John 15:5-7
I’m sure, like me, you have heard many sermon messages on these verses. The vine & the branches have many great things that can be learned from them, but I found us 3 IF/THEN promises. (The other one is tomorrow.)
These verses are Jesus talking. In verse 5, He says if we remain in Him, we will produce much fruit. I’m sure He is referring to the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self control) When we read our Bibles, listen to sermons, serve Jesus, and participate in community, we are “remaining” or “abiding” in Him. Abide is defined as, “to remain; continue; stay”. This isn’t a willy nilly thing of living for Jesus only when life is good kind of thing. This is being fully surrendered, living His ways, and allowing Him to work & move in your life.
Verse 6 sounds harsh and also as if someone could lose their salvation. I'm just not sure about it. My thoughts on salvation is that we can’t lose it. Jesus only died once. I do believe some people just go through the motions but you never see fruit, so we question their salvation. Only Jesus & God can see their hearts. If they aren’t really saved, they will eventually stop doing things that look like they are. (You can only modify your behavior for so long.) The Scriptures that I go to when I think about someone losing their salvation is Romans 8:38 and John 10:28. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. If a person is truely saved, that’s it, in my opinion.
Now, our other promise is in verse 7. Jesus said if we remain in Him & His Words remain in us, we may ask for anything we want and it will be granted. He said anything. As I have stated before, God is not a wish genie who is waiting on us to make wishes so He can grant them. I also don’t think He would allow us to have something that could harm us. He knows the future, as well as OUR individual future. If we prayed to win the lottery, He knows that would probably not end up well for some. Ya know?
What are your thoughts on verse 7? I’d love to hear them.
