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Life and Godliness, Part 2

September 15, 2026 at 10:34 AM Leave a comment

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Last time, we introduced the subject of John 15, which is abiding in Christ. We went up to John 15:3 and we will continue on from there, starting with John 15:4-5.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5 NKJV)

As I noted previously, it is very clear from the context that Jesus is speaking about and to believers, not unbelievers. His point is if any believer does not continue to abide in Him, that believer becomes ineffective and powerless in their walk because they are not living the Christian life correctly. Paul expands on this principle in his letter to the Roman believers, a subject we will also deal with separately soon.

It is essential for the justified believer in Jesus to understand the nature of the union he now enjoys with Jesus Christ his Lord, and the freedom which that union brings.[1]

Sucker shoots where a tree used to be…

The above quote is from Zane Hodges’ commentary on Romans. What Jesus says here in John 15 and what Paul tells us throughout Romans connect and it’s important to understand that both are essentially referring to the same issue.

Regarding the context here in John 15, Jesus is saying that the Father, like the viticulturalist, will remove dead branches, or more appropriately, sucker branches. He would not remove unfruitful branches that would become fruitful in the future even if there is no fruit now. That’s a huge difference and this is what God does in the life of every believer. There is nothing here that speaks of a believer potentially losing their salvation. It means that at worst, the believer is being disciplined by God so that they will bear fruit that the Holy Spirit endeavors to produce within us. This is for our growth and His glory.

The farmer or viticulturalist prunes sucker shoots to purge them away out of the life of the plant, which serves only to strengthen that plant so when fruit appears, the plant is better able to bear it. Doing so cleanses the plant allowing for better fruit production.

And again, it is important to understand that we believers do not actually produce fruit. We simply bear the fruit that God the Spirit produces in and through us. If we are not bearing fruit, it likely means that we are not abiding in Jesus. Again, Jesus uses terminology of a vine and branches here, while Paul uses other language to get the same point across. They are both talking about the Christians’ abundant life that should be operational in every believer.

“Our union with him is intimate, unbreakable, and the means by which we experience the abundant life that flows from his love.“[2] Once we become believers, we are joined to Jesus as joint-heirs and actual children of God. The learning process truly begins, which we call sanctification and this is best understood by knowing that the main way God trains, directs, and helps us is through His written Word and the truth contained within it.

Regarding John 15:4-5 and abiding in Christ, we need to understand just exactly what God means by abiding in Him. I read many books in my younger years that spoke highly of abiding in Jesus, yet the explanations of it often fell short for me. I was unable to wrap my brain around the concept. Here is a good place to start.

The original verb menō means “to remain” or “stay in a certain place.” It’s making your home in Christ rather than wandering off or straying. Our home is in Christ, and his home is in us (John 14:23). Christ abides in us through his Spirit (John 14:17). “Surely I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).[2]

I drive a bus for a local Christian school. I have morning and afternoon runs and I do all the field trips and athletic trips. Even though yesterday was a great day in the Lord, this morning? Not so much. I had to work to get myself to a place where my random thoughts came under control and I deliberately began focusing on Him. That is the struggle believers face, often daily.

My effort here was to redirect my thinking to the truth of Scripture, instead of allowing my thinking to dictate to me how I felt. I began praying and then even singing in my mind to the Lord. Eventually, my worrisome, tired thinking was overcome by praise and adoration to the Lord of Glory! I think that’s what Paul means when he says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). That’s where the effort comes into play. It’s not in doing external works as the starting point. It’s in redirecting my thinking away from worldly things and onto God. When I do this, I am saying “NO!” to Self and “YES!” to God. THAT is the struggle. It is not found in dos and don’ts. It is found in the growing understanding of our relationship with Jesus and Paul’s letter to the Romans seriously brings that truth to the fore.

To abide in Jesus means to make him the absolute focus every day, moment by moment. But it’s not simply thinking thoughts about Jesus. It is contemplating the truth about our actual union with Jesus as revealed in Scripture. What is that union? What does it mean for me? How does it look inside my mind? If I’m not aware of my union with Christ and the benefits tied to that, how can I possibly believe I will live any type of abundant life in the here and now?

Just as a branch of a plant or tree fully depends on the sustenance of the vine/root ball, so should we as we look to Jesus. A branch that somehow separates itself from the vine is really no longer a branch. It quickly becomes a dead stick with absolutely no life in it, because it has been removed from the life source. That branch dies because the connection to the vine no longer exists. This is too often what many Christians do today. We get lost in the world’s baubles and get carried away into things that really should not matter. It brings about our “death” because we are no longer focused on and actively connected to the Source of Life; Jesus. Yes, we are still Christians – that cannot be removed – but we live as though we are not connected to Him. In Romans, Paul says we actually have a choice.

