Three correspondents have applied to us, this month, for an exposition of John 15:1-61I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:1‑6). We have long felt that the difficulty arising from this most important scripture, is the result of seeking to introduce into it a train of thought altogether foreign to it. There is nothing whatever in the passage about the believer’s security—no such idea as the possibility of a believer’s being lost. It is utterly impossible that our blessed Lord can look at His people, in John 10, under the figure of sheep, and declare that they can never perish, and then look at them, in John 15, under the figure of branches, and declare that they can. This, we conceive, is clear. The believer possesses eternal life. He is a member of the body of Christ, and the members are as safe as the Head. The Lord be praised for this most precious and tranquilizing truth! It is as clearly taught in Scripture as the doctrine of the Trinity, or of justification by faith. Hence, therefore, whatever John 15:1-61I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:1‑6) teaches, it most assuredly does not teach, that a child of God, a member of Christ, can ever be burning in hell fire. It is of all-importance to approach the passage with the mind quite clear as to this foundation truth. It is not a question of a sinner’s salvation, but of a Christian’s fruit-bearing.
Christ was the true vine, in contrast with Israel, who had proved to be “the degenerate plant of a strange vine,” and had “brought forth fruit to Himself” Many might attach themselves to Christ, and yet not abide in Him. Now it is only by abiding in Him, that we can bring forth fruit. The Father, as husbandman, looks after the vine, cultivates and prunes according to His wisdom and faithfulness. If any attach themselves, in profession, to the vine, but do not abide therein, He takes them away. He disallows everything, as fruit, that is not the direct result of abiding in the true vine. “If any man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” How many withered branches have strewed the Church’s pathway from the beginning until now! How many such lie scattered around us at this moment! And yet not one of Christ’s members can perish. The Lord grant that we may not only rejoice in our eternal security, but also abide in Him!