"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."
John 15:4
“Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you.
No branch can produce fruit alone.
It must stay connected to the vine.
It is the same with you.
You cannot produce fruit alone.
You must stay joined to me” [2]
(John 15:4, HSB).
“Fruitfulness is the result of the Son’s life being reproduced in a disciple” [3] (BKC).
“Abide in me, and I in you.”
“The disciple’s part is to remain [“abide”]. The word remain, a keyword in John’s theology is menō which occurs —
11 times in this chapter,
40 times in the entire Gospel, and
27 times in John’s epistles.
What does it mean to remain?
[First, it can mean] … to accept Jesus as Savior (cf. 6:54, 56).
Second, it can mean to continue or persevere in believing (8:31 [“hold” is remain]; 1 John 2:19, 24).
Third, it can also mean believing, loving obedience (John 15:9–10)” [4] (BKC).
The point is here that anyone who names the name of Jesus Christ as their Savior ought to never shrink back from abiding by remaining in Him.
“Abide In Me”
Our Lord emphasized this abiding, remaining, continuing relationship with Jesus for all His disciples. We can see the principle of “sticking with Jesus and the faith” mentioned in the New Testament.
There is continuity in the Word of God.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31).
There is an encouragement of young believers to keep on going in the faith.
“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
There is the challenge of being like Jesus.
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6).
There is a challenge to Christlike living.
“He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6).
There is the encouragement to keep the doctrine of Christ.
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9).
There is the challenge of staying in God’s love.
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 1:20-21).
This decision to follow Jesus Christ is not an “in today and out tomorrow” kind of flippant choice. To follow Jesus is for the long term. This choice lasts a lifetime. It begins at the point when we put our faith in Him, and it continues until the day we see Him face to face in glory!
But note it’s not only about us abiding in our Lord, but also our Lord abiding in us. Jesus said –
“And I In You”
He is our welcomed guest, living in us.
We have this relationship by salvation.
“He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
We look forward to that day when we are physically present with Jesus but until then…
“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
We have this spiritual relationship with God.
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:9-10).
As Paul gave his final warning in his second letter to the Corinthians, his words give us pause to think about our relationship with Christ.
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
We are “rooted and grounded in love,” we have Christ in us by faith.
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17).
We have this hope of eternal glory in Jesus Christ!
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
My relationship with Christ, and Christ in me, is a special bond.
“Jesus emphasized a mutual relationship. It isn’t only that the disciple abides in the Master; the Master also abides in the disciple. Something of this close relationship is described in Song of Solomon 6:3 – I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” [5] (EWC).
Our relationship with Jesus is an eternal one. For a disciple to try to go it alone without Christ is absurd. Because, as Jesus said –
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
“When our Lord says: Abide in me, He is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to Him and keep ourselves in contact with Him. This is what it means to abide in Him” [6] (Boice).
“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.”
The “branch” is the conduit of nourishment from the vine to the fruit.
“Of Itself”
“As the branch cannot bear fruit” “… from itself” [7] (Vincent).
How can it be possible for the branch to bear grapes if there is no link to the vine? It cannot. It is impossible to do. Without the nourishment from the vine, the branch will wither and die, fruitless.
“Except it abide in the vine.”
Believers, stay put, remain in the Vine!
“Since branches unattached to the vine have no chance of bearing fruit, it is imperative for the disciples to remain in me (4). The main purpose of the vine allegory is to stress the importance of their dependence on Him” [8] (NBC).
“There is this mysterious property in the branches of the spiritual Vine that they can cut themselves off, as Judas had done. Nature does something, and grace does more, but grace may be rejected” [9] (CB).
That is sad but true. Not everyone will decide to “abide in Him.”
“No more can ye, except ye abide in me.” [10]
“No More Can Ye”
“… so neither can ye…” [11] (Vincent).
Believers, this was written for us. None of our service for God matters without being in Christ and Christ in us. If my work for God will last, it must be done by His grace and power flowing through me.
“Without faith, no life of God will come to anyone. Without the life of God, no real fruit can be produced: Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me” [12] (BKC).
Believers, remember that Christ is in us!
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Quote: “We can bring forth no fruit, except we be ingraffed in Christ” [13] (Geneva).
[1] Murray’s quote is from his book, The True Vine. Downloaded: May 17, 2022. From: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/265033-the-true-vine.
[2] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[3] BKC, Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 325.
[4] BKC, ibid. I have reformatted these BKC notes for our usage here, the wording is theirs.
[5] EWC – David Guzik. Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[6] Boice’s quote is from EWC, ibid.
[7] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 249.
[8] NBC, Donald Guthrie, “John,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1056.
[9] CB – Cambridge Bible, the electronic Bible notes in eSword.
[10] An interesting point here is in the Greek text for Bible students. There are two Third Class Conditions here. “Except it abide in the vine,” and “except ye abide in me.”
[11] Marvin Richardson Vincent, ibid.
[12] BKC, ibid.
[13] GB, Geneva Bible: Notes, vol. 2 (Geneva: Rovland Hall, 1560), 50. Translation of the text into modern English, JLH.