THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES, PART II.

John 15 : 2.

Every branch in me that bears no fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it , so that it may bear more fruit.

On the face of it this verse seems to be telling us that believers better see to it that they produce fruit or out the door they go.

And yet this conclusion, even though common among many Christians, is not compatible with many other truths of Scripture.

Last month we also saw that the Life in the Vine bears fruit in the branches.

For the right answer we need to compare Scripture with Scripture.

When we study this subject we find that Jesus died for all, his death was sufficient atonement for all, just the same not all are saved.

I John 2:2 …….And he (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Hebr.2:9 ……That he (Jesus) should taste death for every man.

Or John 1:29 ……Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

May we then conclude that since Jesus tasted death for everyone, that therefore all will be saved?

No, not quite. There is a condition. The condition is believing that Jesus came into the world to face death for sinners and their sins.

The application of the sacrifice of Jesus to our personal condition.

John 3:18 He that believes on him (Jesus), is not condemned, but he that believes not, is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So, we could reconstruct John 15:2 this way: every branch that does not respond to the offer of Life that the Vine provides is taken away by the vinedresser due to his own choice.

Before we get the urge to pat ourselves on the back for making the right choice, let us remember John 3:19 ……..And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather that light…….

If it had been up to us, we certainly would not have made the right choice.

It is not without cause that Jesus says: “No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him,(yank him by the arm, so to speak) in John 6:44.

The truth of John 15:2 is also illustrated in Luke 19:11-27.

This parable is not about making money in the market place, it is about the new Life in Christ that is available to everyone. The question is, what do we do with that new Life that is freely given to us?

That new Life is manifested in the believer in the form of a life of love, love to our Father and love to our neighbors.

The more of this love we give away, the more we receive in return.

Conversely, the man that buried his pound (new Life) in the ground, from him was taken away even that which was given to him in the first place, Luke 19:26.

Here is a picture of a branch that does not bear fruit, it is taken away.

The choice is ours, willingness to bear fruit or not.

A willingness to yield ourselves to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do those things which are pleasing to the Father.

All this so that our life will be a demonstration of the Life of the Vine that is in us.

This willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit also makes that the life of a “branch” is anything but passive.

To the contrary, it is an active live, lived in service to our Father who gave us the real life. Life that does not end, ever.

As well it is a life of service to our fellow man in a multitude of aspects.

A life that has been touched and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit no longer seeks its own advantage or benefit, but that of others.

It completely changes the answer to the “why” of things.

Why do I work my job? Why am I a Christian? Why do I attend church? Why do I begin a conversation with a person who seems lonesome? Why am I here in the first place?

It is a life that no longer seeks fulfillment in order to be happy.

It is a life that finds joy in contentment.

John 15:2 goes on to say that the vinedresser prunes the branches that do bear fruit, in order that the quantity and the quality of the fruit might increase.

The story was told to me of a father who went with his school age son to a country fair.

While there, they observed a lumberjack with a chainsaw carving away at a stump of a tree. Now and then the man carefully observed a piece of paper on a small table, which turned out to be a picture of an Indian in full ceremonial dress.

The boy observed the artisan for a while, then he turned to his father. He said: Dad, you know what he is doing? Yes, was the reply, he is carving an Indian out of that stump.

That’s right, said the boy, he is carving away everything that does not look like an Indian.

And that is the objective of the divine Vinedresser, cutting away everything in us and about us that does not look like the image of Jesus.

When we give our Father permission to do this pruning in us, he will set about to carefully, lovingly remove those things in us that are not pleasing to him.

John the Baptist defined the purpose of this pruning process when he said: “He (Jesus) must increase and I must decrease”.

Pruning is usually painful, because it often involves those things that we, God’s children trust in for our wellbeing, our self-support systems that we all have developed to cope with life as it comes to us. It may be our job or profession, our bank account, our ability to control our circumstances, our knack for controlling those around us, our reputation, a whole series of perceived rights that we believe are ours, the list goes on.

It is what the Bible calls fulfilling the lust of the flesh, Gal.5:16.

Flesh is always self-serving, it seeks its own welfare, often at the expense of others.

Flesh always claims to know best, it is opposed to the Holy Spirit and is anti-Christ.

Flesh is not of faith, therefore it is always sin.

Pruning, however painful it might be, is always for our good.

The Psalmist knew that all too well when he said: It was good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes, Ps. 119:71.

Hebr. 12:11 is very specific about pruning: “Now no chastening (pruning) for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby”.

When adverse circumstances come our way, what ever their source, our Father will use them in the pruning process.

When we can approach life in that way, we can also agree with Rom.8: 28 - 30 …..And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he foreknew, he also pre-destined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom he pre-destined, those he also called, whom he called, those he also justified, and whom he justified, those he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

To be continued……..

St.Thomas, Dec./’08. Simon VanderKooy.