“The Core of the Christian Life” (John 15:1–2a)

Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name”Text: John 15:1–2a

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: July 7, 2024

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

Passages like the one that we are reading can be difficult. Perhaps you’re someone who’s given to anxiety, and you wonder if you are doing enough for God. You may also wonder if God may cast you away one day. You want to bear fruit for God, living a life of encouragement and blessing to others, but sometimes you notice how you’re fighting the same sins. Maybe you haven’t noticed much growth in your Christian life in certain areas. Well, if any of that begins to describe your struggles, while this passage is challenging, it can also be a source of tremendous blessing for your life.

Before we get too deep into this, it’s worth reviewing where we are. It’s been over a month since we have been in the book of John. Remember that we're in those chapters which are sometimes called the upper room discourse, where Jesus and His disciples celebrate the Last Supper. These chapters are also sometimes called the farewell discourse; Jesus, knowing that His time is short, has pulled His disciples away from the crowds and speaks words of comfort and admonition. We can’t be certain whether everything through Chapter 17 takes place in the upper room, or if some of this discourse occurs while they are walking toward Gethsemane, but that is where Jesus and the disciples end up in John 18. What’s important is that these chapters record words for believers, for true disciples — a fact which should comfort us, as well.

There is much for us to see in this chapter and the next. The disciples must now live without Jesus physically in their presence — how will they react? Will they return to Moses and the Pharisees? Will they remain faithful in Christ even while the world hates them? Will they know the strength that they will have from God which enables them to walk faithfully?

That last point leads us to what we’re studying today. I was going to take us a bit further today, but as I prepared this, it seemed more important to focus on just this first verse (and a few words from the next one). As we begin to read Jesus’s illustration of the vine and the branches, and considering just how we live and grow in the Christian life, we’ll be just considering the core of the Christian life. We’ll see that the core of the Christian life is Christ, that it is tended to by the Father, and that it is empowered by the Spirit. Let’s consider the first of those.

First, The Core of the Christian Life is Christ (v. 1a)

I am the true vine

Jesus uses another illustration here about Himself, this time using a vine. It may be that, since they drank wine during the last supper, Jesus begins talking about the vine in connection to the consecrated communion cup. It’s also possible that Jesus and His disciples have actually arisen from their supper and proceeded to leave. In His last words of the previous chapter, Jesus commands, “Get up, let us go from here.” If that’s the case, then they may have been passing by either the imagery of the vine on the temple walls or by actual vineyards. (Unfortunately, that destroys the popular image of Jesus giving the entirety of the address in these chapters in the upper room!) Either way, though, the vine serves as the perfect illustration for what Jesus wants to communicate.

The image of Christ being a vine while His disciples are mere branches communicates complete dependency upon Christ. Thus, for this illustration, the Lord wants us to see that our dependence is completely in Him and His word. So, He chooses the vine as His image.

You might remember reading about vines in other passages of Scripture. For instance, in Psalm 80:8–11, we read, “You removed a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground before it, and it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow, and the cedars of God with its boughs. It was sending out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.” In Ezekiel 19:10–11, we read, “Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the waters; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant waters. And it had strong branches fit for scepters of rulers, and its height was raised above the clouds so that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.” God often used the vine imagery of the people of Israel itself or God’s people.

Sadly, Israel did not always obey. In the passages that compare the people of Israel to a vine, there is imagery of destruction as a penalty for sin and rebellion. As MacArthur notes here in his commentary:

But Israel proved to be a fruitless, unfaithful vine. The Old Testament laments Israel’s failure to produce good fruit and warns of God’s impending judgment. In Jeremiah 2:21 God demanded of the nation, “How then have you turned yourself before Me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?” In Hosea He lamented, “Israel is a luxuriant vine; he produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, the more altars he made; the richer his land, the better he made the sacred pillars” (Hos. 10:1; cf. Isa. 27:2–6; Jer. 12:10–13; Ezek. 15:1–8; 19:10–14).

So, there are not always healthy vines. There are other plants and weeds out there which can get tangled in the true vine. Sometimes, God appoints people to care for His vineyard (like the religious leaders of Jesus’s day), but they fail to fulfill His Word. However, none of that means that there isn’t a true vine, which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, “I am the true vine.” The word true in this phrase is emphatic. This speaks, of course, of Christ’s deity. This is the final “I am” statement of the Gospel. His first “I am” statement was back in John 6:34, where He said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” Then, in 8:12, He says, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” In 10:7 and 9, He says, “I am the door of the sheep … I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” In 10:14, He says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.” In 11:25–26, He says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” In 14:6, He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Finally, He says here, “I am the true vine.” All these are exclusive claims and affirm His unique, divine role.

