The True Vine

This was originally published in August of 2007. Oh my how time flies! 

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Jesus says in John 15:
1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4Abide 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.
5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.


This is one of my favorite passages :o) I was listening to a sermon today on the way to and from the foster class and the man spoke on this passage. It was very good. I only had time to listen to most of the first message titled "Every Branch In Me That Beareth Not Fruit..." but look forward to hearing the rest of it. Something the preacher said was that in newer translations, the word "purge" used in verse 2 is changed to 'cleanse' which does not correctly reflect the true meaning of what the Lord does. Purging can hurt and cause pain! The Lord will purge us! Of course I cannot do it justice the way he said it in the sermon, but it made me like the passage even more. If we abide in Him, we WILL be purged and bring forth much fruit and glorify the Lord. If we do not, we will be cast into the fire.

Go on to 1 John 2:
3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

How do we know that we abide in Christ? If we keep His commandments. If we say we know Him and DO NOT keep His commandments, we are a liar and the truth is not in us. If we say we abide in Christ, we should walk as He walked. How did He walk? And what are His commandments? Did He walk and teach contrary to the Father? 

I love the simplicity of the Word. In my opinion, it only gets complicated when people try to explain why it does not mean what it says.