Series: Abide
Abide: Fruitful Branches
January 16, 2022 | John Durham
GENESIS 1:28, be fruitful. BEARING FRUIT = GOD’S CHARACTER AND PRESENCE IN YOU SEEN EXTERNALLY.
JOHN 15:1-8 ABIDING = DRAWING LIFE AND STRENGTH FROM JESUS IN ORDER TO BEAR FRUIT IN A FAITHLESS, UNFRUITFUL WORLD.
VS1-2 THE VINEDRESSER IS GOD, THE FATHER. THE VINE IS JESUS FRUITFUL BRANCHES ARE TRUE CHRIST-FOLLOWERS. UNFRUITFUL BRANCHES ARE THOSE WHO APPEAR TO BE GENUINE, BUT HAVE ONLY A SUPERFICIAL ATTACHMENT.
There are two implications here to that: 1. WE CAN’T BOAST. 2. WE CAN’T BLAMESHIFT.
Fruit Bearing Branches: The abiding branch bears fruit, only because it is attached to the Vine. V5 The Vinedresser prunes every fruit-bearing branch. V2b
Fruitless Branches: The fruitless branch lacks fruit, only because it is not attached to the Vine. V4 The Vinedresser eventually cuts off the fruitless branch and casts it away. V2, V6
Look how our passage ends:
GOD GETS GLORY: TRUE CHRISTIANS LOVE TO KNOW THAT THEIR OBEDIENCE BRINGS GLORY TO GOD
WE GET ASSURANCE: TRUE CHRISTIANS LOVE TO KNOW THAT THEIR LIVES ARE INDEED IN CHRIST
Series Information
In this series, we will walk through John 15:1-17 and see what it means to abide in Christ.