Abiding, Bearing Fruit, Loving Others and the Holy Spirit
John 15 is one of my favorite chapters in this Gospel. In this chapter Jesus teaches about abiding in Him, growing fruit, loving others and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Verse 1 begins with Jesus' statement that He is the vine and His Father is the gardener. In Scripture, "the vine" referred to Israel. God "transplanted" the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Jesus Himself is the "True Vine". Warren Wiersbe writes that "our union with Christ is a living union, so we may bear fruit; a loving union, so that we may enjoy Him; and a lasting union, so that we need not be afraid."
Branches are referring to mankind. Wiersbe writes that alone, "a branch is weak. . . The branch cannot produce its own life; it must draw. . . from the vine. It is our communion with Christ through the Spirit that makes possible the bearing of the fruit." The key idea in this analogy is the word "abide". This word means "to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit. This certainly involves the Word of God and the confession of sin so that nothing hinders our communion with Him" (Weirsbe). We might ask how we know if we are abiding. We will know if we are abiding if:
1) we produce fruit (v. 2);
2) we experience pruning to bear more fruit (v.2);
3) our prayers are answered (v.7);
4) we have a deepening love for Christ and for other believers (vv. 9, 12-13); and
5) we have joy (v. 11).
Verse 2 states that God the Father "cuts off every branch. . . that bears no fruit." The NIV text note states that this is a reference to judgment. Branches that do bear fruit are pruned so that they will become more fruitful. The NIV text note adds that pruning produces fruitfulness. In the New Testament the figure of good fruit represents the product of a godly life or virtues of character. Wiersebe adds that a vinedresser prunes in two ways - he "cuts away dead wood that can breed disease and insects, and he cuts away living tissue so that the life of the vine will not be so dissipated that the quality of the crop will be jeopardized." In the spiritual instance, this tells us that "God wants both quantity and quality." Wiersbe goes on to say that "the greatest judgment God could bring to a believer would be to let him alone, let him have his own way. Because God loves us, He 'prunes' us and encourages us to bear more fruit for His glory." How does God, the vinedresser, prune us, His branches? Wiersbe writes that the Word convicts us or sometimes God removes something precious from us. But because of this pruning, we will see a "spiritual crop" produced.
To remain fruitful, verses 4-5 tells us we must remain in Jesus. A branch out of contact with the vine is lifeless. Apart from Christ we can do nothing. Wiersbe writes that "Abiding in Christ demands worship, meditation on God's Word, prayer, sacrifice and service." He goes on to say that "the more we abide in Christ, the more fruit we bear, and the more fruit we bear, the more the Father has to prune us so that the quality keeps up with the quantity. . .God is glorified by a bigger crop that is also a better crop."
A genuine salvation experience will produce fruit. What is fruit?
*Being part of the harvest (John 4:35-38)
*Peace (John 14:27)
*Love and joy (John 15:9-11)
*Winning others to Christ (Romans 1:13)
*Growth in holiness and obedience (Romans 6:22)
*Giving (Romans 15:28)
*Purity, understanding, patience, kindness and love. (2 Corinthians 6:6)
*Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
*Humility, patience, bearing with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
*Goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:9)
*Good works, service (Colossians 1:10)
*Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness (Colossians 3:12-15)
*Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
But verse 6 says that those who do not abide in Jesus are thrown away, will wither and then be thrown into the fire and burned. (They will be judged.) Verse 7 tells us that if we remain in Jesus and His words remain in us, that whatever we ask will be given. We cannot pray correctly apart from knowing and believing the teachings of Christ.
Verse 8 reminds us that our bearing of fruit is to glorify God. By bearing fruit, we are serving others and showing that we are God's disciples.
"Christ-like love is the answer to the difficult situations we face in life. Instead of looking for love in all the wrong places, our lives should be marked by His love and, if it is, then we have everything we need to respond properly in our relationships and circumstances." (Harvest study)
In verses 9-10, Jesus said that He loved us as the Father has loved Him. The key to abiding in His love is to obey His commands. We see in verse 11, that Jesus taught these things so that His joy would be in us.
