Deeper 4-Week Series
However, we believe the best is yet to come. While we praise God for what He has done, we want to be good stewards of His blessing.
That means seeking to go deeper than ever before in our walk with Him. We want to create a disciple-making culture at First Baptist Simpsonville/Upstate Church that brings us closer to God than ever before and takes the name of Jesus to people in the Upstate and around the world. For that to happen, each of us must be serious about going deeper in our walk with Christ.
Opening Questions:
What does it mean to be connected to Christ?
What does that look like in your life?
SCRIPTURE
John 15:1-11
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
1. It is significant that Christ called Himself the ________ __________.
2. It is absolutely essential to ___________ ___________ to Christ.
Discussion
Teacher Notes:
Opening Questions:
What does it mean to be connected to Christ?
Now, I want you to really think about what that looks like today - in your life.
SCRIPTURE
Take this time to study the Bible together. Remember, the goal is not just to convey information, but to help people in your group learn to read the Bible for themselves.
The Point
The path to a deeper relationship with Jesus starts and ends by staying connected to Jesus.
John 15:1-11
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
The Analogy – John 15:1
Jesus continues His discourse in John 15:1 saying, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
There are two primary things that people need to walk away from your group having learned from their study of the Bible this week:
1. It is significant that Christ called Himself the “True Vine”.
Why is this significant?
In the Old Testament, God called Israel “the vine,” so when Christ calls himself the “true vine,” he is saying that he is the fulfillment of the promises of God and the realization of the hope of the people of God. We need to see how utterly amazing it is that Jesus comes to us as the fulfillment of all our hopes for an abundant life and connection to God.
The background of Jesus’ words in John 15 is most likely the Old Testament imagery where Israel is called a vine or vineyard—although one that did not produce the expected fruit (see Isaiah 5:1–7). Jesus replaces Israel with Himself as the “true vine.” Unlike Israel, Jesus will not fail to produce fruit in all the branches that are connected to Him. The point of Jesus’ metaphor is that He will succeed where Israel failed. The disciples simply need to be connected to Him.
If Jesus is the “true vine” and we are “branches” of the vine, what does that say about what our relationship with Him should look like?
We should be bearing fruit from our relationship to Jesus. We should be becoming Christlike.
The disciples would have understood all this and so would have also understood that Jesus’ declaration of being “the true vine” was a claim to be the fulfillment of all these symbols. Jesus is the source of life that would bring forth fruit unto God, and God Himself was the caretaker of the vine. The purpose of the vine is to produce fruit and the intent of the caretaker is to help the vine accomplish that goal.
What does the vinedresser do?
Jesus explains the role of the caretaker of the vines in verse 2. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.”
They would have been very familiar with this concept since they lived in an agrarian society in which grapes were a common crop. Pruning the vines is not only common practice, but necessary practice in order to have a decent grape crop.
God does that with us. Hebrews 12:11 states, “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” God wants us to bear fruit in our lives, so He prunes us that we might be more dependent on the vine and produce more fruit instead of extraneous leaves and branches. The apostle James counseled, “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have [its] perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4). Paul said nearly the same thing in Romans 5:3-5, “3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
God’s pruning of us through trials and tribulations is not pleasant at the time, but such things force us to be more dependent upon Him. They drive us into a deeper relationship with Him and therefore into greater spiritual maturity.
Some have thought that Jesus reference in verse 2 about these branches being “in Him” means that these are saved people. Such is not the case as we shall see as we go through the rest of the passage. Remember, that Judas had been a respected member of the disciples, but he had just left to do his evil deed. He was a branch that was in Christ, but who bore no fruit. Jesus makes this distinction in verse 3.
What is the difference between cutting off and pruning?
Jesus makes a distinction between two kinds of pruning: 1) Separating and 2) Cutting back branches. Fruitful branches are cut back to promote growth. In other words, God must sometimes discipline us to strengthen our character and faith. But branches that don’t bear fruit are cut off at the trunk because not only are they worthless, but they often infect the rest of the tree. People who won’t bear fruit for God or who try to block the efforts of God’s followers will be cut off from His life-giving power.
What does it mean to bear fruit? What fruit?
Fruit is not limited to soul winning. In this chapter, fruit is answered prayer, joy, and love are mentioned as fruit. Galatians 5:22-24 and 1 Peter 1:5-9 describe additional fruit: qualities of Christian character.
2. It is absolutely essential to remain connected to Christ.
What does it mean to remain connected to Christ?
The Christian life begins and ends with being connected to Christ. Connection to Christ is how we are saved. Connection to Christ is how we grow in our walk as Christians. Connection to Christ is how we bear fruit. Connection to Christ is how we find joy in life!
