You treat John 15 as if it were describing a person
pre-determined to be in the vine and to
continue in it but that is not at all what the verse is saying. Jesus was not telling them to keep the Law but to
trust in,
have confidence in, rely upon,
depend upon HIM.
5 I I am the vine and you are the branches.
The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For
apart from Me you can do nothing. The Master told the disciples that they could not bear fruit apart from active union with Him
(John 15:5)
They had to do something. What they had to do is ABIDE REMAIN CONTINUE in union, continue to believe the gospel. As long as they did the life-giving "sap" of eternal life would flow. The main point of the metaphor was that the life was not UNCONDITIONAL like a static contract. It was a living thing more like a marriage. If you think we are LOCKED into this just read the next verse.
6 If anyone DOES NOT REMAIN in Me, he is like a branch that is
thrown away and
withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and BURNED.
(John 15:5)
Verse 6 presents to us the possibility that we can also choose NOT TO REMAIN IN Him. In that case we will not continue to be an appendage of the Vine but no longer being a part we will be THROWN AWAY. The very fact that a branch which HAD originally BEEN organically connected to the Vine CAN be "thrown away" shows that, at that point, it was detached. The final fate of someone who does not continue in Him is to be incinerated. This is not speaking about the fire of purification. Burning the branches we cut off is how unproductive dead branches are
disposed of
Jesus' teaching takes for granted that we have the
choice of either
abiding in Christ or not. When Jesus tells us to ABIDE, REMAIN, CONTINUE in Him. He uses the present tense of the imperative mood which tells us we can through depending on the Spirit continue in Christ and realize eternal life. As Paul said, 13
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.…
(Romans 8:13-14).
In
John 15:2-6, the
branches that bear fruit and remain are genuine believers (like the remaining 11 disciples). The self-attached branches that
bear no fruit and do not remain are not genuine believers (like Judas Iscariot). In
John 15:2, Jesus mentions
branches that bear no fruit and
branches that bear fruit but Jesus says
nothing about branches that bear fruit but then later stop bearing fruit.
Greek scholar AT Robertson points out that there are
two kinds of connections with Christ as the vine (the merely cosmic which bears no fruit, the spiritual and vital which bears fruit). Probably (Bernard) Jesus here refers to Judas.
John 15 - Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org
When Jesus spoke these words in John 15, how many people at that time,
prior to Him being glorified, had received the Holy Spirit and were baptized by one Spirit into one body? - "the body of Christ?" (
1 Corinthians 12:13) --
NONE.
John 7:38 - He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 39
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
So "in me" is part of the metaphor of the vine (in the vine) and not in the body of Christ under the new covenant which was not yet fully established. Without that vital union with Christ, there can be no spiritual life and no productivity. Those who profess to know Christ but whose relationship to Him is self-attached, Christ neither saved them, nor sustains them. Eventually, the dead self-attached fruitless branches are cut off.
The Greek word for “abide” is "meno" which means to remain, tarry, not to depart, continue to be present. Abiding in Christ is not a special level of Christian experience that is only available to a few, elite Christians, but is the position of all true believers.
1 John 4:13 - By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
Romans 8:8 - So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
There are distinctively two groups in Romans 8. The present tense is used to denote lifestyles. Those consistently walking according to the flesh in verse 5 are linked to "being in the flesh" in verse 8. And those who "walk according to the Spirit" in verse 5 are linked to "those who are no longer in the flesh" in verse 9.
Kenneth Wuest explains this section of
Romans 8:13 - "Assuming that a person lives habitually under the dominion of the evil nature, Paul says, that person is about to be dying. The verb is present in tense, and therefore durative in meaning, indicating habitual action. The individual who lives habitually under the dominion of the evil nature is an unsaved person. That one is on the way to final death in the Lake of Fire. But the person who by the Holy Spirit habitually puts to death the deeds of the body, will live. That person is a saved person.
Living (2198) (
zao) in the
present tense means that one is not just behaving for a moment under the "spell" of the old evil nature but that this person is behaving continually, habitually having their life dominated and directed by the evil nature, the
flesh.
According to the flesh (kata sarx) as explained earlier conveys the idea of one placing themselves down and therefore under the dominion or control of the evil flesh nature. Not a good position to be in spiritually speaking!
If a professing (not necessarily possessing) "Christian" habitually lives in sin and shows no concern for repentance, forgiveness, worship, or fellowship with other believers, he proves that he claims the name of Christ in vain. Many false Christians in the church work hard at keeping their lives pure in appearance, because other people think more highly of them for it and because they feel prouder of themselves when they act morally and benevolently than when they do not.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_812-13
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