Jesus said: If anyone does not abide in Me. The Greek word here (menō) is a present active verb and refers to those who (though they profess to be in Christ) continually reveal no attachment to Christ in their lives.
The truth is that every true believer will bear fruit and persevere in the faith to the end. We call this the “perseverance of the saints”. A faith that fizzles had a flaw from the beginning. 1 John 5:4
It is the saints (tois hogios – “the holy”) who have been declared holy through faith in Christ and are being made holy by the indwelling Holy Spirit who fills and controls them. They alone are in Christ and bear fruit to prove it.
In the Lord’s analogy, the vinedresser (the Father) takes the unregenerate false branches away from their superficial attachment to the vine, and they are gathered up and cast into the fire to be burned.
The Greek word Paul uses here is (ballō) which is a violent word meaning to “cast out with force.” It is an aorist passive verb describing the one time event at the judgment when God will cast all those not in Christ (the true vine) into the lake of fire. Matthew 3:10,12; Matthew 7:17-20
II. A PROMISE TO THOSE WHO TRULY ABIDE IN CHRIST15:7
First, the prayer Jesus promises to answer must be offered in His name; that is, consistent with His person, word and will, so that He might display His glory in answering it.1 John 3:22
You can’t keep Christ’s commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight if you are ignorant of the Scriptures and are not indwelt with and walking under the control of the Holy Spirit.
If you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth), He will lead you into all truth as you study God’s word. He will empower you to obey God’s word and do what is pleasing in His sight. He will also lead you through God’s Word to pray according to God’s will. Romans 8:26-27; 1 John 5:14-15
Second, the promise is only to those who truly abide in (have a permanent fruit bearing union with) Jesus Christ. The person outside of Christ is still under sins penalty and dominion and is thus separated from God. Isaiah 59:2
Only when the lost sinner is born again will his heart cry out to God, “Have mercy on me the sinner,” and God will answer and bring him to faith in Christ. “He who confesses and forsakes his sin shall find mercy.” Proverbs 28:13
The third condition is that Christ’s words abide in the person making the request.The Greek word used here is rhēma, and refers to the individual commands of Christ.
The promise of answered prayer comes only to those whose lives are controlled by the specific commands of Christ. They are the righteous who do the will of God. Psalm 34:15-17;Psalm 66:18-19; Psalm 145:18-20; John 9:31
III. BEARING FRUIT GLORIFIES THE FATHER AND PROVES WE ARE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES 15:8
True branches have the privilege of living lives that glorify God (doxadzō – to honor, to magnify).
Bearing fruit for the professing Christian is not an option and in fact proves that he is a true disciple of Christ.
It is not enough to say you are a disciple of Christ or think you are a disciple of Christ. You must prove it by a Holy Spirit-enabled life of obedience to His word, bearing fruit unto holiness, and being more and more conformed to moral likeness of Christ.1 John 2:4;1 John 3:9-10
Holy Spirit-produced obedience is not just a matter of happiness but of eternal life. Hebrews 5:8
James dealt with this very problem in James 2:14-19 where he says:What use is it my brothers, if a man says he has faith (says he is a believer), but he has no works (has no fruit to prove it)? Can that faith (can that kind of faith) save him? You see the emphasis falls upon the quality of true, genuine faith in contrast to counterfeit, fake faith.
We do not obey Christ to gain His favor, we obey Him out of loving gratitude for the favor already received by grace. We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19
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