Peter Barnes | John 15:1-6
SERMON NOTES
Christ as the True Vine
Isaiah 5:1-7; John 15:1-11
– Israel is the vine in Ps.80:8-16; Isa.5:1-7
– Jesus is speaking of professing Christians (15:3); Calvin: ‘Christ justifies no one whom He does not at the same time sanctify’.
1. We have no power to bear fruit except in Christ.
– 15:4-5; not a self-help programme
– fruit as in Gal.5:22-23
2. God prunes the fruitful branches.
– 15:2; two kinds of branches: ‘cut back’ and ‘cut out’
– like Heb.12:6, 11; Ps.119:67, 71; Charles Ross refers to ‘the school of sanctified affliction’
3. God removes and burns the unfruitful branches.
– 15:2, 6; Arthur Pink and James Montgomery Boice refer this to unfruitful Christians who are scorched but not condemned (1 Cor.3:13-15), but it is surely judgment.
– repentance leads to a transformed life (Matt.3:8, 10)
– fruitfulness is not just a useful option, but a necessary evidence that we are in Christ.