Jesus Is The True Vine (J59)

“You are the branches; I am the true vine;
A vine and its branches live to bear fruit;
The branch that bears no fruit is none of mine;
It’s cut and withers, for it has no root!
You are pruned now by my words said to you;
Remain in me, and in you I’ll remain;
From a branch alone, no fruit ever grew,
Nor can you bear, if me you don’t retain!
Whatever you ask for, you will receive,
If my words remain fresh inside your heart;
You can do nothing unless you believe
In me, and never from me drift apart!
It is to God’s glory to bear much fruit,
Many new disciples of Him recruit!”

Scripture Quoted: John 15:1-5 (NIV)
“ ‘I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will 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.’ “

Commentary on: John 15:1-8 (NIV)
Jesus is continuing His instructions to the remaining eleven apostles on the Thursday evening before His crucifixion the next day. They have now departed from the upper room and are walking across the Kidron valley to the garden of Gethsemane, a place they frequented. Here Jesus employs a new analogy for Himself and His disciples; He has already called Himself the “light of the world”, the “good shepherd”, and other very apt comparisons; now He says He is the “true vine” and His disciples are its “branches”. The growing of grapes was a common farming occupation in the Holy Land; the apostles probably had an easier time understanding this than most. This teaching applies to all disciples, including believers through the years and today. Jesus commands us to bear fruit; the fruit of which He is speaking is new believers. It is not the will of God that anyone die and be condemned to hell; it is His will that every person in the world hear the gospel, believe on the Lord Jesus, and inherit eternal life. That is what He came to us as a man to do—to spread the word to the uttermost part of earth that belief in Jesus saves.

By cutting off the branches that fail to bear fruit, He meant those who profess belief in Jesus, but who are not sincere and who do not repent of their sins and do not ask for forgiveness; they fall away without studying the Bible, attending church, and without witnessing to people about their new life in Jesus. These probably were not saved because of insincerity; there are many like that. Once a person has sincerely professed the Lordship of Jesus and believe in his or her heart that He has been resurrected from the dead, that individual is saved and cannot be unsaved! It is sadly true, though, that many sincere believers do not “bear fruit”; they attend church, but seldom if ever testify to others about being born again. Some Christians are better fruit-bearers than others, but no one has ever been fruitful enough to earn his admission to heaven. It is the grace of God that saves everyone, because no one has ever lived without sinning.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)