“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” John 15:4                          

REFLECTION:

Abiding in Christ

What is meant by abiding in Christ becomes plain in John 15:7-9, where we see that to abide in Christ, to remain in Christ means to maintain an unbroken, living communion with Him, to have no known sin in our lives that is not judged and confessed; no interest is not which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share. The abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him.

The admonition "abide in Me", is in agreement with numerous exhortations addressed to believers, warning them against apostasy and bidding them to abide in the faith. These warnings regard the matter from the side of man. They move on the plane of human responsibility. It is true that once a man has made a commitment to Jesus Christ, surrendered to Him all he is, and ever hopes to be, unconditionally, forever, he remains saved forever. No one and nothing can ever pluck that believer from the hands of the Father. But this inevitable includes exertion and diligence and watchfulness on that man's part to be sure he is living his life in the will of God and in the consciousness of Christ's presence and in obedience to His Word. The strength to thus persevere in the faith is from God and from Him alone. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. John 10:28,29 KJV Also: Rom 8:10-39

Severed from our Lord, a branch can effect nothing, having no independent fruitfulness or stability. All its powers are derived from this supernatural source and depend on Christ's faithfulness to His own nature and functions. Therefore, "he that abides in Me and I in him brings forth much fruit."

I repeat, the language here does not repress the endeavor of the human after righteousness. We must always remember these words were addressed to disciples who had to learn of the necessity of constant spiritual contact with their invisible Lord. If any believer attempts to live on his own reputation, or his supposed strength, or the clearness of his intellect, or the vigor of his body, or the imminence of his position, he can and will do nothing.

What is being said is that no branch ever bears fruit in isolation, it has to have a vital connection with the vine. Here we have an emphatic declaration of human helplessness apart from Christ. In isolation from Him no spiritual achievement is ever possible. And for the complimentary truth, compare the words of Phil 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

We have an important illustration in the life of the apostle Paul in connection with the storm and the shipwreck in which he was involved. God had given him the definite promise (Acts 27:22) "There will be no loss of life among you." Nevertheless, Paul says to the Centurion and to the soldiers (Acts 27:31) "Unless these men remain in the ship you cannot be saved." The word of warning did not in any way contradict the certainty that the men would actually be saved. The men heeded the warning and no life was lost.

And that brings us to John 15:6, which tells us that a detached branch is fruitless. "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."

There must be a constant, active relationship between the believer and his Lord if the resultant life is to be productive. And this comes from saturation your life with His Word and the fellowships of prayer. From the vine comes the life, from the branches, as a result, comes the fruit. Notice, as we have seen. The vine is dependent upon the branches to bear fruit. Our abiding in Christ connects us constantly with the source of life. His abiding in us brings a steady supply of fruit --"much fruit." "Without Me (or, literally, 'severed from Me') you can do nothing."
What a tremendous truth this is. Do we find in this the secret of the terrible catastrophe which has overtaken our civilization? Do we not see that all of our effort, apart from Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Triune Godhead (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), though wrought on an imposing scale, comes to nothing? Men must be blind indeed if they do not see in the world crisis an evidence that something vital has been wanting, a lack of which has brought confusion and ruin upon the nations. Man, without the knowledge of Christ, loses God, and if this be true, as far as our culture is concerned, oh, how true it is in our personal lives; we are powerless to touch hearts and change lives. The more we serve our matchless Christ, the more we realize the truth of His Words, "Without Me you can do nothing." But, as we said a moment ago, in contrast, the apostles said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Phil 4:13.

If there is to be any fruit in our ministry that will endure unto eternal life, it must come by the living power of Christ working through us, and not by any virtue or effort of our own. "Cut off" from the fellowship of our wonderful Lord, not only can we do nothing, but we are good for nothing. And even what we do, though it may appear good and be good, in relation to what it accomplishes in others, it is, nevertheless, not acceptable fruit in the sight of God. But abiding in Christ as the branch and the vine, we become channels of the outflowing of His Spirit, and the Fruits of the Spirit are wrought in us, and we, by our live and conduct, bring glory to God.                    

GOD BLESS