John 15:2,6 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
This strong imagery strikes us with the importance of staying close to
Jesus. Before we ask questions of whether or not this is about losing
salvation, let’s hear Jesus’ passionate urging to stay faithful to Him. Let
this imagery convict us to fresh devotion to Him.
It also calls us to examine ourselves – are we bearing fruit? A person
that bears no fruit is not a Christian and faces God’s judgement unless they embrace the ‘vine’ – salvation in Christ.
Mark Dever makes the point about the inevitability of fruitfulness
following new birth,
"The spiritual change each person needs is so radical, so
near the root of us, that only God can do it. We need God to convert us.
Conversion need not be an emotionally heated experience, but it must evidence
itself in godly fruit if it is to be what the Bible regards as a true
conversion."
Jesus is passionate
for you to be fruitful; this is great news of hope for each of us; He will
respond powerfully as we turn to Him in repentance and prayer for growth.
This is also a dire
warning for those who are not ‘in the vine’: they face God’s judgement. Let’s
pray for those whom God has put in our lives, that we would lovingly share the
gospel with them.
To meditate/pray upon
Matthew 3:10 ‘The axe has been laid to the root of the trees, and
every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into
the fire.’
2 Peter 1:5-8 ‘… make every effort to supplement your faith with
virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with
self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with
godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly
affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are
increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
You can catch up on all the messages in the
John series at:
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