In verses 12-13 we see that the greatest commandment was to love each other as Christ loved us. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." The NIV study Bible reminds us that Christ's love was not only in words but also in his sacrificial death.Verse 14 tells us that we are qualified to be a friend of Jesus when we do what He commands.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us that we must obey. He writes "Christian love is not "a feeling"; it is an act of the will. The proof of our love is not in our feelings but in our actions, even to the extent of laying down our lives for Christ and for one another. . . real Christian love. . . means treating others the way God treats us." He goes on to say that "our friendship with Christ involves love and obedience. Abraham was God's friend because he obeyed God" (Genesis 18:19). Friendship with God also involves knowledge. We learn to know God better.
Verse 15 tells us that we are no longer servants who do not know what our Master is doing. We are now called friends. The NIV study Bible says that "a servant is simply an agent, doing what his master commands and often not understanding his master's purpose. But Jesus takes His friends into His confidence."
The kind of love God offers us is Agape love - the unconditional love which seeks to love others without expecting or asking anything in return. It loves even those who are unlovely and who desire to do us harm. God's agape love seeks out the very best for the one being loved. When we come to realize that God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, we in turn can love others to Christ. When they see His love in us, they want to know Jesus! This is why He has commanded that we love one another." (Harvest Study)
What does it mean to be a friend of the King of Kings? "It is a humbling experience, for He chose us and we did not choose Him. We must keep this in mind lest we become proud and presumptuous. It means that we keep our ears open and listen to what He says to us."
"The purpose of all this is that we might obey Him and get His work done. . . We will seek to bear fruit that will please Him. .. our joy should be to please Him."
The most important command - love one another. . . "If we do not love one another, how can we even hope to love lost men and women in the world." (Warren Wiersbe)
In verse 16 we read that we did not choose Christ, but that He chose us and appointed us to go and bear lasting fruit. When we do this, we are promised that whatever we ask in Jesus' name will be given.
The NIV study Bible says that "disciples normally chose the particular rabbi to whom they wanted to be attached, but it was not so with Jesus' disciples. He chose them, and for a purpose - the bearing of fruit. We usually desire a strong prayer life in order that we may be fruitful, but here it is the other way around. Jesus enables us to bear fruit, and then the Father will hear our prayers."
"Here in chapter 15, Jesus has clearly laid out the secret of a successful and fruitful Christian life: 'Abide in Me,and I in you' (v. 4). He also teaches us that when the world becomes hostile and hateful toward us, our primary weapon and strategy is Christ-like love. We will face the same hostility Jesus faced and in the remaining verses, He prepares us to deal with hatred." (Harvest study)
Verses 18-19 tell us that every believer should expect to be hated as Christ was because we have been chosen out of the world. The NIV study Bible reminds us that the believer's new life comes from God and therefore he is not the same as those who oppose God. In verse 20 Jesus reminded his followers that if people did wrong to Him, they will do wrong to us also. And if they obeyed Jesus' teaching, they will obey ours also.
Wiersbe adds that "if we are not abiding as branches and obeying as friends, we will never be able to face the opposition of the world." He goes on to say that "until the Lord returns, or until we die, we must live in the hostile world and face continual opposition."
"Hate - the absolute opposite of love - is what we can expect from the world. We will be treated in this way because of Jesus' name and because hateful individuals do not know the One whom God sent (v. 21)." (Harvest study)
In addition to the preaching of the gospel, Jesus also used miracles to bring about conviction.The NIV study Bible writes that because Christians do not belong to the world, persecution from the world is inevitable. The basic reason is the world's ignorance and rejection of the Father. It adds that privilege and responsibility go together. The Jews had had the great privilege of having the Son of God among them. . . Their rejection of Jesus left them totally guilty and without excuse. Had he not come to them they would still have been sinners, but they would not have been guilty of rejecting Him directly.
Wiersbe writes, "the world from a Christian point of view involves all the people, plans, organizations, activities, philosophies, values, etc. that belong to society without God. . . As Christians we must be careful not to love the world (1 John 2:15-17) or be conformed to the world (Romans 12:1-2)." The progress of the world's opposition is first hatred (vv. 18-19), then persecution (v. 20), excommunication, and even death (John 16:2).
"The ultimate end of such hatred Jesus declares in verse 23: 'He who hates Me hates My Father also.' All of this happened in fulfillment of the word: 'They hated Me without a cause.' (v. 25)." (Harvest study) Wiersbe adds that in the end God's purpose is always accomplished, despite the belief of sinful men that they have successfully opposed it.
