September 18, 2023 – Monday
John 15:1-4 1599 GNV
1 I [a]am that true vine, and my Father is that husbandman.
2 Every branch that beareth not fruit in me, he taketh away: and everyone that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now are ye clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you: as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
John 15:1-4 NIV
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, as I also 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.
Comments
I have written earlier about later passages in this chapter where Jesus said, If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you here and If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you here in verses 20 and 18 respectively. However, before these warnings, Jesus spoke of our relationship to Him and the Father as well as His relationship to the Father and about love. Today we will look at those relationships.
First, I want to include the notes in both the GNV (Geneva Bible) and the NIV. The GNV has a note in front of the word am and it reads as follows, We are of nature dry and fit for nothing but the fire: Therefore that we may live and be fruitful, we must first be grafted into Christ, as it were into a vine by the Father’s hand: and then be daily shred with a continual meditation of the word and the cross; otherwise it shall not avail any man at all to have been grafted, unless he cleave fast unto the vine, and so draw juice out of it. This is typical of the many notes found in the 1599 Geneva Bible. The NIV note in verse 2 comes at the end of the word prunes and simply says, The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans. This is also typical of the notes found in the NIV when it seeks clarity on its word choices.
Verse 1 clearly states for us that Jesus is the true vine and the Father is the husbandman or gardener. Now if any of us who are saved, that is a branch attached to the vine that is Christ, but bears no fruit via Jesus, that branch will be cut off. But all that bear fruit they will be pruned so they can bear yet more fruit. This is indicative of what was known then and known today as well. The initial fruit may simply be how we think, how we talk, how we treat others and habits that change all likely from being cleaned from the word that Christ has spoken unto us. This makes sense when we remember that prunes and cleans can be synonymous in this sense. Certainly, as new Christians much is pruned/changed in our lives immediately.
Then Jesus issues a caution. Don’t start thinking you can bear fruit on your own. You cannot successfully do so. To continue to bear fruit we must continue to abide or remain in Jesus for as He says, No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. It is easy (too easy in my opinion) to go on our own and try to bear fruit without ensuring we are continuing to abide in Him.
Bottom Line: All the good fruit in our lives comes from us abiding in the vine that we are grafted onto. We must never forgot that if we wish to continue bearing good fruit within and outside ourselves.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You that we are graphed onto Your Son. Let u never forget He is the source of all of our good works. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek