How to Live a Fruitful Life

Intro

Question: How can you live a fruitful life?

Jesus answers this question for us in John 15 as he tells us how to have a fruitful life. I invite you to turn in your Bibles to John 15, we’ll be looking at verses 1 through 17.

The context of this passage is that Jesus has gathered with his disciples for his last supper and he is teaching them one final time before being arrested and crucified.

Here in the middle of that teaching, Jesus reveals the secret to living a fruitful life.

John 15:5 (CSB)

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

The secret to living a fruitful live is remaining in Jesus.

Made Alive

The first thing this metaphor of this metaphor of the vine and the branches reveals is that we are can only bear fruit when we are made alive in Christ.

Colossians 2:13 (CSB)

13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

1 John 4:9–10 (CSB)

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

When Jesus says “I am the vine and you are the branches he is telling us that he is the source of life.”

Life is not found in success, money, entertainment, in our job or status. Life is not found in any pursuit that is about us.

We are branches that only live when connected tot he vine. Jesus is the source of life and apart from him we are lifeless branches which do not bear fruit.

Illustration: Drone without battery.

This past week our neighbor gave us this drone. He had bought a new one and gave my son Caleb his old drone since he wasn’t using it any more. It was a delightful gift and we excitedly pulled out the remote and prepared to watch the drone fly into the sky.

We pushed the controls on the remote. And nothing happened. The drone was here. But it wasn’t alive. It needed to be powered up. So after a lot of searching we found the power button and pushed it. Nothing happened. And after reading the instructions held the button down for three seconds. And the drone sat there. Lifeless. The battery was dead. This drone needed a special cable to charge the battery. And until we found this and recharged the battery the drone was here but it wasn’t alive.

Jesus is saying the same thing to us. He is the vine. Until we are plugged in to him we are like the uncharged drone or the disconnected branch. Dead in sin cut off from the source of life.

John 10:10 (CSB)

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

The first step to living a fruitful life is to me made alive by Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus we are connected to the vine and we gain true life and have it in abundance as we live here on earth and as we look forward to everlasting life with Christ.

Produce Fruit

Once we have been made alive by Christ the second step to living a fruitful life is to remain in Christ. Let’s see how Jesus describes this starting in verse 1 of this chapter.

God prunes us (vs 1-2)

John 15:1–2 (CSB)

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

Protects, waters, and cultivates and prunes

Pruning involves the the removal of dead wood and trimming of live wood so the potential fruit bearing will be improved

“The means by which pruning is done is the Word of God. It condemns sin; it inspires holiness, it promotes growth.

2. Christ, not our effort is the source of our fruit (vs 4-5)

John 15:4–5 (CSB)

4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

The most important action we can take to bear fruit is to remain in Christ.

Jesus doesn’t promise uniformity in quantity or quality but does promise that fruit for all believers.

We remain in Christ through internal actions of faith and external actions like prayer, worship, gathering together with other believers, and reading Scripture.

3. This process brings joy (vs 11)

Not a to-do list of things we should but don’t want to do

Not a gloomy or depressing message about how we need to do better.

“I have told you things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

John 15:11 CSB

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Experience and Share Love

The secret to a fruitful live is being made alive by Christ and bearing fruit by remaining in Christ. But what is that fruit? It’s experiencing and sharing God’s love.

In verse 9 Jesus says:

John 15:9 CSB

9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.

Jesus loves you and he calls you to remain in his love. When you gather together worship, allow your minds and hearts to remember and rejoice in God’s love for you. As you study God’s word never forget God’s love. As you live your life in the midst of your greatest achievements know God’s love, the valley of your deepest failures remain in God’s love experiencing his grace and the open arms of the farther.

Jesus tells us “remain in my love.”

And as you are filled with God’s love share that love with others.

John 15:12 CSB

12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.

Jesus calls us to love as he has loved us. There may be many different expressions of the fruit you bear when you remain in Christ, but they will have in common this, that they are an expression of love towards God and towards others.

Note that God is not calling us to love as the world loves. Our model is whatever is trending on Twitter or TikTok, or Hollywood or wherever else love is defined in our culture.

Our model is to love as Jesus did. In truth, in self sacrifice, and in a way that brings glory to God.

Conclusion

I started with the question, “how can you live a fruitful life.” We heard Jesus teaching that in order to live a fruitful life we need to be made alive in Christ and that we bear fruit by remaining in Christ, and that a fruitful life is a life in which we experience and share God’s love.

Jesus has answered the question and now we are left with a new question.

Will you live a fruitful life?