Wiersbe goes on to address why the world system hates those who believe in Christ. He says:
1) "We are identified with Christ (vv. 18, 20). If they hated Him, they will also hate those of us who are identified with Him."
2) "We do not belong to the world (v. 19). When we trusted Christ, we moved into a new spiritual position: we are now 'in Christ' and 'out of the world'. . . We are in the world physically, but not of the world spiritually."
Wiersbe adds that "the world system functions on the basis of conformity. As long as a person follows the fads and fashions and accepts the values of the world, he or she will 'get along'. But the Christian refuses to be 'conformed to the world' (Romans 12:2). The believer is a 'new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17) and no longer wants to live the 'old life' (1 Peter 4:1-4). We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16), but a dark world does not want light and a decaying world does not want salt! In other words, the believer is not just 'out of step'; he is out of place! (John 17:14, 16; 1 John 4:5)"
3) "The world is spiritually ignorant and blind (v. 21). Jesus had taught them the Word and had demonstrated His deity in miraculous signs and a godly walk, and yet the religious leaders of the nation were blind to His identity: 'The world knew Him not' (John 1:10). The religious world today claims to know God, but it does not want to bow the knee to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and only Savior of the world."
4) "The world will not be honest about its own sin (vv. 22-24; 16:1-4). 2 Peter 3:5 - For this they willingly are ignorant. When Jesus healed the man born blind, the Pharisees 'had to admit that Jesus had healed the man born blind, but they would not follow the evidence to its logical conclusion and put their trust in Him. . . They were not sinning in ignorance; they were sinning against a flood of light. Why? Because the light revealed their own sin and they did not want to face their sin honestly."
Finally, in verses 26-27 we see Jesus giving comfort to His disciples by telling them the purpose of the Holy Spirit and reminding them that He has overcome the world. These verses tell us that the Holy Spirit will come from the Father and will testify about Jesus.
Wiersbe says that "the Holy Spirit of God is a person. . . In John 15:26 all three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned: Jesus the Son will send the Spirit from the Father. . . Christians can stand and withstand in the midst of the world's hatred because of the special ministries of the Holy Spirit."
We should expect persecution, but we also need to remember that we are not expected to bear it alone. The Spirit of God will be with us to encourage us through it.
Verse 1 begins with Jesus' statement that He is the vine and His Father is the gardener. In Scripture, "the vine" referred to Israel. God "transplanted" the people of Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Jesus Himself is the "True Vine". Warren Wiersbe writes that "our union with Christ is a living union, so we may bear fruit; a loving union, so that we may enjoy Him; and a lasting union, so that we need not be afraid."
Branches are referring to mankind. Wiersbe writes that alone, "a branch is weak. . . The branch cannot produce its own life; it must draw. . . from the vine. It is our communion with Christ through the Spirit that makes possible the bearing of the fruit." The key idea in this analogy is the word "abide". This word means "to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit. This certainly involves the Word of God and the confession of sin so that nothing hinders our communion with Him" (Weirsbe). We might ask how we know if we are abiding. We will know if we are abiding if:
1) we produce fruit (v. 2);
2) we experience pruning to bear more fruit (v.2);
3) our prayers are answered (v.7);
4) we have a deepening love for Christ and for other believers (vv. 9, 12-13); and
5) we have joy (v. 11).
Verse 2 states that God the Father "cuts off every branch. . . that bears no fruit." The NIV text note states that this is a reference to judgment. Branches that do bear fruit are pruned so that they will become more fruitful. The NIV text note adds that pruning produces fruitfulness. In the New Testament the figure of good fruit represents the product of a godly life or virtues of character. Wiersebe adds that a vinedresser prunes in two ways - he "cuts away dead wood that can breed disease and insects, and he cuts away living tissue so that the life of the vine will not be so dissipated that the quality of the crop will be jeopardized." In the spiritual instance, this tells us that "God wants both quantity and quality." Wiersbe goes on to say that "the greatest judgment God could bring to a believer would be to let him alone, let him have his own way. Because God loves us, He 'prunes' us and encourages us to bear more fruit for His glory." How does God, the vinedresser, prune us, His branches? Wiersbe writes that the Word convicts us or sometimes God removes something precious from us. But because of this pruning, we will see a "spiritual crop" produced.
