teacher and heretic.
This may refer to a new convert or an immature or struggling believer. In any case, In the KJV, NASB ASV, etc., the translation has Jesus saying that God “takes away” that branch that doesn’t bear fruit. The NIV renders it “cuts off.” But herein lies the problem. How the Greek is rendered depends on context.
The Greek word airo (air) can accurately be translated “takes away.” In fact, it is translated “takes,” “taken,” “takes away,” “taken away,” or some similar form of “take” 45 times in the NASB New Testament. Those translations are accurate in their context. But the word can also be be translated “lifts up.” In John’s gospel, that is how he uses the word most of the time. Since the focus here is fruit bearing, the rendering “lifts up” is preferred.
It is important to understand that Jesus is teaching His disciples in the spring when vinedressers did what He describes in this verse. As I’ve said many, many times, even today if you go to any vineyard, you’ll find grapes tied to poles or posts called trellises. If the vinedresser doesn’t do this the grapes may be stepped on and smashed into grape juice!
This is particularly true of a vineyard after a storm. Branches get beaten down by wind, rain, and hail. They lie in the mud, and if not discovered soon enough, will rot and not produce fruit. Kind of like when life beats us down and we don’t produce any good thing to the glory of God, because we simply don’t feel anything but unclean and useless.
In the vineyard, a good vinedresser will prop the vines up so that they can receive the maximum amount of sunlight possible. The vinedresser does not “cut away” (contrary to the NIV) a vine because it has no fruit but gently lifts it up to sun so it has an opportunity to bear fruit in the future.
In the same way, God’s first step when we falter is not judgment but encouragement. God encourages new believers. He inspires downcast believers. He answers prayers. He performs miracles. He brings someone or something into their lives to lift them up (airo). As the vinedresser does the branch.
This is not the end of vineyard analogy. Jesus goes on to mention another kind of branch in verse two, one that bears fruit, and is pruned because it produces fruit, so it will produce more fruit. This too is a lesson in viticulture.
There are two type of pruning in a vineyard – the spring pruning – the Greek word being kaqairo (kathairo) and the fall pruning, which is spoken of in verse six.
Notice that kathairo is a compound word that includes the word airo. This is a marvelous play on words by Jesus, because He says through the use of this word that the branch is cleansed and lifted up.
Why? Well, our false teacher doesn’t understand this, but neither of these branches is in particularly good shape prior to the Vinedresser coming along to lift, cleanse, prune, and tie them into the trellis. Kathairo is used metaphorically in John’s gospel as well as by Mark, Matthew, Paul, and Peter to speak of expiating one from guilt.
With the grapevine, this pruning also includes cleaning or pinching off little “sucker shoots” from the branch—sprigs that draw away resources from the production of big, juicy grapes. Left to itself, the branch will favor more leafy growth over more fruit, so the vinedresser has to prune or clean away unnecessary shoots and extraneous growth to promote even greater fruitfulness, and it describes cleansing the branch of insects, diseases, and parasites.
The bugs, diseases, and unwanted sprigs represent things like bad habits, wrong thinking, unimportant activities, and lesser priorities—anything that distracts us from being completely fruitful, anything that hinders us from loving others to the fullest, the way Christ loved us. As we abide in the Vine, the Vinedresser removes these things from our lives to promote more fruit.
In verse four, Jesus tells the disciple they are “already clean (katharos) – and you will note again the similarity in the words used. Jesus’ teaching has cleansed the disciples and made them ready for ministry – fruit-bearing.
For the first time of ten uses of the word “abide” – meno (meno) – in a mere seven verses, Jesus emphasizes staying, remaining, continuing in Him. Contrary to what the false teacher will claim, that does not mean either “doing” in Christ, or “not doing” to the extent you disqualify yourself from Christ.
We must recognize that there’s a difference between work and fruit. It’s possible to perform a lot of work for Christ that isn’t necessarily fruitful. It’s also possible to do many things without Christ. It’s possible to do many things for Christ. However, anything of lasting value can only be done through Christ, by abiding in Him. Work isn’t done to abide in Him. Work is done because we abide in Him.
This is why Jesus says we’re not called upon to produce fruit, but simply to bear it. Bearing fruit is a natural outcome of being in Christ and letting Him live His life through us. Notice the progression from “fruit” (15:2) to “more fruit” (15:2) to “much fruit” (15:5).That’s what God wants from us. A detached branch in the physical or spiritual realm can’t live on its own. Be sure to stay as you go.
In verse six also, Jesus mentions the consequences of not abiding. Remember that the entire passage here is dealing with figures of speech: vines, branches, fruit. It would be a mistake to go outside the grape-growing analogy and decide that “thrown away” or “burned” is a metaphor for hell. It isn’t.
A branch that doesn’t remain attached to the vine withers, and out of necessity, is thrown away. Grapevines, in contrast to other types of wood, don’t have many uses. Their total value is that they can produce grapes. Vines don’t yield timber from which people can make other things. Similarly, a Christian who loses contact with Christ becomes useless and fruitless.
As far as God is concerned, there’s no reason for you to live, except to bear fruit. If you’re not fruitful, you are useless to Him.[SUP]26[/SUP] He might as well just take you to heaven right now. But instead of doing that, He brings divine discipline upon useless believers. Fire is a common symbol in the Bible for God’s temporal judgment on His people. God lights a match under us and begins to burn us with fiery trials. His purpose is to draw us back to the vine.
He may use depression, loneliness, and financial trouble. We think we’re just unlucky, when in truth, God is the one burning us. God will not let the fire go out until we reattach ourselves to the vine. God takes His relationship with us very seriously, so when we stop abiding or pursuing intimacy with Him, He will do whatever it takes to get our attention, and it could get hot.
What do we get by continuing to abide in Christ? Briefly, perfect prayer (v. 7), proven discipleship (v. 8), unlimited love (vv. 9, 10), and the full joy (v. 11) of being in Christ.
This monstrous post (and again I apologize) will be attacked by the false teacher and his cronies. He refuses to understand, he refuses to be enlightened, he will continue to try to drag down true believers with his false doctrine. Pay him no heed. Know that once you are in Christ, nothing can shake you loose. You can decline your spiritual food, but as this passage proves, God will find a way to bring you back – or, without your awakening, He will simply bring you home to Him (1 Corinthians 5:2-7). Don’t be that guy.
