John 15:1-2

¹"I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. ²He 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."

The message of this chapter is simple: Union with Christ is the foundation of every spiritual blessing. Every good thing (from an eternal perspective) is a result of union with Christ. In other words, since everything done outside apart from faith is sin and without faith it is impossible to please God, nothing good can result apart from union with Christ. As v5 says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”

We begin chapter 15 with an illustration of the truth that Jesus has been emphasizing: believers will do greater things than had been done in all of history – but this is only possible through their relationship with Him. Jesus’ new and great commandment to love one another is possible only by His indwelling Spirit. The illustration begins with another “I am” statement. This one is the climactic one – Jesus is the vine, the source of nourishment. The word vine denotes the actual plant, the source of life, and not some stringy thing that might extend from a trunk. See Psalm 80:8-19, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Ezekiel 19:10-14, in which the people are deemed to be the vine. But here Jesus declares Himself to be the “true” vine. Under the Old Covenant, the people proved to be rotten and fruitless vines. But Jesus, ever-faithful, is a good and fruitful vine. Some commentators even suggest that whenever there is a promise made to Israel, it is made to Jesus alone, as He is the true Israel. All united to Him by faith then share in His reward, as co-heirs with Christ of all things.

Before He even gets to the point of explaining that we are the branches, Jesus announces that God the Father is the gardener. He's probably walking the the vineyards on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. And two things are emphasized in this chapter, one of which God does and the other of which we are to do. Our role, as branches, appears in v4. But we first see two aspects of God’s role here in v2: First, He cuts off fruitless branches, and second, He prunes or cleans those branches that are producing fruit.

Two questions arise from these two aspects of God’s role. First, can anyone who is engrafted into Christ (a branch attached to the vine) be without fruit? Many, by their outward profession and perhaps from our perspective, are thought to be in the vine, but by their barrenness reveal themselves to have no root in the vine. In the writings of the prophets, the Lord calls the people of Israel His vine, but only the remnant was saved. Thus the fathers of the protestant reformation declare that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone for the glory of God alone. It’s by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Faith undoubtedly leads to fruitful works (Ephesians 2:1-10; James 2:14-26). So the answer to this first question is, “No.” We’ll elaborate in v5.

Second, why must God prune or clean fruit-bearing branches? Calvin answers wisely, “Believers need incessant culture that they may be prevented from degenerating; …they produce nothing good, unless God continually applies His hand; for it will not be enough to have been once made partakers of adoption, if God does not continue the work of His grace in us.” God justifies us once; He sanctifies us continually. He sustains us, by granting us a new breath, another heartbeat. If for one minute, we think this is not true, beware! Our connection to the vine may not be as firm as we think!