John Chapter 15

(Life Application Bible 15:1-8)

Jesus is the vine, and God is the Gardener, who carefully plants and cares for the branches with one purpose-that they may bear fruit. The branches are all those who claim to be followers of Jesus. The fruitful branches are true believers who, by their union with him, produce much fruit. Being united with Jesus means drawing our energy and nourishment from him. But those who don't bear fruit-those who make only a superficial commitment to Jesus-will be separated from the vine. Unfruitful * followers* are useless, and will be cut off and tossed aside.

(Col:2v6-7) says So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

(Tony Evans commentary Bible 15:1-6)

Jesus Often used examples from farming and plants when he taught. On this occasion, he told his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. But he Wasn't making up this example. The profit Isaiah had spoken of Israel as the Lord's vineyard. God expected his vineyard to Produce good fruit, but instead it produced only bad fruit. In contrast, Jesus, the son of God, came as the true vine. He perfectly obeyed the father and showed people exactly what God is like and what he wanted them to do. 

(Isa:5v1-7) says I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. Hey dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briars and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it. The vineyard of the Lord almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice but saw bloodshed; for righteousness but heard cries of distress.

Every branch in (Jesus) that does not produce fruit (the father) removes. And every branch that produces fruit the father prunes…. So that it will produce more. Every branch refers to Christians because they are in Jesus. The vine (the son) feeds the branches, and the gardener (the father) tends the branches. God's goal for every Christian is to increase in fruit bearing. We are to progress from producing no fruit to some fruit, to more fruit, to much fruit, to remaining fruit. Fruitfulness is a life of spiritual usefulness and doing good for others and bringing glory to God. It's the proof of true discipleship. Fruit has three characteristics. Fruit reflects the character of its tree. Apples come from apple trees; oranges grow on orange trees. The fruit in your life should reflect Christ---his attitudes and actions, his character and conduct. Second, fruit is visible. The presence of fruit lets you identify a tree's kind and whether it's healthy. A true follower of Christ is a visible follower of Christ, not a secret-agent Saint. Third, fruit is always for the benefit of others. If you're always serving yourself instead of others, your fruit is going to rot on the tree. The Greek Word translated “remove” can also mean “lift up “. As Great vine branches grow, they can droop down and lie on the ground. A gardener gently lifts those branches up so they can grow and produce fruit. In the same way, God, our gardener, lifts us up. He encourages us, he strengthens us and helps us grow so that our lives will bear more fruit for him. For example, through his word and through the people of God. Those who are fruitful God also prunes so that they bear more fruit. Sometimes God Allows challenges and trials in our lives to help us grow in our faith and remove anything that keeps us from living the way he wants us to and bearing more fruit. 

The disciples were clean through the washing of Christ’s word. This is how we stay clean too; nevertheless, we must remain in Jesus. A branch that's disconnected from the vine is useless. So also, we can't produce fruit unless we remain in Jesus. The idea of “remaining” or “abiding” in Christ has to do with intimacy and relationship. Jesus Christ is our source, Of spiritual life. Only he can give us the strength and help we need to live for him and be a blessing to others. That's why we need to stay close to him every day.  We need to hang out with him. You can't avoid Jesus all week and then show up on Sunday morning expecting growth. We only produce much fruit when we remain in him.

(Eph:5v26-27) says to make her holy, cleansing her by washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

If someone chooses not to remain in Jesus, he is thrown aside like a branch and he Withers. Such branches are gathered and burned. This is not a description of hell and cannot refer to the loss of salvation since believers are eternally secure. We've already seen that everyone who comes to Jesus will never be cast out. If you could lose eternal life, then it wasn't eternal to begin with. So instead, the burning is a reference to the consequences of a loss of both fellowship with God and rewards from him. If you disconnect from the vine for too long, don't be surprised to find yourself experiencing divine discipline, getting burned, and seeing your spiritual life wither. Such a believer is useless to himself, God, and others. If you find such things happening to you, repent! Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

(Jas:4v8) says Come near to God and he will come near to you.

(Life Application Bible  15:5-8)

Many people try to be good and honest. But Jesus says that to live a truly good life we must stay close to him. In the same way that plant receives nutrients from their roots, we receive life-given water from the Holy Spirit and food from God's word. These provide spiritually regenerative power. Jesus told his disciples they could ask for anything that would increase fruit bearing. Apart from Jesus, we lose this connection and our efforts are unfruitful. Are you receiving and thriving from the nourishment offered by Jesus, the vine?

Remaining in Christ requires us to be fully connected to Jesus moment by moment. It means 

1. Believing that he is God's son.

(1Joh:4v15) says If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

2. Following him as savior and Lord.

     (Joh:1v12) says Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

3. Doing what God says

    (1Jon:3v24) says the one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in US: we know it by the spirit he gave us.