What should my response to every situation be?

To abide is to rest, relax, and remain. The opposite of abiding is to struggle, strive, and sweat. We abide by keeping our eyes on Jesus and trusting his indwelling Spirit to guide us. We choose to believe that our heavenly Father cares for us and is fully able to accomplish his purposes in our lives.

It all comes down to exercising trust in Jesus, not only as our Savior, but as our Lord. As it requires faith to come to believe in Jesus for salvation, it also requires faith to actually live the Christian life in what is known as our sanctification. In and of myself, I am fully incapable of producing fruit that lasts. Oh sure, my flesh is more than willing to try isn’t it? This is normally done by keeping the dos and don’ts. But ultimately, that does more harm than good in me. It is a form of religiosity that seems to have a positive thing going, but it still all comes down to a focus on don’t do that, do this, don’t say that, say this, etc. It’s a form of pharisaical legalism that tends to give credence to Self. When we do that, we tend to think the struggle we go through is good and beneficial, something that pleases God. In reality, we are allowing Self to elevate. We end up enslaving ourselves once again to our Self or the flesh. Yet, Paul tells us in Romans 6 we have died to our flesh. He then asks why should we continue living as if we are still slaves of Self (the flesh)? The implication is that we actually have a choice in the matter and as Jesus points out here in John 15, that choice comes with a more complete understanding of our union with Jesus that occurred when we became believers in the first place. When that happened, we were literally baptized into Jesus’ death (Romans 6), and Paul is not talking about water baptism here. He is referring to the spiritual baptism predicated by the Holy Spirit due to our faith in Christ for salvation.

Only God can produce the type of fruit that means something and brings Him glory and that can only happen when I turn away from SELF and focus on Jesus, trusting in Him to bring His desires and His fruit to fruition in and through me, for His glory. As I mentioned previously, it is fairly easy to fake this though. Self (the flesh) will take any opportunity to gain the advantage over us and help us start living the Christian life from a legalistic perspective, thereby enslaving us back into bondage. Jesus and Paul are both saying that we believers have a choice in the matter. The first step is being aware of that choice.

We can present an image of ourselves to others that may make them think how spiritual we are because of what things look like on the outside. God is not fooled though and knows whether or not we are doing things in the flesh or by His Spirit. We need to get into the mindset that says, “It is Jesus who gives me what I need and creates the fruit that glorifies Him. He provides and I receive.” We need to gain this mindset through the understanding of our actual position in Christ (“it is for freedom you have been set free,” (Galatians 5:1). Of course, when Paul said that to the Galatian believers, he followed it up with the command to “…not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” We should not go back to that bondage, yet too often we do.

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. (John 15:6)

This is an interesting verse, isn’t it? It seems to indicate that a believer’s salvation can be lost, but that is not what Jesus is saying at all. If we look at the verse closely, Jesus is actually speaking of those who do not abide in Him at all, or unbelievers. Those who reject Jesus, His saving grace and the path He provides for salvation are ultimately thrown into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19: see also Matthew 13:49–50). This fact is repeatedly stated throughout God’s Word in various ways.

A person who is literally born again, cannot become unborn again. This is impossible. God Himself said He would never leave or forsake those who are His (Deuteronomy 31:6-8; Hebrews 13:5), and that no one can take them out of His hand (John 10:29).

What I find interesting is in talking to those who believe salvation can be lost is that they say there is nothing that says I cannot take myself out of His hand. Actually, there is, but apparently, they believe they are stronger than Jesus who has promised that He will lose no one.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

Let’s end with this verse for this article. Notice carefully what Jesus is saying here. He says that if a believer abides in Him, and that His words also abide in that believer, that believer can ask whatever they wish and it will be done. Seems like Jesus is supporting the notion of “name it, claim it” or the “prosperity gospel” here, but is He? Not even close, no!

In reality, Jesus is saying that those who abide in Him experience a complete change in the way they think so that their desires come to line up with the Father’s wishes and desires. His desires become our desires and His thoughts become our thoughts.

We will continue with John 15:8 next time and we are also going to be starting a series covering Romans 6-8. Look for both of these and if you believe these articles are beneficial to you, I’d encourage you to share them with others. For some reason, it appears there is a tremendous effort to censor what I’m writing here. I’ve seen my daily numbers go way down and there is no logical explanation for it.

See you next time!

[1] Hodges, Zane, Romans Deliverance from Wrath, pg 159

[2] https://thegracecommentary.com/john-15/

[3] Ibid

Entry filed under: christianity, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, sanctification. Tags: john 15.