“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.” - John 15:5
Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing.
John 15 provides us with an extremely helpful illustration of the vine and branches. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:5). He cuts off the branches that never bear any fruit because they do not abide in Him (John 15:6). In other words, He casts non-Christians into hell.
“…every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). I am not a gardening expert, but I have planted some flowers. If the flower petals shrivel up and stop “bearing fruit”, you cut them back, and then gorgeous petals will grow back several days later. When God prunes His children, it is painful in the moment, but God does it in order that we may bear more fruit and be more conformed to His image.
“If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). We are called to abide in God through His Word and prayer.
If you had a grapevine in your backyard, you would not cut the vine to separate it from all the branches. This would kill all the branches and there would not be any grapes to enjoy. If you want grapes to grow, they must remain in the grapevine so that it gets all of the nutrients necessary to grow. In a similar, but far more important way, if we desire to bear spiritual fruit we must remain in the vine, Jesus Christ. We remain in Him primarily through reading, meditating, and memorizing Scripture and humbly depending on Him through prayer.
The purpose of all of this is found in John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” God’s glory is the end goal. Our lives are for His glory. One way we bring glory to Him is bearing fruit. The only way we can bear fruit is if we abide in Jesus.
These truths are very basic, yet I fear we often neglect these truths in practice. We live in a culture that emphasizes individualism and self-sufficiency. Our country is very affluent, and thus we tend to not depend on God since “we can provide for ourselves.” We live in a culture in which everyone is busy, so we are constantly on the go, and so we neglect being still and abiding in our precious Savior. May these things not characterize us. Rather, may we be a people who realize we are insufficient, needy, and totally dependent on Christ. May it never be said of us that we were “too busy” to abide in our Lord!
Brothers and sisters, apart from Christ you can do nothing. Abide in Him!
Written by Jonathan Mitchell