Abiding in the Vine

The Lord Jesus Christ refers to Himself as a vine, and God the Father as a Farmer. We believers are the branches. Everyone knows that fruit is borne on the branches, the purpose of the vine being to hold up the branches to the sun and bring up the necessary water from the roots. Perhaps we don't often picture ourselves as bearing the fruit of righteous behavior that God is looking for, thinking that such an image of God will be found only on the Vine. But the metaphor was given by the Son of God!

(9/24/2006) Jesus' statement that He is the Vine and we are the branches is pretty well known throughout Christendom. But its meaning may not be as universally acknowledged.

When a farmer plants a vineyard he is not interested in vines or branches. He is looking for fruit. So it is that God the Father is looking for fruit. "Israel will blossom and sprout and fill the whole world with fruit," the Scripture claims.

What is the fruit the Farmer is looking for? The fruit is the image of God, the image of Christ. The fruit is faithfulness, truth, honorable behavior, moral cleanliness, courage, faith, obedience to God. If we are abiding in the Vine, our behavior is going to change into conformity to the behavior of Christ, which is the behavior of God.

Now, right here is an extremely important concept for the Christians of today. There is much discussion of how we are saved by our belief in Christ and not by our behavior. So whether we are faithful and true, or a faithless liar, has no bearing on our salvation.

This is an inappropriate discussion. The issue is not whether or not godly behavior saves us, the issue is whether or not we are going to be cut from the Vine.

Thus we see that godly behavior does not earn salvation for us. Godly behavior itself is the salvation.

What do I mean by this? We know from Paul's writing that God will not have fellowship with unrighteousness. So as long as we are a faithless liar we cannot have fellowship with God. We are lost, in this sense, not experiencing the fellowship of God.

However, if we abide in Christ, the faithfulness that Christ is and the truth that Christ is begin to reveal themselves in our personality. Now we can have fellowship with God. Therefore it is the change in our behavior that itself is the salvation. So to say we can be saved apart from our change into godly behavior is to stress that we can be saved without being saved.

If this is true, then the question is, how do we remain in Christ. Having received Christ, we then are to pray every day, read our Bible every day (if we have access to one), have fellowship with fervent saints, give, serve, seek the gifts of the Spirit, and do all else commanded in the New Testament.

By doing these things we are not earning our salvation. We are abiding in Christ so we can bear the fruit of salvation in our personality.

To bring people into union with Christ is the true goal of all Christian religious activity. All the rest is our human response to theology, and often is the enemy of the Spirit of God.

Above all else we must learn to obey Christ in every matter, including His commandments and those of His Apostles, as well as directions given to us personally. Apart from our stern obedience to God we cannot possible abide in the Vine. We shall be cut off if we are disobedient, no matter how much we profess faith in Christ.

If we love Christ we will obey His commandments. If we do not obey His commandments we do not love Him. If we do not love Him we cannot possibly abide in the Vine. If we do not abide in the Vine we will be cut off from the Life of Christ. If we are cut off from the Life of Christ we will not bear the fruit of salvation.

I have heard it speculated concerning whether we can be cut from the Vine and still be saved and go to Heaven when we die. Such speculation proceeds from people who have no concept of God or Christ. They do not have even common sense. Our goal is not to go to Heaven. Our goal is fellowship with God. Assuredly, if we have been cut from Christ we will not have fellowship with God. This is nonsense and all such idle talk and speculation will be blown away by the fierce Divine judgments that are to be exercised against our country.

We abide in Christ by practicing His Presence at all times, looking to Him for every decision we make throughout the day and night. We are to set our affection on things above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.

Sometimes God operates on us with His sharp knife. He prunes us. He cuts away much of what we believed to be an essential part of our personality. Sometimes a loved one is taken from us. It is then that we set our affection on things above, because our dearest treasure is there now.

But something else takes place. Our life is as a slip that is grafted on the Vine, and then tied in place until the vitality of the Vine accepts the slip and gives it continual life. The fruit that is borne results from the Presence of God shining on the new branch, as it is supported and nourished by the Vine.

If for some reason the branch is cut from the Vine, the branch dies quickly. No fruit is forthcoming.

We must live in Christ continually if we are to bring forth the righteous conduct that causes the people of the world to glorify God. They may not be interested in our religion, but they certainly are impressed when we demonstrate faithfulness and truth in our personality.

Recently a Muslim writer stated that the Muslim religion is superior to the Christian religion. I have no argument with this. It certainly is superior when it demands moral cleanliness while the Christian religion talks about going to Heaven by faith alone.

The truth is not found in a comparison of the two religions. The truth is found only in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was not raised in a Christian home. I found the Lord Jesus at the age of nineteen while I was seeking to find meaning in life.

A year later I had a supernatural call to preach the Gospel that I had discovered. In obedience to God I have been preaching ever since, and have been a pastor for some thirty years.

I have little patience with the games that are played in the Christian religion. My life is directed toward fellowship with the Lord Jesus. He is alive. He is true and faithful. He guides me in every detail of life. He, the resurrected Lord Jesus, guides me in every detail of life.

Although I am an ordained minister in a respected denomination, the meaning of my daily existence is found in the Lord Jesus Himself, who is real to me. He is guiding me throughout each day and night. He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother.

So as the foolishness rages over which is the better religion, or whether we go to Heaven by faith alone, our behavior not being critically important, I am living in fellowship with the only religious Teacher who has come back to life after having been killed by wicked men.

After abiding in Christ for 61 years, my personality has experienced radical transformation. I cannot understand how anyone can survive in the valley of the shadow of death in which we are living, and not have the wisdom and strength of Christ to help him through the various afflictions problems of life. Such individuals certainly have more strength than I.

The invitation is open to all. "Abide in Me. Find true life, love, joy, and peace. Become the kind of person you admire and want to have fellowship with throughout eternity. Learn what it is like to never be lonely again. Receive the assurance that when you are being rushed to the hospital with a heart attack, there is One who will meet you and walk with you into the next world, the real world.