What is the fruit of abiding in Christ?

 “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. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:1-11

We who follow Jesus are referred to as branches in a vine, presumably a grapevine, although the text doesn’t specify this. Grapevines were common in Israel. Anybody who knows anything about producing fruit on vines or trees knows that it is healthy to prune the tree or vine periodically. Pruning keeps them healthier.

God’s word cleanses, or prunes, us

If we are branches in a vine, how does God prune us? He does it with his word. Verse three says, “You are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” This word translated “clean” is the same Greek word as “pruned.” So, God cleanses or prunes us through his word. So, if I want to be more fruitful in the kingdom of God, I will give myself more to God’s word.

Fruit only comes as we abide in Christ

A branch that has been removed from the vine and lying on the ground will not bear fruit. It just dries up and eventually blows away. To produce fruit, a branch must remain in the vine so the sap (water) can flow up through the layer of the branch and bring water up the branch to the leaves that will produce sugar to feed a bud and eventually fruit. When the branch has been severed from the vine, it has no way of feeding potential fruit. Jesus compares his relationship with us to a vine with us as the branches. The only way we can produce fruit is by remaining permanently in him.

Without him, we can do nothing

We can do nothing in the way of fruit-bearing if we do not abide in him. That is pretty obvious from the previous paragraph. A Jesus follower can never become arrogant because we have nothing to be proud or arrogant about. Without abiding in Jesus, we can produce no fruit.

Abiding in Christ brings the fruit of answered prayer

The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I am aware that we can produce nothing of spiritual value on our own. This applies to answers to prayer. Effectual prayer is a prayer of faith. Faith is a gift of God. It is not something we produce on our own. So, Jesus emphasizes this fact with his statement, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ” We have to remain in him, that is, have an intimate fellowship with Christ, and his word that prunes us must remain in us. Out of this abiding faith-filled praying can arise because our desires are formed by God’s pruning word and our loving fellowship with Jesus. God changes our “wanter” from our old worldly wants to kingdom wants.

Bearing fruit glorifies God

Since fruit comes from abiding in Christ, it makes sense that fruit-bearing glorifies God. Fruit feeds people and fruit-eating creatures, so bearing fruit is helpful to mankind and certain animals. The metaphorical fruit-bearing then feeds people’s souls.

Bearing fruit proves that we are followers of Jesus

This is the corollary of “without me, you can do nothing.” If we are doing something that is bearing fruit, we must be abiding in Christ. Jesus says that it proves that we are his disciples. This is where the old adage comes from that we believers are not to be judges, but we do need to be fruit inspectors. If one manifests the fruit of the Spirit and lives an obedient life to the commands of Jesus, you can be pretty sure they are a Jesus-follower.

Through obedience, we are able to abide in God’s love

I knew it; you are a legalist! No. These are the words of God himself in the person of Jesus. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” This is not a statement of how to be saved. This is a statement of how to remain in the love of God after being saved by faith alone. Many Christians struggle with wanting to obey Jesus. We have too much of the old man still kicking around in our souls. Kill him! Actually, you don’t need to kill him. That already happened when you were crucified together with Christ on the cross and were raised together with him from the grave. You died to the old man and were made alive in Christ to newness of life. This is the life that flows through your spiritual veins and produces fruit in you. You kill the old man by faith as you consider it done. Just consider it done because it is.

The fruit of these teachings is joy

Why did Jesus go through all this convoluted teaching about vines and branches and fruit and pruning? He has a beautiful goal in mind. He gave his reason as, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus wants us to have his joy and to be full of it. In many ways, following Jesus can be difficult. He promises trouble if we follow him. And he promises joy if we follow him. The joy of the Lord is the strength that enables us to endure all sorts of difficulties in this life. Paul said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”