Unless We Abide in Christ

[Christsfreeservant]

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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. ​

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“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. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:1-11 ESV)​

This is Jesus Christ speaking to his 11 disciples, for by this time Judas Iscariot had already departed to betray Jesus to the authorities. And Jesus was speaking during the time period when the Jews were still under the Old Covenant, for Jesus had not yet died and had not been resurrected and had not yet returned to the Father. And Jesus, who was also a Jew, but who was God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – spoke of himself as the true vine with God the Father being the vinedresser.

Okay, so I am going to introduce a thought here that I had not thought of before in reading this passage of Scripture, and this is something that I will have to look into more thoroughly, but this is what struck me this time in reading about Jesus being the vine and the Father being the vinedresser. The first Scripture that came to mind is 1 Corinthians 10:4 where it says that the Israelites, in the wilderness in the time of Moses, drank from the spiritual Rock that followed (or accompanied) them, and the Rock was Christ.

Now, if you consider that the Scriptures teach that Jesus always existed with God and that he is God (as noted above), and that he is our creator God (see John 1:1-36), then Jesus, the Christ, was with the Israelites always, and he was the spiritual rock that they drank from, even back then. And this is not meaning physical water that they drank, but that they drew their livelihood, their existence, and their spiritual life and sustenance from him who is our rock, our fortress, our tower of strength.

And then I thought of Romans 11 where it also speaks of branches which were broken off from the root, which were the Jews who rejected Jesus Christ (the root), and how we Gentiles by physical birth were grafted into the root by faith in Jesus Christ. For it is Jesus Christ that we come into by faith and we become part of him. He is our root. He is our vine. He alone is our spiritual rock from which we drink (partake). He alone is the one in whom we abide and no other so only he can be that root we were grafted into.

So, the point here is that Jesus Christ was always the root. He was always the rock of our salvation from whom the Israelites who trusted in God had their life and their salvation. He was always the vine. And all who believe in him with God-persuaded faith are his branches. But for all those who did not believe in him, then once he died and was resurrected from the dead, which is when God’s people entered into a new covenant with God/Christ, they were cut off from the vine, like this talks about in John 15.

If you ever worked a puzzle before, or if you ever tried to solve a mystery, you may have gone through a process of logic and reason and deduction such as if A=B and if C=B then there must be a connection between A and C. And I may not be explaining this well, but it has to do with associations and with connecting the dots. Like if by faith in Jesus Christ we are now joined with Christ, and he is our root/vine, then the root we were grafted into, which some Jews got cut out of, is Christ. For we are in Christ.

And this fits with this passage in John 15 where it speaks of branches being cut off from the vine due to unbelief (disobedience), which was evident by the fact that they did not bear spiritual fruit for the kingdom of God. There was no spiritual outgrowth or results in their lives that gave evidence to them being true branches. But they were once the Lord’s branches. They were once part of that root/vine, but Jesus had to cut them out because they did not believe in him, which is evidenced by the lack of fruit of obedience.

So, if we want to be “in Christ,” and to be his true branches, we must walk in the faith that we profess. We must, as his branches, leave our lives of sin behind us and now walk in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in holy living, living separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. And we must continue in these walks of faith steadfast until the very end if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

For, just like Jesus Christ/God cut out of him the natural branches who did not believe in Jesus Christ (once Jesus had given his life for us on that cross to save us from our sins) he will cut us out, too, if we don’t remain in him, and if we do not bear the kind of spiritual fruit that he requires of us, and if we do not continue in his grace. And his grace instructs us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (see Romans 11:19-24; Titus 2:11-14).

I Will Call Upon the Lord

Words and music by Michael O'Shields

I will call upon the Lord
Who is worthy to be praised
So shall I be saved from my enemies
The Lord liveth and blessed be the Rock
And let the God of my salvation be exalted

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