Jesus’s divine claims means we can have true power to bear fruit in our lives. The other vines of the world might seem promising, and maybe they even come in contact with the true vine. Yet, they’ll never bear divine fruit. However, those who are in Christ will find that they bear the grapes of God’s righteousness.

This brings us to the next point:

Second, the Core of the Christian Life is Tended to by the Father (v. 1b)

and My Father is the vinedresser

The Greek for “vinedresser” here is geōgros. This is the word which came down into the English name “George,” and into the Spanish name “Jorge.” The KJV translates this term, “husbandman,” and the NET and NIV take the simpler definition of “gardener.” So, in a sense, we have a Pastor Gardener on staff, who incidentally does a lot of landscaping work, and that reflects the work of the heavenly Father.

What kind of gardening does the Father do? Well, v. 2 says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” We’ve already noted that He described Israel as planting a vine, and in Matthew 15:13, Jesus says, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.” In Romans 11, we also read about the Father breaking off branches and grafting others into the vine. The Father ensures that His vineyard is pure and producing fruit.

There’s much we can say in relation to this, and I want to save some of this for next week. For now, it’s important to note that this is not supposed to be a threat to true believers. It’s a wonderful blessing to know that the heavenly Father is tending to our lives, ensuring that our lives are clear of weeds and safe to grow.

Why is that? First, the Father saves us. For instance, Ephesians 1:3–6 says the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” This means that salvation was the Father’s sovereign choice, and the work of Jesus Christ was in line with that divine decree.

We see that in one of the most famous verses in Scripture. In John 3:16, we read that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” This means that, because of the Father’s tender love for us, He sent Jesus to save all believers. Similarly, Romans 8:32 says that He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all.” The Father’s willingness to give His Son underscores His active role in the redemptive plan.

Second, the Father sanctifies us. He cleanses and sets us apart for His purposes. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely,” for He is the initiator and completer of the sanctification process. This is why Jesus will pray in His high priestly prayer, John 17:17: “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” The Father’s plan of redemption saves us and continues the process.

Third, the Father disciplines us. Understand, this isn’t so the believer would fear falling away, but so that the believer would grow stronger. Our children must receive all manner of discipline, from verbal reminders to the loss of privileges and even physical correction. This is what Hebrews 12:5–10 describes, with the words, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him.” The Father’s discipline is crucial for our sanctification and growth in holiness.

Finally, the Father provides for and guides us. As Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” The Father’s work in the believer provides both the desire and the power to live a sanctified life, as He consistently provides for our ongoing spiritual growth.

This is the work of the husbandman, the gardener or vinedresser. He selects the perfect soil, fertilizing it and the plants the plant He selected there. In considering Christ as the true vine, we know that the Father will care for the health and well-being of the plant. He will ensure that the branches coming from the vine are well-tended and protected. There’s no more secure place to be than to be a branch of the true vine in the garden of God!

Now, some of you might still be troubled by the language here. If we are as secure as all that, then why does v. 2 speak of those branches which will be removed? It gets worse, too: Verse 6 indicates there are branches which are cast into hell. Does this mean that salvation isn’t secure?

Understand that there are two groups within any visible church. Everyone in church may profess faith in Christ. However, there are those who are truly “in Christ,” and then there are those who only appear to be in Christ. There are branches that look like they are part of the true vine, but upon closer examination, they belong to some other plant. False converts are professed believers, but branches of the true vine will begin to bear fruit.

Branches in the true vine need not fear. The Father will ensure that they are healthy and will bear fruit, even if it is only limited, green fruit at first. His removal of false branches will help true branches grow and become healthier. If you’re genuinely in Christ, you should find comfort in the fact that the Father is the vine-grower.

Now, there is one more point to consider with the “core” of the Christian life. We’ve considered two members of the Trinity, Father and Son, and the third is hinted at in this text. Let’s consider that now before closing.

Third, the Core of the Christian Life is Empowered by the Holy Spirit (v. 2a)

Every branch in Me…

Have you considered how you come to be “in” Christ? This is something that may not be immediately obvious. When I read these chapters as a younger believer, I wondered why Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit in Chapter 14, and again in Chapter 16, but then He talks about other things here. It’s almost as though there’s a strange gap about discussion of the Holy Spirit between these chapters, with Jesus’s only explicit mention of Him briefly at that the end of this chapter.

