John 15:1-5 English Standard Version

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

In my past there have been some teachings that led to some confusion surrounding the fruit that is yielded. Many times it is because of the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

That parable is about the sowing the gospel and the fruit that the gospel yields. Jesus, as the true vine is speaking to us about His abiding presence and what He yields in us. That is very different and we must not be confused about the differences between what we do and who we are because of His abiding presence.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is the fruit of His abiding presence. What we should do is see this fruit production in terms of what Jesus said to His disciples. One fruit has to be pruned to produce a different fruit of the spirit. Pruning of the vine does not destroy the fruit, it increases the vines’ production. It is done in order because God is a God of order.

First comes love. It is the first fruit and the most important fruit of the spirit.

1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Faith and hope are not fruits of the spirit, but love is listed as a fruit. Faith and hope are internal, love is a pouring out, a fruit which is pruned, to be shared. Pruning must not be looked at as a loss but rather a sharing.