The Vine and the Branches John 15

 John 15.  The Vine and the Branches

  This is obviously a well-known part of the teaching of Jesus.  Every time I come to it, I gain something new from it.  It makes sense because Israel too was known as a vine.  Unfortunately Israel did not always behave in the way God required of them.  " He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Is 5:2  If we are part of the vine and the branches we too know this all too well. Our intentions may be pure but somehow we act in such a way that we do not experience God's peace.  It usually has something to do with us, not God, for His calling and purposes are always good.

1.  God calls us as He did with the people of Israel.  They did not follow before His call of them individually and as a people.  We too are called to Him .  Vs 16 " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chose you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit."

We cannot be proud or boastful for we know before we were called , we too were not listening to God.  This is one of the tenets of the reformed Biblical faith.

Because of our sinful nature we are unable to make the correct spiritual choice. John tells Nicodemus that you must be born from above ( lit. Greek).  Our regeneration and eternal life is not something we have the ability to make our own , without God first working in our hearts,  so that now being made alive, we can have faith in Him.  A dead person does not speak.  Paul tells the Ephesians that they were dead in their trespasses and sins but by grace ( that is His call) He enabled them to believe in His Son.

Many of the reformed confessions not just the Presbyterian one ,say something to the effect that because of Adam's sin and our fallen nature we are unable to " turn and prepare ourselves by our own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God.  "  Article x of the 39 Articles of Religion ...The grace of God must precede our faith to regenerate and create life so that we may believe.  We call this inability or original sin.  There is no such thing as free will for the unbeliever .  He is only free to act according to His sinful nature.  There is no age of accountability either.  We are accountable always at any age even from birth  .

Frankly this is comforting to me for God is in control of all of my life from its inception to its end.  

So which branch of the Vine are we?  If we are children of the world and darkness , we are still in our sins and do not have fellowship with God .

Jesus describes Himself as the true vine or genuine .  " He is what God called Israel to be, but what in fact Israel had never become.  With Him a new Israel emerges, the members of which draw their spiritual sustenance from Him alone." John by Tasker.

Judas may have thought he was one of God's own but his conduct certainly showed that he had no intention of following Jesus. Being in a church body either is no guarantee of eternal life although being in a church body is a good thing.  We must be regenerated and born from above .  John ch. 3

There was an early Christian monk too that was confused about this. He name was Pelagius.  " Pelagius (/pəˈleɪdʒiəs/; c. 354–418) was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin.[1] Pelagius was accused of heresy at the synod of Jerusalem in 415 and his doctrines were harshly criticized by Augustine of Hippo, especially the Pelagian views about mankind's good nature and individual responsibility for choosing asceticism.[2] Pelagius especially stressed the freedom of human will."  His thinking was refuted by the Biblical view taught by Augustine.

The modern teaching by Jacob Arminius also reflected this teaching and is predominant in many churches today.  Arminius stated that "the grace sufficient for salvation is conferred on the Elect, and on the Non-elect; that, if they will, they may believe or not believe, may be saved or not be saved" In other words this is popular today in many circles, especially in methodists.  It is opposed by the reformed view of God's call and later faith alone. We must go back to the Scriptures here and insist on not letting anything.  It may be a mystery but it is still in the Scripture of God's call of His people.

If our salvation is dependent upon us, then we are of all people most miserable would be my thought.  I would like to know that God is in charge, not me.  That is comforting.

2. Abide in Me , Jesus says.  The branches cannot produce fruit apart from Christ..." for without me you can do nothing"  vs. 5 of Jn 15

What fruit does a Christian produce??  The Christian who is pruned on the vine of his/her past life of sin and the fleshly sin we still have ( we are not in heaven with new bodies yet) 

The word for pruning is purging or kathairo.... " Unwillingness, through a proud sense of self-sufficiency, to draw spiritual strength from Jesus, or to submit to  the discipline which alone makes possible the flow of this vitalizing power, renders the so-called believer a dead branch unable to bear fruit."  Tasker

3.  Joy is a part of the Christian's life.

It is hard to be joyful when we look at what is going on in the world, and even the Church.  It is related to keeping His comandments and abiding in His love.

It is hard to be joyful as I repeat this.

But we remember those of our band who have gone on ahead of us with joy.  We attended their Memorial Services and still talk about their influence on us.  They were salt of the earth and light in this present generation.

Unfortunately we have to realize that not everything goes the way we plan.  God does have a plan in His purposes that are mysterious to us.  We would never do it the way He has.  He sent His Son the eternal Son of God, Jesus the God-man who came as one of us to bear our sins on the Tree that we may have life here , eternal life here, and when our bodies go we have eternal life with Him and the Father and the Spirit.

What a great God we have.  What a tremendous opportunity to bring His life -giving message of love and reconciliation to a lost world.

What branch are we?  Are we part of the Vine?   Blessed Eastertide.