Abiding Fruit
Without Me - Nothing
John 15:1-5
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit,
and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even
more. 3 You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message
I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch
cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be
fruitful apart from me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart
from me you can do nothing.
NLT
The entire need to remain firmly attached to Jesus comes in verse 5, a verse that reemphasizes the need to abide and rely totally on Christ.
John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can
do nothing.
This is one of my favorite verses of all Scripture. Jesus repeats the relationship - He is the vine or the root, we are the branches or offspring. When we abide in Jesus, He continues to actively abide in us. When this relationship remains, we produce much fruit. There is also a powerful statement in this verse of the key issue of discipleship. Only if we maintain this close relationship, this call to ongoing discipleship, will we be fruitful.
for without Me you can do nothing
Hosea 14:8
"Ephraim shall say, 'have
I to do anymore with idols?'ve heard and observed him. I am
like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me."
Jesus does not say we will produce only a little fruit when we walk away from Him. His clear statement is that we will produce NO FRUIT. Without Him we can do nothing!!!!!
This is a powerful statement to a proud and arrogant people. Look at the mistakes Peter will make from the Last Super to the Garden. Peter denies his Lord, after boldly claiming nothing will come between them. We are the same way. We do not understand the necessity of walking with God every moment. When we drift away, even the slightest, we fail to produce fruit.
And, the unsaved will produce no godly fruit! The unbelievers of the world may imitate some of the outward deeds the fruit of Jesus produces in a Christian, but in God's the unbelieving world produces no fruit.
Why? The answer lies, in part at least, upon a clear and proper understanding of this fruit.
