Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:4-9 ESV)
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, 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, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:4-8 NKJV)
*Where do you live?*
7 times the word “abide” is used in these 5 verses so we should have a clear understanding of that word. Abide is a really neat word when we understand it’s meaning in the original language. It’s a word that means an intense holding onto. More specifically taking up residence in a forever unending unwavering way. To abide in our text is literally to intensely take up residence in an unwavering way so as never to leave or let go of no matter what happens. Jesus says to us that we are to abide in Him in this way and gives us a clear example. Let’s say you have a grapevine growing in your yard and it produces sweet plump delicious fruit. If you were to cut off a branch from the vine and put it on the kitchen table so that you could enjoy those grapes without going outside would it still produce fruit? Of course not. Not only would it cease to produce fruit, it would wither up and die because you cut it off from it’s source of life which is the vine, and dead wood is firewood. So He gives us a clear understanding of abiding in the picture of a vine and a branch. They are dependent upon another. The branch can’t produce fruit or live without the nourishment from the vine and the vine will not produce fruit without an attached branch. This of course speaks of our relationship to Jesus.
We exist to glorify God and to enjoy Him. We can not glorify God if we are not bearing much good fruit. We can not show fruit in our lives if we are separated from Christ. This is one of the most important lessons you and I can learn. Christ desires to bring about this fruit in our lives through the Holy Spirit that we might glorify our Father in heaven. You see God doesn’t require anything of us that He doesn’t provide the means for us to do. It’s not about us producing fruit, it’s about the Lord producing fruit in and through our lives. It’s about being totally surrendered and dependent upon Christ just as the branch is upon the vine. When this happens we prove ourselves to be disciples of Christ. This takes an enormous weight off our shoulders as we realize that it is God who desires to use us to bring Himself glory out of an abundance of His love for us. It’s not our work its His, and yet He loves us and let’s us be a part of it! All we need to do is to stay close to Jesus and not depart no matter what may come in our lives. And the bonus is that all of this is possible because He promises to abide in us.
Beloved of God you are secure in Christ. You will bring about much fruit as you stay attached to Him. You will prove to be His disciples as He performs an amazing labor of love in you, and you will glorify your God which is your rightful place as one who has been saved by His grace through faith.