Yet, this chapter only makes sense if we understand it in light of what Jesus has already said about the Spirit. In John 14:18–20, after promising the Holy Spirit, Jesus said “I will come to you… you will see Me… you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” It’s only through the Holy Spirit that we are “in Christ,” and it’s only through Him that we can bear fruit in our lives. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and the flow of water and nutrients filling us is the Holy Spirit, getting us ready to bear fruit for Him.

Sometimes, our anxiety concerning Christian living arises from our not realizing the role of the Holy Spirit in us. We tend instead to focus on our own personal efforts, falsely making them the core of our Christian life. One author, Milton Vincent, discussed this in his book A Gospel Primer; he said, 

Driving home from work one day, my mind came back to the Lord after I had allowed my thoughts to drift for about ten minutes.  I was instantly concerned about what I might have been thinking about in the previous ten minutes.  “Have I been thinking anything sinful?” I asked myself.  “If so, then God would be angry at me for letting my thoughts wander so.  Or maybe I wasn’t even thinking sinful thoughts, but perhaps God is upset with me because I wasn’t thinking on Him instead.” 

My mind began to agitate, and I winced under the Lord’s gaze.  “Lord, are we OK?” I asked.  “Have I thought any thoughts that have offended You?  Do I need to make anything right in order to restore our relationship?” 

I anxiously retraced my thoughts from the previous ten minutes.  I felt I needed to do this in order to know the countenance of God towards me at that moment.  If He was angry, then I had to get back into His good graces. 

A feeling of nausea began to seep over me, and years of pent-up frustration seemed to coalesce in that one moment. “Surely, relating to God can’t be this difficult!” my heart screamed.  “Why is it so hard to stay in His good graces?  I can’t keep track of every thought in order to make sure that He stays favorably disposed toward me!  This isn’t possible!”

He’s describing a forgetting of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit in him. We can consider the importance of obedience in Christian living, but before that, we must have the gospel firmly affixed in our minds. We must know that Jesus has already paid for all our sins and that we’re completely justified before the throne of God. We must know that the Father planned this for us before the foundation of the earth, before we did anything good or bad. And we must know that the Holy Spirit is who awakened our hearts to gospel truth. We are saved by God alone, placed in Christ alone, and empowered by his Holy Spirit alone.

Think about this: what kind of fruit do branches of the true vine bear? Perhaps the image of grape clusters is just of good works in general. True, but Paul describes concrete examples in Galatians 5:22–23; he says that the fruit of the Spirit “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” This means that, because of our abiding in Christ, we can experience more love for one another (and so our Lord commands us to love one another here in v. 12). As a result of abiding in Christ, we can see the fruit of joy in our lives, and Jesus says here in v. 11 that He spoke these things so that our joy may be made full. Do you see that this is just Spirit-filled living? We have the Holy Spirit within us, and as a result, we can walk according to the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Unless we understand the core of Christian living, we are only going to be spinning our wheels. We are only going to feel the same frustration that Vincent notes, that the Christian life is hard and impossible. We need to rest in the gospel truth if we are to live and grow as believers.

Conclusion

We’re just scratching the surface of this parable today, a passage which gives us a vivid portrayal of the Christian life. The core of our spiritual journey is Christ, the True Vine. Without Him, we can do nothing; in Him, we find our salvation, purpose, strength, and ability to bear fruit. This is because the Father is also working, pruning us (sometimes painfully), and nurturing us to produce more fruit. This is also because of the Holy Spirit, who places us in Christ and empowering us to produce the fruit that glorifies Him.

Jesus’s declaration, “I am the true vine,” underscores our absolute dependence on Him. Unlike Israel, which failed to produce lasting fruit despite being God’s chosen people, we are called to a fruitful relationship with Christ, one that is empowered by His life flowing through us. This relationship isn’t based on our efforts or lineage but solely on the grace and sustaining power of Christ.

Remain in His love today. Let His words dwell richly in us, and depend on Him daily for everything. Rely on His grace and power for your walk, trusting Him enough to obey even when you recognize you don’t have the strength within yourself. Go forth, committed to abiding in Him, trusting in His word, and yielding to the Spirit’s transforming work in our lives.