John 15:3-8

"³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples."

Jesus immediately comforts His disciples. At stake for them is not union with Christ (Remember He has already said to Peter, having refused the foot washing, “You are already clean.” He repeats it here in v3. “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”), but growth resulting from this already existing union. The burden of the chapter from here on out is to encourage the progress of this union with Christ. The whole passage assumes this reality of this union. Notice three primary points: first, we have no power of doing good except what comes from Jesus; second, we, having a root in Him, are dressed and pruned by the Father; and third, He removes unfruitful branches, that they may be thrown into the fire and burned.

V4 explains our role – to remain (other translations say “abide”) in Jesus; He will remain in us. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless the sap of the vine flows through it, so believers can do absolutely nothing of worth in God’s sight, unless Jesus Himself flows through believers with true life and sustenance – something which He does, as He has just made known, through His Spirit which He would send to indwell His people. V5 repeats the “I am” statement and declares followers of Christ to be the branches. V5 also helps to answer that first question we asked earlier. Can a branch attached to the vine wither? No! Remaining in Christ guarantees much fruitfulness. If it fails to bear fruit, it is not a genuine branch. But that doesn’t mean a warning to be on guard isn’t important. In fact, the conclusion of the illustration is at the end of v5, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” What does that mean to you? What does the word “nothing” mean? Calvin says, “So long as we are separate from Him, we bear no fruit that is good and acceptable to God, for we are unable to do anything good” (Romans 14:23; Hebrews 11:6).

V6 should cause us to tremble. Nominal Christianity is dangerous. The punishment for failing to abide in Christ is scary; thus we are encouraged to persevere in Him as we are preserved in Him. There are many hypocrites who, in outward appearance, flourish and are green for a time, but who afterwards, when they ought to yield fruit, show the very opposite of that which the Lord expects and demands from His people. They wither, just as the plants that sprout up quickly but are choked out by the thorns or die lacking a root.

V7 is often mistreated, especially by health-and-wealth prosperity gospel preachers. Taken in context, we see that the expectation is for believers to ask for more nourishment from the Holy Spirit in order that their fruit-bearing might be enhanced for the glory of God. When we read, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” the expected result is not some genie-in-a-bottle mentality. Rather, our desires are to be conformed to the will of God. “Whatever you wish” becomes “whatever God’s will is.” It brings to mind Romans 12:1-2. Finally v8, reveals the truth about God’s glory stemming from enhanced Christian witness and fruit-bearing as the primary goal in this prayer-granting. Soli Deo Gloria!