Obedience by Faith OBEDIENCE--THE FRUIT OF FAITH
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.
Obedience can come only by faith, because obedience is the fruit of faith. Faith is always the spontaneous result of something else. Jesus said, "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, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:4, 5).
John 15 is probably one of the most outstanding passages in all Scripture concerning how obedience comes, and teaching us that genuine obedience is natural and spontaneous. It is not forced. Let's look at this passage phrase by phrase for a moment. "Abide in me, and I in you." What does that mean? To be "in Christ," or to have Christ "in you," simply means to be in relationship with Him, to be in fellowship and communion with Him. And what does the word abide mean? If you do a careful study in the Bible on the word abide, you will discover that it simply means "to stay." The two men on the way to Emmaus said to the Stranger, "It is late in the day; abide with us. Stay with us."
There are two things that are equally necessary for the Christian life. One is to get with Jesus in the first place, and the other is to stay with Him. Getting with Him is no good unless you stay with Him, and obviously, you can't stay with Him unless you first get with Him. And how do we stay with Him? In the same way as we got with Him. All by faith, and the ingredients that result in faith, the methods of communication.
Then the chapter says that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. When we talk about fruit, we talk about the fruit of the vine. It's not the fruit of the branches. But God doesn't produce anything apart from us. He produces fruit through us. If we are branches and try to produce fruit apart from the vine, we're not going to get any fruit at all. We're going to get nothing. Never forget that the fruit is always the fruit of the vine. God works through us; He doesn't bypass our faculties. Working through us, He produces the genuine fruit of obedience.
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.
Obedience can come only by faith, because obedience is the fruit of faith. Faith is always the spontaneous result of something else. Jesus said, "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, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:4, 5).
John 15 is probably one of the most outstanding passages in all Scripture concerning how obedience comes, and teaching us that genuine obedience is natural and spontaneous. It is not forced. Let's look at this passage phrase by phrase for a moment. "Abide in me, and I in you." What does that mean? To be "in Christ," or to have Christ "in you," simply means to be in relationship with Him, to be in fellowship and communion with Him. And what does the word abide mean? If you do a careful study in the Bible on the word abide, you will discover that it simply means "to stay." The two men on the way to Emmaus said to the Stranger, "It is late in the day; abide with us. Stay with us."
There are two things that are equally necessary for the Christian life. One is to get with Jesus in the first place, and the other is to stay with Him. Getting with Him is no good unless you stay with Him, and obviously, you can't stay with Him unless you first get with Him. And how do we stay with Him? In the same way as we got with Him. All by faith, and the ingredients that result in faith, the methods of communication.
Then the chapter says that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. When we talk about fruit, we talk about the fruit of the vine. It's not the fruit of the branches. But God doesn't produce anything apart from us. He produces fruit through us. If we are branches and try to produce fruit apart from the vine, we're not going to get any fruit at all. We're going to get nothing. Never forget that the fruit is always the fruit of the vine. God works through us; He doesn't bypass our faculties. Working through us, He produces the genuine fruit of obedience.
RSS Feed
