Bear Fruit

John 15:5-9
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

This has always been for me an encouraging passage, yet, at the same time, a little terrifying. I always examine myself and end up afraid when I try to consider just how much fruit I am bearing.

But let me suggest that if we come to this verse most concerned with, most anxious about, and most afraid about our lack of fruit, then I think we’ve missed the point. If we’re only worried about bearing fruit then we’ll probably come away burdened with the daunting task of manufacturing our own righteousness. We’ll change the way we talk for a little bit, we’ll try to cut out bad habits, we’ll try to be more patient, joyful, happy and cheery, gracious and kind. We’ll try to force some fruit to sprout out from our dainty little limbs.

But if we do this we’ve ENTIRELY missed the point of the passage. Christ says, “REMAIN IN ME” and fruit will happen.

The simplicity of the Christian life, the joy of it, the peace of it is this: that God, Christ and the Holy Spirit sanctify us, prompt us to sanctification, give us the stuff necessary for sanctification, and strengthen us in it. So if we’re interested in bearing fruit, what should we do? Simply put, we must remain in Christ.

And I love the Greek word that the NIV has rendered as “remain” – other translations say: “abide,” “dwell,” In essence, EXIST in Christ. Live in him as you live in your cozy house. This is not the typical quiet time that we talk about as Christians; it’s not the 15 minutes a day (not the 15 minutes a week, not the 15 minutes a month). THIS IS A LIFESTYLE.

As I’ve been talking to others about this verse recently, we’ve come up with an interesting way think about this Greek vocabulary. In other words, to abide in Christ is to live in constant exposure to him. To be considering him, meditating on his character, talking to him in prayer, reading the scriptures, engaging in fellowship – to do these things constantly is to remain in him.

I love that. There is no need for me to fear that I am not bearing enough fruit – if I will merely expose myself more constantly to Christ, if I will live a life attached to him for sustenance, then he will work out the fruit in me.