To remain fruitful, verses 4-5 tells us we must remain in Jesus. A branch out of contact with the vine is lifeless. Apart from Christ we can do nothing. Wiersbe writes that "Abiding in Christ demands worship, meditation on God's Word, prayer, sacrifice and service." He goes on to say that "the more we abide in Christ, the more fruit we bear, and the more fruit we bear, the more the Father has to prune us so that the quality keeps up with the quantity. . .God is glorified by a bigger crop that is also a better crop."
A genuine salvation experience will produce fruit. What is fruit?
*Being part of the harvest (John 4:35-38)
*Peace (John 14:27)
*Love and joy (John 15:9-11)
*Winning others to Christ (Romans 1:13)
*Growth in holiness and obedience (Romans 6:22)
*Giving (Romans 15:28)
*Purity, understanding, patience, kindness and love. (2 Corinthians 6:6)
*Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
*Humility, patience, bearing with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
*Goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:9)
*Good works, service (Colossians 1:10)
*Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness (Colossians 3:12-15)
*Praise (Hebrews 13:15)
But verse 6 says that those who do not abide in Jesus are thrown away, will wither and then be thrown into the fire and burned. (They will be judged.) Verse 7 tells us that if we remain in Jesus and His words remain in us, that whatever we ask will be given. We cannot pray correctly apart from knowing and believing the teachings of Christ.
Verse 8 reminds us that our bearing of fruit is to glorify God. By bearing fruit, we are serving others and showing that we are God's disciples.
"Christ-like love is the answer to the difficult situations we face in life. Instead of looking for love in all the wrong places, our lives should be marked by His love and, if it is, then we have everything we need to respond properly in our relationships and circumstances." (Harvest study)
In verses 9-10, Jesus said that He loved us as the Father has loved Him. The key to abiding in His love is to obey His commands. We see in verse 11, that Jesus taught these things so that His joy would be in us.
In verses 12-13 we see that the greatest commandment was to love each other as Christ loved us. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." The NIV study Bible reminds us that Christ's love was not only in words but also in his sacrificial death.Verse 14 tells us that we are qualified to be a friend of Jesus when we do what He commands.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us that we must obey. He writes "Christian love is not "a feeling"; it is an act of the will. The proof of our love is not in our feelings but in our actions, even to the extent of laying down our lives for Christ and for one another. . . real Christian love. . . means treating others the way God treats us." He goes on to say that "our friendship with Christ involves love and obedience. Abraham was God's friend because he obeyed God" (Genesis 18:19). Friendship with God also involves knowledge. We learn to know God better.
Verse 15 tells us that we are no longer servants who do not know what our Master is doing. We are now called friends. The NIV study Bible says that "a servant is simply an agent, doing what his master commands and often not understanding his master's purpose. But Jesus takes His friends into His confidence."
The kind of love God offers us is Agape love - the unconditional love which seeks to love others without expecting or asking anything in return. It loves even those who are unlovely and who desire to do us harm. God's agape love seeks out the very best for the one being loved. When we come to realize that God loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, we in turn can love others to Christ. When they see His love in us, they want to know Jesus! This is why He has commanded that we love one another." (Harvest Study)
What does it mean to be a friend of the King of Kings? "It is a humbling experience, for He chose us and we did not choose Him. We must keep this in mind lest we become proud and presumptuous. It means that we keep our ears open and listen to what He says to us."
"The purpose of all this is that we might obey Him and get His work done. . . We will seek to bear fruit that will please Him. .. our joy should be to please Him."
The most important command - love one another. . . "If we do not love one another, how can we even hope to love lost men and women in the world." (Warren Wiersbe)
In verse 16 we read that we did not choose Christ, but that He chose us and appointed us to go and bear lasting fruit. When we do this, we are promised that whatever we ask in Jesus' name will be given.
The NIV study Bible says that "disciples normally chose the particular rabbi to whom they wanted to be attached, but it was not so with Jesus' disciples. He chose them, and for a purpose - the bearing of fruit. We usually desire a strong prayer life in order that we may be fruitful, but here it is the other way around. Jesus enables us to bear fruit, and then the Father will hear our prayers."
