Alex Goshu, Ethiopia
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
For believers, a living union with Christ is absolutely necessary. Without it there is nothing. True salvation is evidenced by a life of fruitfulness. If we know and believe the teaching of Christ, God our Father is glorified, but we must take it further. God is also glorified in the fruit-bearing of Christians. As John says, no branch can even live by itself, let alone produce leaves and fruit. Cut off from the trunk, a branch is dead. Likewise, the vine’s branches rely on being connected to the trunk from which they receive their energy to bear fruit.
Christians depend on being connected to Jesus for their spiritual life and their ability to serve Him effectively. The fruit we produce is that of the Holy Spirit. As Galatians 5:22–23 says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Our source of life and spiritual fruit is not in ourselves; it is Christ Jesus in us. We can live rightly and serve Him effectively only if we are properly connected to Him in a faith-and-love relationship.
When Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” it is an illustration of the vine and branches; it is not a thoughtless generality or careless simile. It is an absolute, stark reality. No believer can achieve anything of spiritual value independent of Christ Jesus.
Jesus also reminds us that there are some who are in Him who bear no fruit. But these are not, as some would suppose, true branches that just happen to be fruitless. The reality is that all true branches bear fruit. Just as we know a healthy, living tree by the good fruit it produces, so do we recognize fruitless branches as having no connection to the true vine. This is why Jesus tells us, “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 16:20). Those who do not produce good fruit are not true branches, but are cut away and burned. The fruitless branches are identified as not belonging to the vine and are removed for the sake of truth and for the benefit of the other branches.
As each branch depends on the trunk, we need to depend on Jesus for everything, starting with our very life. In Acts it says, “For in him we live and move and have our being” (17:28). This includes our reconciliation with God through Him. No one can serve God effectively until he is connected with Jesus Christ by faith. Jesus is our only connection with the God who gave life and who produces in us a fruitful life of righteousness and service.
May you be a true branch that produces abundant fruit for God’s glory.