Remaining in Christ means 1) believing that He is God’s Son, 2) receiving Him as Savior and Lord, 3) doing what God says, 4) continuing to believe the gospel, and 5) relating in love to the community of believers – Christ’s body. Many people try to be good, honest people who do what is right. But Jesus says that the only way to live a truly good life is to stay close to Him, like a branch attached to the vine. Apart from Christ our efforts are unfruitful.
How does Jesus say we can tell if people have a true connection to Christ?
They will bear fruit.
How does staying connected to Christ lead to joy?
When things are going well, we feel elated. When hardships come, we sink into depression. But true joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstance. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ. When our lives are intertwined with His, He will help us walk through adversity without sinking into debilitating lows and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ daily will keep us level-headed, no matter how high or low our circumstances.
Is there a place in your life that you need to focus on connecting to Christ instead of living in your own power?
Conclusion
The path to a deeper relationship with Jesus starts and ends by staying connected to Jesus.
Those who think they can accomplish something apart from God are actually very foolish. Whatever wealth you may gather to yourself by whatever means you use, does not really belong to you. It actually belongs to God who created it all. Whatever you think you own will only be under your control for the few short years of your life after which you have no control over it. You are actually only a steward of it and will give an account of it when you stand before God in judgment.
Fame and power are also fleeting and granted to those whom God chooses. Nebuchadnezzar had both of these as the king of Babylon, but God struck him because of his pride, and he became like an animal that lived in the fields. Nebuchadnezzar did not get his reason back until he was humbled and recognized that the Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes (Daniel 4). Isaiah 40:17 declares God’s view of mankind’s power, “All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.” If you have some position of power or fame, it is only because God has let you have it. The problem with too many people in positions of authority – government, military, business, social organizations and even sports teams – is they forget this truth and that they will give an account to God. Fear of God and humility go a long way in making people more reasonable and nicer.
Jesus’ statement that “apart from Me you can do nothing” is a true statement in all respects, but the context here is in not being able to bear fruit apart from Christ.
As we live in close relationship to Christ there is a change in our character as we are transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2) and become conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) which would include our actions and attitudes. Notice that in verse 5 it is not just bearing fruit, it is bearing much fruit. Not only can all of the qualities listed in Gal. 5:22-23 be developed, but they can also be developed into greater capacity. We can become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled than we are currently. We can have fruit and then much fruit. That is the result of living in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, there are many people that claim to be Christians that try to live apart from dwelling in Christ. They are no different from those in the world who seek their purpose in life from things such as wealth, fame, power, comfort, or pleasure. The lack of spiritual fruit in their lives reveals their true relationship with Christ. It is not enough to know something about Jesus or even to view Him as a good teacher whose ethical principles you try to follow. Unless you are both clean because of being regenerated and washed by the Holy Spirit and abiding in Him, you will not experience His blessings or fruit in your lives. Jesus warns those who are not in verse 6.
The Warning to Those Who Do Not Abide – John 15:6
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
That may seem severe but understand that true Christianity is about a relationship with the Creator. It is not a set of religious rituals that must be performed. It is not a list of approved and disapproved behaviors. It is not a moral code. It is not even a doctrinal statement. True Christianity has all those things, but all of them are in keeping with a relationship with God. As Romans 14:17 puts it, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Our prescribed rituals, baptism and Communion, are about our identification with Christ and proclamation of both His death on our behalf and our hope in His return. Our moral code and conduct are based in our love for God and prodded by the Holy Spirit who indwells us. Our doctrinal statement is our attestation of God’s revelation of Himself to us. Our rituals, moral codes, practices and doctrine are simply the expressions of our personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
A person that does not abide in Christ may also have religious rituals, a moral code, practices and doctrine that may even appear to be Biblical in some sense. But all those things are without value if you do not abide Christ. Those who do not abide in Christ are worthless to His cause and probably a hindrance. They will therefore be treated like the cut off branches from a pruning. They are gathered up and discarded, or as stated in our text, cast into the fire. The allusion to the final judgement of sinners is obvious here.
Those who do not live in a relationship with Christ here have no basis for such a relationship in eternity and so it should be expected they would be cast away from Him. Their sin condemns them, and apart from being in Christ there can be no forgiveness for that sin. Their own deeds will condemn them for even their attempts at righteous deeds are as a filthy garment before our holy God (Isaiah 64:6). Proclamations of self-righteousness is self-deception for there are none who are righteous or do good (Romans 3:10-18). Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is also the only way to the Father.
Those that do not abide in Christ will lack the fruit of righteousness because they do not draw from the source of righteousness to produce such fruit. God graciously gives them life’s energy, but they produce something else. It could be just leaves that look pretty but have no value in harvest, or they may have the fruit produced by the diseases of sin that ravish them. They will have ungodly fruit such as listed in Romans 1:29-31 and Galatians 5:19-21.