4. Continuing to believe the gospel

(1Joh:2v24) says as for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the son and in the father.

5. And relating in love to the community of believers, Christ’s body.

(Joh:15v12) says My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.

To have Jesus’s words remain (or abide) in you requires more than merely reading or listening to them. You must internalize them. Another way to describe this is meditating on God's word, rolling it around in your mind to grasp what it means and how to apply it to your specific circumstances. We must chew and swallow scripture, so to speak, so that it becomes part of us. When you do this, you can ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. In other words, prayers get answered when we maintain intimate fellowship with God through his word. That's because they'll find your will aligning with his.

*Fruit* is not limited to soul winning. In this chapter, answered prayer, joy, and love are mentioned as fruit.

(Gal:5v22-24) says but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

(2Pet: 1v5-8) says for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, Godliness; and to Godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It Describes additional fruit qualities of Christian 

(Tony Evans Commentary Bible 15:8-14)

My father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. The more useful you become to the kingdom, the more glory God will receive, and the more people will recognize you as a serious saint (rather than a casual Christian). The lord wants followers, not mere fans. 

Jesus told his disciples, remain in my love. How do we do that? Jesus said, if you keep my commands you will remain in my love. Love for Jesus results in obedience. And obedience produces a deeper relationship with him. The son wants us to enjoy the intimate kind of loving relationship that he enjoys with the father.

Jesus taught his disciples so that they would experience complete joy. This kind of joy doesn't depend on what is happening around us. It comes from knowing that God is in control of everything. It is a deep peace and confidence in God that helps us choose to trust him and praise him, even during hard times. Jesus wasn't just talking about any joy-he was offering them his own joy to live in.Notice that Jesus offered them his own joy. So, if your joy container is empty, Jesus will let you borrow some of his.

Jesus repeated the command he gave them earlier: love one another as I have loved you. Biblical love involves more than mere emotions and personal preferences. Love is the decision to compassionately, righteously, responsibly, and sacrificially seek the well-being of another. You can love people whom you may not necessarily like because love is not dependent on your feelings. That's why Jesus can command you to (love your enemies).

(Matt:5v44) says But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

It's true love that may include feelings of affection, and such feelings may develop over time. But it's not driven by them. Love is driven by sacrifice for the welfare of others. And the Greatest expression of love is to lay down one's life for… friends. That's the kind of love Jesus molded for us.

(Life Application Bible 15:15-17)
Because Jesus Christ is our Lord and master, he has the right to call us servants; instead, he regards us as friends. How comforting and reassuring that he not only chose us but also wants us to be his friends! Because he is our Lord and master, we owe him our unqualified obedience and should listen to everything he says; because we are his friends, we should love him and others the way he loves us.

Jesus made the first choice-to love and to die for us, to invite us to live with him forever. We make the next choice: to accept or to reject his offer. Without his choice, we would have no choice to make.

Christians will get plenty of hatred from the world; from each other we need love and support. Do you allow small problems to get in the way of loving other believers? Jesus commands that you love them, and he will give you the strength to do it.

(Tony Evans Commentary Bible 15:22-27)
The son of God came personally into the world to reveal the father, so those who rejected him have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me, he told them also hates my father. That's strong language, But there's no way around it. People can't talk about their love for God while simultaneously rejecting his son. In spite of all Jesus’s words and works, many refused to believe in him, demonstrating their hatred for the father and the son. They fulfilled the scripture spoken by David in (Psal:69v4) They hated me for no reason. As the wicked showed their disdain for King David, so they showed disdain for the son of David.

(Psal;69v4) says Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

Again, Jesus told his disciples about the Holy Spirit, the counselor, the spirit of truth. Jesus said that when the spirit comes, he will testify about Jesus. Since the role of the Holy Spirit is to testify about the son of God, the spirit has a Christocentric ministry. He does not merely draw attention to himself; he draws attention to Jesus. Therefore, we should be wary of those who claim the spirits involvement in a ministry that ignores Jesus. If the spirit makes much of Jesus, then his disciples should too.

(Life Application Bible 15:26)

Jesus uses two names for the Holy Spirit here-* advocate* and * spirit of truth*. The Advocate is the Holy Spirit who helps, encourages, and strengthens us. The spirit of truth teaches us God's truth, helps us understand it, and reminds us of what Jesus said. The Holy Spirit ministers to both the head and the heart, and both dimensions are important.

The spirit will not only live in the disciples, enabling them to recall the words of Jesus; now he will become a witness. The disciples are witnesses and will be empowered as they deliver that message to the world. The disciples will be forced to witness about Jesus as they are confronted. But the words they utter will be “the truth” because they are speaking about the work of God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.