John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; if you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do nothing.”

In verse 5 Jesus says we are His branches, and He is our supply. This teaches His followers that they cannot expect to bear fruit apart from Him. He is our source. Abiding in Christ means we rely on Him for the work He accomplishes through us. We don’t look to the world for nourishment. He is our source of truth, our reason for hope and our focus in life.

Abiding means acknowledging that Jesus runs His Church and we allow Him to rule our heart. Do you approach work by relying on your own power, through ego and determination? Or do you patiently wait for the doors to open — for Him to show you the opportunity? Do you move gently when the Spirit changes your plans as He reveals your next step? Or do you assume you know His plan and make all the decisions yourself without asking God if it’s the right one, hoping He will just bless it?

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.”

There are three types of branches on a grapevine. This verse is speaking about believers who failed to produce fruit. A vine dresser, in 1st century Jewish culture, understood that if the branch received nourishment from the vine all season without producing fruit, there was little chance it would produce fruit in the future. The best response was to remove that branch to ensure it wouldn’t consume resources in the next season. Such a branch serves no purpose to God. It is useless to our vine dresser (the Father) if we don’t respond to His commandments with obedience and good works.

James 2:20 urges believers who don’t abide in Jesus “that faith without works is useless.” You have been granted salvation and new life in Christ so that you may abide in Him for the purpose of glorifying the Father. For those who do abide in Christ, John 15:7-8 says, “IF you abide (remain) in Me, and My words abide (remain) in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

For those branches who do abide in Christ, anything is possible. When we remain in close connection to Christ and when the Word of God remains in us, then we can know His will and execute it on His behalf. Doing things in the name of Jesus means acting in accordance with His will and His Word. It is in that close abiding that we can ask confidently, knowing that our wishes are Christ’s wishes. As you raise up your petitions Jesus will respond affirmatively because your petitions are Spirit-inspired.

God’s Spirit impressed on my heart to capitalize, underline, italicize and bold the conditional word IF — as if to say that it is possible that I won’t abide! I must continue to choose. Both the text and practical experience demonstrate to me that abiding is a constant choice I must make to remain in close fellowship with Christ.

Jesus adds in verse 8 that the Father is glorified when we accomplish much, bear spiritual fruit and produce good works out of the overflow of our relationship with Christ. “This IS to the Father’s glory that we bear much fruit!” Could there be any greater purpose than this?

Do you display godliness in your walk? Do you speak as Christ did, with grace and love, gentle and kind, yet always with truth? Do you apologize when you don’t, especially to those close to you? Do you give generously in all things, seeking nothing in return, with special concern for the weak and needy, inside and outside the Church? Do you withhold judgment of others, submit to your leaders and shepherds, avoiding disputes and guarding your speech? Do you love others above yourself? In other words, do you keep Jesus’s commandments? Do you abide in Him by obeying Him? Are you glorifying your Heavenly Father?

The following is from a sermon by John Piper titled, “If My Words Abide in You,” Jan. 4, 2009, Topic: Bible Memory, Scripture: John 15:1-7. Memorization has many benefits and one of them is to glorify your Heavenly Father.

Memorizing Scripture: John Piper’s testimony summed up in eight short sentences.

1. Memorizing Scripture makes meditation possible at times when I can’t be reading the Bible, and meditation is the pathway of deeper understanding.
2. Memorizing Scripture strengthens my faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ, and that happens when I am hearing the Word in my head.
3. Memorizing Scripture shapes the way I view the world by conforming my mind to God’s viewpoint.
4. Memorizing Scripture makes God’s Word come more readily accessible for overcoming temptation to sin, because God’s warnings and promises are the way we conquer the deceitful promises of sin.
5. Memorizing Scripture guards my mind by making it easier to detect error — and the world is filled with error, since the god of this world is a liar.
6. Memorizing Scripture enables me to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist, and so protect myself and my family from his assaults.
7. Memorizing Scripture provides His strongest and sweetest words for ministering to others in need.
8. Memorizing Scripture provides the matrix for fellowship with Jesus because He talks to me through His Word, and I talk to Him in prayer.