Jesus, in the above passage, is addressing his
disciples in which he describes himself as the vine and his disciples
are referred to as branches. Moreover, Jesus distinguishes the true
vine from other vines. Jesus states, I
am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Every branch in me
not bearing fruit he takes away, and every one bearing fruit he cleans,
that it may bear more fruit. (John15:1
& 2) Therefore, Jesus describes his relationship to his Father,
referred to as the cultivator. God, the Father, removes any branches
emanating from Jesus, which do not bear any fruit. God also prunes
those branches which bear fruit so that the fruitage is made more
abundant. Further, in Chapter 15 in the Book of John Jesus describes
what happens to other vines which are unfruitful and not true: If anyone does not
remain in union with me he is
cast out as a branch and is dried up; and men gather those branches up
and pitch them into the fire and they are burned (6). Jesus reveals that only branches that remain
in union with Jesus produce fruit which can only emanate from the true
vine. The branches represent Jesus' disciples. These branches bear
great fruitage only while they remain connected to the true vine,
Jesus. However, if these branches are removed from the true vine, they
become incapable of bearing any fruit. A literal vine's branches, for
example, will wither within days if they are cut off from the vine.
Indeed they become shriveled and inevitably die; since they have been
removed from their source of nourishment, ie water, food. The life of a
Christian is the same. If Christians drift away from Jesus, who has
sayings of everlasting life, then they will also lose their life
spiritually.
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How do Christians remain in union with Christ
Jesus, the true vine? The clue given by Jesus is found in John 15:9, Just as the
Father has loved me and I have loved
you, remain in my love. If you observe my commandments, you will remain
in my love. The task for a
Christian
in bearing fruit is contingent on whether one remains connected to the
true vine. Clearly, a Christian is required to observe God's
commandments in order to remain in union with Christ. God reveals in
the Book of Jeremiah that Israel had been once a vine which God Himself
had planted. However, in time the nation of Israel became rebellious
toward God and drifted away from the true teachings of God. Israel
began to adopt the ungodly practices of their neighbouring nations (who
were pagan), such as, idolatry. Consequently, Israel lost God's favour
and were defeated by their enemies. Israel demonstrated that they had
no love for God. We read in Jeremiah 2:21: And as for me, I had
planted you as a choice red
vine, all of it a true seed. So how have you been changed toward me
into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
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Jesus also spoke to his followers that they would
bear fruit if they remain in his teachings. A literal tree's fruitage
is determined by how deeply rooted the tree is in the soil. The deeper
the roots of the tree the greater the fruitage. Paul wrote in Ephesians
3:17 to
have the Christ dwell
through your faith in your hearts with love, that you may be rooted and
established on the foundation, 18 in order that you may be thoroughly
able to grasp mentally with all the holy ones what is the breadth and
length and depth 19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses
knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness that God gives.
Therefore, there is a direct
correlation between the way in which Christians are rooted in Christ
and their fruitage. In our Christian walk with God we need to become
deeply immersed in His teachings. Daily we are required to apply Godly
principles in our lives and practice what we learn from the Bible. In
this way we grow in our knowledge of God and in our walk with God. Over
time we develop the mind of Christ and are able to reason accordingly. Thus we will
produce fruitage, provided we remain in union with Christ, the true
vine. If we disconnect ourselves from the true vine then we are
incapable of living a spirit-filled and fruitful life. This will occur
if we do not remain in union with Christ, our lifeline.
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