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JOHN 15:5
John Gill
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I am the vine, ye are the branches…
Christ here repeats what he said of himself, "the vine", for the sake of the
application of "the branches" to his disciples: which expresses their
sameness of nature with Christ to him; their strict and close union;
and the communication of life and grace, holiness and fruitfulness, of
support and strength, and of perseverance in grace and holiness to the end
from him:
he
that abideth in me, and I in him;
which is the case of all that are once in Christ, and he in them:
the
same bringeth forth much fruit;
in the exercise of grace, and performance of good works; and continues to do
so as long as he lives, not by virtue of his own free will, power, and
strength, but by grace continually received from Christ:
for
without me ye can do nothing;
nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or
great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think a good thought, speak
a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is
begun, perfect it. Nothing is to be done "without Christ"; without his
Spirit, grace, strength, and presence; or as "separate from" him. Were
it possible for the branches that are truly in him, to be removed from him,
they could bring forth no fruits of good works, any more than a branch
separated from the vine can bring forth grapes; so that all the
fruitfulness of a believer is to be ascribed to Christ, and his grace, and
not to the free will and power of man.
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JOHN 15
Arthur W. Pink
It is no longer a
question of my sufficiency, my strength, or my anything. It is solely a
matter of His sufficiency. The branch is simply a conduit through
which flows the fruit-producing juices, which result in the lovely dusters
of grapes. Remember that the branch does not produce, but simply bears them!
It is the vine which produces, but produces through the branch, by the
branch being in the vine. It is not that the believer finds in Christ a
place of rest and support, whither he may go in order to produce his own
fruit. This is the sad mistake made by those who are ever speaking of their
own self-complacency, self-glorifying experiences, which shows that their
souls are occupied with themselves rather than with Christ. It is of the
greatest practical importance to know that Christ is "all
and in all"—not only as our standing before God and our ultimate
Perfection, but also as to our present life to the glory of the Father.
"Herein
is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8).This
is an appeal to our hearts. The "glory"
of the Father was that which Christ ever kept before Him, and here He
presses it upon us. He would have us concerned as to whether our lives honor
and magnify the Father, or whether they are a reproach to Him. An unfruitful
branch is a dishonor to God. What an inducement is this to "abide
in Christ"!
It is deeply important for us to
recognize that the "fruit" is the
outflow of our union with Christ; only thus will it be traced to its true
origin and source. Then will it be seen that our fruit is produced not
merely by Christ’s power acting upon us, but, as it truly is, as the fruit
of the vine. Thus, in every branch, is HIS word literally verified: "From
me is thy fruit found" (Hos. 14:8), and therefore should every
branch say, "Not I, but the grace of God."
This is all one as to say that our fruit is Christ’s fruit; for God’s
operations of grace are only wrought in and by Christ Jesus. Thus saints are
"filled with the fruits of righteousness which are
by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God" (Phil. 1:11). If
there be any love, it is "the love of Christ"
(2 Cor. 5:14); if there be any joy, it is Christ’s joy (John 15:11); if
there be any peace, it is His peace, given unto us (John 14:27); if there be
any meekness and gentleness it is "the meekness and
gentleness of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:1). How thoroughly this was
realized by the apostle, to whom it was given to be the most signal example
of the vine sending forth fruit by His branches, may be gathered from such
expressions: "I will not dare to speak of any of
those things which Christ hath not wrought by me" (Rom. 15:18). "Christ
speaking in me" (2 Cor. 13:3); "He that
wrought effectually in Peter... was mighty in me" (Gal. 2:8); "Christ
liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20): "I can do all
things through Christ who strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13). Thus,
and thus only as this is recognized, all dependency upon and all glorying in
self is excluded, and Christ becomes all in all. |
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Click here for WALKING WITH JESUS THE WAY
WE RECEIVED HIM
Click here for ABIDE IN CHRIST by Andrew
Murray
Click here to read IN THE SPIRIT by C. H.
Spurgeon
Click here THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT
by B. B. Warfield
Click
here to read THE KEY TO CHRISTIAN LIVING |
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