Skip to main content

Abiding in Christ. Some thoughts from John 15

John 15 is about abiding in Christ and bearing fruit. Here's a list of thoughts I have about what it means to abide in Christ and live a fruit-bearing life:
  1. Fruit is good works. "Good" is not defined by me. Good works are works God considers good; they are the activities which are in alignment with His law. They are only possible through Jesus. On my own, I have nothing good.
  2. Fruit is goodness, righteousness, and truth. If something requires me to be less than completely truthful, it is not good fruit. This has greater and deeper implications that I initially think. The more I contemplate it, the more I think this is really a life-altering concept.
  3. Fruit is a direct result of the controlling forces in your life. The tree is recognized by it's fruit. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. If my life is not producing the kind of fruit God considers good, it is because my branch is not locked into Jesus' vine.
  4. The kingdom was removed from the Jews because of a lack of fruit. John warned them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. They were busy producing fruit in keeping with tradition. If our lives are marked by repentance, our lives will be full of fruit.
  5. God is the gardener. He sets everything in motion. He grows the fruit, not us. The fruit is for His pleasure. He allows weeds (bad fruit) for now, but come harvest time, it's not going to be good for the weeds.
  6. Every branch gets cut. No fruit branches are cut off. Branches bearing fruit are pruned. Expect to get cut. The gardener disciplines (prunes) those he loves. The pain of pruning will eventually give way to the joy of fruit bearing.
  7. Different ways to say "Remain in Jesus":
    1. Wait with Jesus
    2. Stay with Jesus
    3. Live with Jesus
  8. Remaining with Jesus is NOT having coffee with Jesus. You don't get to come and go.
  9. Nothing we do on our own will produce fruit. There is no human formula for fruit production. Believing we can create a checklist for fruit production is arrogance and leads to a lack of dependence on Jesus.
  10. Branches detached from the vine are burned. Even if this is symbolic, the flames still represent punishment/destruction/etc. This picture leaves no room for universalism, the branches don't get saved in the end.
  11. When Jesus' words remain in us (see #7), we WILL bear fruit.
  12. Fruit is a demonstration of discipleship. The kind of fruit you bear is a demonstration of who or what you are following.
  13. God is glorified when we bear fruit. While it is tempting to try to explain why, it is not necessary. It is enough to say God is glorified, and allow that to be the motivation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Discussion Questions for Easter

Have several people ask the question, “What’s the most important thing you’ve ever done?” Ask other people, “What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years of your life?” Tell your class that today you’ll be talking about “life mission” or the one most important thing you do that drives everything else. Tell them that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the defining moment in history, so it should be the defining moment in our lives. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. How does the resurrection impact some of the crucial beliefs of Christianity?  How would Christianity be different if there was no resurrection? How would you be different without the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What are some specific ways that the resurrection gives us hope? If you had been a friend of Jesus when he was on earth, how would the resurrection have impacted your life?  How do you think his followers then were effected by the resurrection? Read 1 Corinthian...

FIGHT CLUB! (iron sharpening iron)

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:

Community Killers Part Four: Complaining

Nothing can tear a group apart faster or more effectively than a spirit of complaining. For some reason, complaints seem to breed faster than rabbits. Once one person’s complaining goes unchecked, it won’t be long until others have joined in and eventually the entire group is sucked into a hopeless vortex of swirling complaints. Often these complaints have little to do with the group, but they have the potential to sideswipe and destroy a group meeting, or if left unchecked, an entire group. Complaints may cover a variety of subjects. Group members might complain about their job, their day, their neighbor, their spouse, or even the church. The role of the leader is to deal with these complaints in a way which is formative for the person, instructive for the group, and glorifying to God. Because a LIFEgroup should be a place where people share their struggles and receive support and prayer, it can sometimes be difficult to know when someone is sharing a difficulty or...