SERMON: "True and False Branches” (John 15:1–6)
“True and False Branches” (John 15:1–6)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
15:1–6
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
July 14, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
However,
as this man began the ordination process, some switch flipped in this man’s
mind. He had caught the attention of
another woman, and he decided to pursue an adulterous relationship with her. The church learned of this immediately
because he abandoned his family to live with this other woman. When the members of the church approached him
to beg his repentance, he refused. He
didn’t care — he said he didn’t believe in Jesus or God anymore, and he didn’t
know if he ever did. That man hurt his
family, torpedoed an important project of the church, and hurt the cause of
Christ in the name of his selfishness. He
was happy, and that was all that mattered.
How
can someone seem to be a Christian and then pull such unexpected 180 degree
turns in their lives? In these verses
which we began looking last time, we can see part of the answer. Last time, we saw that all three members of
the Godhead are involved in our salvation and sanctification, which is important
to remember as we come across warning passages about being broken off and cast
into the fire. Clearly, there are some
in the church who seem connected to Christ, but they apparently don’t know in
whom we have believed.
There
are false converts among the people of God.
Some might be obvious. Yet, others
might live as Christians for years, only to reveal some fateful day that they
were never truly of us.
So,
it’s important that we all hear the promises and warnings of this
passage. There are true and false
believers in the church, and there are true and false branches in the
vine. As such, we’ll see two overall
points (one taking most of the passage this morning). First, we’ll see true branches bear fruit
(vv. 1–5). Second, we’ll see that false
branches yield death (v. 6). Let’s look
at the first of those.
II.
True Branches Bear Fruit (vv. 1–5)
I am the true vine, and My Father is the
vinedresser. Every branch in Me…
We
also noted that there’s a blessing in the fact that the Father is the
vinedresser, who is pruning or caring for us.
We also noted that the Holy Spirit is implicitly involved here, bringing
Christ to us and us to Christ. Jesus is
the vine, we’re the branches pruned of the Father, and the flow of water and
nutrients filling us is the Holy Spirit, getting us ready to bear fruit for
Him.
If
we have all three Persons of the Trinity at work in us, then the only result is
that we will bear fruit. Of course,
there are some fruitless branches, and again, we’ll consider them in detail in
v. 6. For now, we’ll be noting why true
branches bear fruit. They do so first
because of Christ’s word (vv. 1–3), and second, because of Christ’s presence
(vv. 4–5).
A.
True branches bear fruit because of Christ’s
Word (vv. 1–3)
… that does not bear fruit, He takes
away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more
fruit. You are already clean because of
the word which I have spoken to you.
We
see here with the second half of v. 2 that there are branches which bear fruit,
and the Father prunes them. Consider
this. What makes the difference between
the true and false branches? We might
say that they are “in Christ.” However,
we see in v. 2 that there are fruitless branches “in Christ.” How is that?
Understand
that there is union in Christ in both the legal and in the social sense. As one commentator notes, this is a legal union,
“in virtue of which Christ’s righteousness is made ours, and we ‘are accepted
in the beloved.’ ”[1] That
wonderful promise doesn’t seem to be the usage here, though. There’s no one legally in Christ
before the throne of God who ever has to fear being broken off the vine and
cast into hell.
So,
this seems to refer to a second, social or pseudo-spiritual communion with
Christ. In other words, this refers to people
who identify themselves with Christ but have no true faith in Him. He hasn’t legally forgiven them for their
sins. They’re false professors of
Christ, false branches.
Those
who really have Christ in them will live differently. As a result of union with Christ, true
disciples stand out from other branches.
Jesus makes this clear in v. 5 — those who are in Christ will
bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives. They may not bear a lot at the moment of
conversion, but there will be some fruit budding on the branch, such as faith
in Christ for salvation. There may be a
desire to begin coming to church and to read and understand the Bible. The green growths become visible.
When
this happens, the Father begins to prunes these branches so that they may bear
more fruit. Remaining worldliness and
sin will choke out fruit. As such, the
husbandman, the gardener, must begin the pruning process.
Now,
this is an interesting word, “pruning.”
The Greek term is kathairō,
which can also mean “to cleanse.” The footnote of this translation notes that
this word literally means “cleans.”[2]
There’s a sense in which pruning a plant makes it cleaner, getting rid
of “bugs and diseases.”[3]
This
double meaning matches what Jesus says next.
In v. 3, He says, “You are already clean because of the word which I
have spoken to you.” He is using the
same word in both verses — just one is a verb, and one is an adjective. He links the cleansing (or pruning) work of
the Father to what He has said to them.