The fruit of unrighteousness is not always outwardly obvious. People can appear pretty good by the standards of whatever society they are in and still be very ungodly. Here are some examples: Immorality is flagrant in fornication, adultery and prostitution, but it is just as real in the secret peeks at pornography on the internet. Greed is on display in robbery and theft, but it also exists in a hard heart without compassion to help the real needs of others. Being drunk or drugged in public is obvious, but many people keep it a secret in the privacy of their own home. A flagrantly obnoxious person displays their evil heart outwardly, but just as evil is sweet flattery used to conceal the snare being set to harm you. Prejudice and racism are often obvious in their display, but both also conceal themselves in the political correctness of what is euphemistically called “social justice”, but which is Biblically unjust as it gives excuses for jealousy, envy, malice, bitterness and unforgiveness. Idolatry exhibits itself in the worship of false god’s, but it also exists in the heart of a person who faithfully attends church services whose motivation is something other than the worship of the living God.
The apostle John makes this issue of abiding in Jesus very clear in the epistle of 1st John. For example: 1 John 2:6, “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 1 John 2:24, “As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” 1 John 3:6-10, “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:24, “And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” 1 John 4:15-16, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
To summarize: Those who abide in Christ are His disciples. They know Jesus and seek to be like Him by following His commands and eschewing (shunning) evil. They also seek Him in prayer.
Does the vine and branches passage in John 15 mean that salvation can be lost?
In John 15 Jesus uses the relationship of branches to the vine to illustrate our relationship to Him: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . . . If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (verses 1–2, 6).
Many take the verses about the fruitless branches being taken away and burned as a proof-text that salvation can be lost. The teaching is that a person who was at one time in Christ might later cease to “abide in Christ” and become good for nothing; that person is then cut off and burned up. Now, if the parable of the vine and the branches were the only passage that addressed the issue of eternal security, then we might have good reason to fear that salvation could be lost. However, this is not the only passage in Scripture that addresses security and assurance, nor is it the only passage in John where these issues are addressed.
There are several passages in John where the security of the believer is clearly assured (John 3:16–17; 6:35–40; 10:27–29). This is an issue that we find throughout the Bible. There are passages that speak of the security of the believer in very explicit terms and others that would make one wonder if salvation cannot be lost after all. It is always best to interpret more obscure passages in light of clearer passages. Since John 15 is in the form of an allegory, it is best to let the clearer passages inform our understanding.
The background of Jesus’ words in John 15 is most likely the Old Testament imagery where Israel is called a vine or vineyard—although one that did not produce the expected fruit (see Isaiah 5:1–7). Jesus replaces Israel with Himself as the “true vine.” Unlike Israel, Jesus will not fail to produce fruit in all the branches that are connected to Him. The point of Jesus’ metaphor is that He will succeed where Israel failed. The disciples simply need to be connected to Him. According to John 15, it is unthinkable that any branch who is connected to Christ will fail to produce fruit. Yet, according to the illustration, some branches “in Him” will not produce fruit and be taken away. There seems to be a contradiction within the illustration itself that would warn us not to press the details too far.
The apparent problem is the same with all of the other passages in Scripture that warn Christians about falling away. If a true Christian cannot lose salvation, why warn about falling away? The best explanation is that these warnings are directed toward professing Christians who appear, at least outwardly, to be connected to the Vine. They are branches in the vicinity of the Vine, but there is a disconnect. Judas Iscariot is a good example of a false professor. The parable of the seed and the soils (Matthew 13) presents young plants that seem to start out well but then wither away. The book of Hebrews, with its many warning passages, seems to be directed at those who have made an initial positive response to Jesus but are considering turning back. They are like the children of Israel who left in the exodus with Moses but then refused to enter the Promised Land (Hebrews 3:16–19). They started out on the journey but didn’t complete it.
Based on outward appearances at any given moment, it may be difficult to tell genuine believers (connected in vital unity with the True Vine) from those who have merely attached themselves to some of the trappings of Christianity. However, time will tell the difference, because the genuine believer attached to the True Vine will bear fruit. A false professor appears to be attached but does not bear fruit, and it’s the lack of fruit that shows a branch is not receiving the fruit-bearing energy that comes from attachment to the Vine. Regardless of how attached this branch may appear to be on the surface, it is lacking the one absolute evidence of attachment—fruit! That “branch” should not console himself with false notions that he is attached, because his lack of fruit bears condemning evidence against him. In this case, the branch was never really attached in the first place. The metaphor (or allegory) of the vine and the branches can only be pressed so far.
