Abiding Fruit
Another View of Pruning
Isaiah 2:4
He will settle disputes among great nations. They
will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.
TEV
On the other hand, there is a second school of thought that looks to parables such as the wheat and the tares (Matt 13:24-30). The church is filled with people we would call "professing Christians." These are faithful church attenders. They work on our committees and ministries. They come to Sunday School and worship. They have grown up in Christian homes. They have always been Christians and view themselves as members of Christ's body. Yet, they have never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. They have no personal relationship with Him.
A biblical example of this type of person is Judas Ischariot. He walked with Jesus for three years, listening to the Master's voice, watching and feeling the Master's touch. Yet, in the end, his own agenda was not that of Christ's. Judas was so far removed from Jesus that Satan could enter into him.
John 13:27
Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him.
Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
So, when the Father removes the branch, is he removing a tare? Or taking home a very unproductive Christian?
Keep in mind the context of these chapters. The Last Super occurs in Chapter 13 of John and it is during this meal that Jesus shows by example how to be a servant by washing the feet of the Apostles. Judas then leaves and Jesus instructs the Apostles on the coming of the Holy Spirit and abiding in Christ in chapters 14-16. This extended discourse ends with Jesus High Priestly prayer in John 17.