Therefore, the Father accomplishes His cleansing not through pruning
shears but through the word of Christ.
Now,
let’s clarify, here. There are some
branches uncleansed by the Son. Judas
would be an example of this — visibly connected to Christ, but who is not
cleansed by the Word of Christ. Yet, those
who are cleansed by Christ are also cleansed by the Father; they bear
fruit, and they will bear more fruit.
To
be cleansed by the word of Christ is to be brought into that first kind of
union with Christ, the legal union. This
person is cleansed of sins and now has new life in Christ. They are not “in Christ” in a merely social
way, through some pseudo-spiritual profession of faith. This person is truly in the True Vine
and will not be fruitless. That’s
because of the word of Christ.
Remember
how powerful the Word of God is (which is to say, the Word of Christ). Revelation 19:13 says of Jesus, “His name is
also called The Word of God.” Jesus said
that the Word is the means of sanctification (John 17:17). The Lord will slay the Antichrist with the
breath of His mouth (2 Thess. 2:8). His
word spoke creation into existence, and it can undo it; it can save and
transform, or it can condemn unto death.
This
is the power Jesus speaks to cleanse His people, and they will be clean! As such, His word can cause us to bear
fruit. Yet, He isn’t just speaking over
us — note what He says next.
B.
True branches bear fruit because of Christ’s
presence (vv. 4–5)
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do
nothing.
The
term “abide” (sometimes translated “remain”) is key in the Book of John. The first time we see this term, it was with
the testimony of John the Baptist: The Spirit came and “remained” or “abided”
on Jesus (John 1:32–33). After that, we
read about two of John the Baptist’s disciples — Andrew and perhaps the Apostle
John — wanting to know where Jesus was staying, and they “remain” or “abide”
with Him for the night (vv. 35–39). This
seemingly insignificant event gives us the first glimpse of people abiding with
Christ. After that, we read several
injunctions from the Lord to remain or “abide” in Him (John 6:56; 15:4–7; 1
John 2:6).
This
verse gives us a vivid image as to why we are to remain. We are to see ourselves as branches needing
the vine for life. We won’t be able to
produce fruit unless we remain in Him.
Now,
you might be thinking about this solely in terms of salvation and
damnation. If people abide in Christ,
you reason, they stay alive. If people
choose to stop abiding, they stop producing fruit, the Father breaks them off,
and they go into the fire. That seems to
indicate salvation by works, then.
However,
such a reading would contradict what we’ve already studied, and that isn’t the
meaning. These two verses are talking
about how to bear more fruit in our lives.
The contrast is to the entirely fruitless person to help us to see our
need.
Again,
why does a branch that appears to be connected with Christ not bear fruit. Why did Judas not bear fruit? Where is he now — with Jesus or away from
Him? Judas appeared to be a part of
Christ, but he never truly was.
Now,
imagine another disciple, like Peter.
Peter made a true profession of faith, but he wasn’t perfect. He could act like Judas, turning his back on
Jesus in a weak moment. At that time,
Peter was a branch that wasn’t abiding.
Yet, Jesus restored Peter because Peter was truly a branch, and Peter
followed the Lord. As a result, Peter
was able to bear much more fruit in his life.
There
are two branches: Judas and Peter. Judas
was a branch trying to produce fruit of himself. Peter could fall prey to that temptation, but
when he would abide in Christ’s word and presence, he bore more fruit in his
life.
This
is an abiding in Christ. In doing
so, He’s present with you. This is where
the Holy Spirit comes in, as we discussed.
He brings Christ near in our hearts so we can bear the fruits of
repentance and obedience. It is the
presence of Christ though the Spirit, in whom we find ourselves, that we can
bear fruit.
Fruit
pleasing to the Lord cannot come in the flesh.
It is not by might or power, but by His spirit that we are strong. We overcome because He is great within us. It is only through His power and grace that
we can withstand the enemy.
Jesus
is the source of true Christian living, and we are merely the recipients of
it. He says He is the vine, and we are
the branches. He appointed that His
disciples would bear much fruit (v. 16), and they did.
This
is the explicit promise that we will bear fruit. The kind of fruit is described here as “good
works.” We have
the Holy Spirit within us, and as a result, we can walk according to the Spirit
and not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Paul describes this in Galatians 5, and in vv. 22–23, he says that the
fruit of the Spirit “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
This means that, as a result of abiding in Christ, we can experience
more love for one another (and so our Lord commands us to love one another here
in v. 12).