"Here in chapter 15, Jesus has clearly laid out the secret of a successful and fruitful Christian life: 'Abide in Me,and I in you' (v. 4). He also teaches us that when the world becomes hostile and hateful toward us, our primary weapon and strategy is Christ-like love. We will face the same hostility Jesus faced and in the remaining verses, He prepares us to deal with hatred." (Harvest study)
Verses 18-19 tell us that every believer should expect to be hated as Christ was because we have been chosen out of the world. The NIV study Bible reminds us that the believer's new life comes from God and therefore he is not the same as those who oppose God. In verse 20 Jesus reminded his followers that if people did wrong to Him, they will do wrong to us also. And if they obeyed Jesus' teaching, they will obey ours also.
Wiersbe adds that "if we are not abiding as branches and obeying as friends, we will never be able to face the opposition of the world." He goes on to say that "until the Lord returns, or until we die, we must live in the hostile world and face continual opposition."
"Hate - the absolute opposite of love - is what we can expect from the world. We will be treated in this way because of Jesus' name and because hateful individuals do not know the One whom God sent (v. 21)." (Harvest study)
In addition to the preaching of the gospel, Jesus also used miracles to bring about conviction.The NIV study Bible writes that because Christians do not belong to the world, persecution from the world is inevitable. The basic reason is the world's ignorance and rejection of the Father. It adds that privilege and responsibility go together. The Jews had had the great privilege of having the Son of God among them. . . Their rejection of Jesus left them totally guilty and without excuse. Had he not come to them they would still have been sinners, but they would not have been guilty of rejecting Him directly.
Wiersbe writes, "the world from a Christian point of view involves all the people, plans, organizations, activities, philosophies, values, etc. that belong to society without God. . . As Christians we must be careful not to love the world (1 John 2:15-17) or be conformed to the world (Romans 12:1-2)." The progress of the world's opposition is first hatred (vv. 18-19), then persecution (v. 20), excommunication, and even death (John 16:2).
"The ultimate end of such hatred Jesus declares in verse 23: 'He who hates Me hates My Father also.' All of this happened in fulfillment of the word: 'They hated Me without a cause.' (v. 25)." (Harvest study) Wiersbe adds that in the end God's purpose is always accomplished, despite the belief of sinful men that they have successfully opposed it.
Wiersbe goes on to address why the world system hates those who believe in Christ. He says:
1) "We are identified with Christ (vv. 18, 20). If they hated Him, they will also hate those of us who are identified with Him."
2) "We do not belong to the world (v. 19). When we trusted Christ, we moved into a new spiritual position: we are now 'in Christ' and 'out of the world'. . . We are in the world physically, but not of the world spiritually."
Wiersbe adds that "the world system functions on the basis of conformity. As long as a person follows the fads and fashions and accepts the values of the world, he or she will 'get along'. But the Christian refuses to be 'conformed to the world' (Romans 12:2). The believer is a 'new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17) and no longer wants to live the 'old life' (1 Peter 4:1-4). We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16), but a dark world does not want light and a decaying world does not want salt! In other words, the believer is not just 'out of step'; he is out of place! (John 17:14, 16; 1 John 4:5)"
3) "The world is spiritually ignorant and blind (v. 21). Jesus had taught them the Word and had demonstrated His deity in miraculous signs and a godly walk, and yet the religious leaders of the nation were blind to His identity: 'The world knew Him not' (John 1:10). The religious world today claims to know God, but it does not want to bow the knee to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and only Savior of the world."
4) "The world will not be honest about its own sin (vv. 22-24; 16:1-4). 2 Peter 3:5 - For this they willingly are ignorant. When Jesus healed the man born blind, the Pharisees 'had to admit that Jesus had healed the man born blind, but they would not follow the evidence to its logical conclusion and put their trust in Him. . . They were not sinning in ignorance; they were sinning against a flood of light. Why? Because the light revealed their own sin and they did not want to face their sin honestly."
Finally, in verses 26-27 we see Jesus giving comfort to His disciples by telling them the purpose of the Holy Spirit and reminding them that He has overcome the world. These verses tell us that the Holy Spirit will come from the Father and will testify about Jesus.
Wiersbe says that "the Holy Spirit of God is a person. . . In John 15:26 all three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned: Jesus the Son will send the Spirit from the Father. . . Christians can stand and withstand in the midst of the world's hatred because of the special ministries of the Holy Spirit."
We should expect persecution, but we also need to remember that we are not expected to bear it alone. The Spirit of God will be with us to encourage us through it.
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