Think
about it: some of you are impatient with others, with life, with the choices
you and others make, but you can experience the spiritual fruit of
patience. Some of you realize that, deep
down, in your sinful flesh, you are not always kind or good people, but you can
be as a result of union with Christ.
Some of you struggle with faithfulness, and you know that others have an
opinion of you that you can’t be counted on; in Christ, you can begin to change
that. Some of you might be overbearing,
perhaps fearful that you will not be gentle enough for the children in your
lives, but the Spirit can produce gentleness in your lives. Some of you might battle your emotions,
getting angry at the drop of a hat, or depressive at bad news, or anxious in
general; abide in Christ for self-control.
Our biggest problem is usually ourselves, ignoring the commands of God
and going it alone — abide in Christ.
Jesus
warns us: “for apart from Me you can do nothing.” The statement in Greek is emphatic, using a
double negative which, in that language, is a way of underlining the
impossibility of the contrary. Just as a
dry stick on the ground will not begin to produce peaches, so too we can
accomplish nothing for the Lord without His Holy Spirit working through
us. This is why prayer and dependance
upon the Lord is essential in the Christian life.
Unfortunately,
there are some professed Christians who won’t understand this. That brings us to our final point:
III.
False Branches Yield Death (v. 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.
We’ve
actually been considering this point throughout this text. Starting in v. 2, we began seeing warnings
about being fruitless branches. Understand
that there are two groups within any visible church. Everyone in church may profess faith in
Christ. However, there are those who are
truly “in Christ,” and then there are those who only appear to be in
Christ. There are branches that look
like they are part of the true vine, but upon closer examination, they belong
to some other plant. False converts are
professed believers, but branches of the true vine will begin to bear fruit.
These
verses give us a clear warning: Some professing believers bear no fruit
in their lives. As Isaiah 5:2 says, “He
dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest
vine. And He built a tower in the middle
of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only
worthless ones.” To be clear, only false
converts would lack fruit — all Christians produce some fruit because of the
work of the Holy Spirit. In other words,
the fruitless vines are unbelievers in Christian fellowships, those who will
not come to Christ, and the Father will remove them.
These
are the professed believers who sin in some large way and excuse it. We think they are still possibly Christians
simply because they walked an aisle, received baptism, and sat with us in
church. We’ve only seen the outside, of
course, but it appeared that they were “in Christ.” Of course, socially they were, but it didn’t
go much deeper than that.
Some
even leverage that social capital to claim that they are still Christians even
though they walk in sin. They may rebuff
attempts by church elders to get them to repent. They may wave away concerns of their fellow
church members. And when it comes to
church discipline, they may still claim to be Christians, even though they
refuse to repent.
However,
we see that branches which do not abide or remain in Christ are cast aside by
the Father. They were fruitless, but
even that life they seemed to have withers.
They may become cold to others, angry, and bitter, embracing a life of
sin. Perhaps Satan’s agents pick them up
for their use.[4]
Their end, though, will be in hell.
This
is confirmation that they were never truly of Christ. Christ died for His own, and He protects His
own. His own will bear fruit, so they
don’t get removed. These are those who,
on the last day, will say “Lord, Lord,” and He will reply, “I never knew you”
(Matt. 7:22–23). They will all descend
into the hell their unrighteousness has invited.
IV.
Conclusion
Branches
in the true vine need not fear. The
Father will ensure that they are healthy and will bear fruit, even if it is
only limited, green fruit at first. His
removal of false branches will help true branches grow and become
healthier. If you’re genuinely in
Christ, you should find comfort in the fact that the Father is the vine-grower.
However,
there are false branches, false Christians.
They should hear the warning in this passage. If they have been spurning the word of the
Lord, they should see that there’s a problem with that. If they have claimed Christ for years and
have never borne Christian fruit, they should ask why. They may be false branches.
Believers
should know that sin can likewise limit their fruit. Perhaps they feel a little drier because they
have been seeking worldliness, and the bugs and weeds have been choking their
productivity. Accept the pruning of the
Lord in your life, the cleansing of His Word and presence. Return to Him with all your heart, finding
restoration in His gospel.
[1] R. L. Dabney, Syllabus
and Notes of the Course of Systematic and Polemic Theology, Second
Edition., (St. Louis: Presbyterian Publishing Company, 1878), 613.
[2] New American
Standard Bible: 1995 Update, (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995).
[3] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 15:2.
[4] Matthew Henry, Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume,
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2018.