Jesus tells us in John 15:8: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” Disciples are those who bear fruit! Disciples are not those who have walked an aisle. Disciples are not those who have signed a card or parroted a prayer alone. Disciples are not even those who are on the roles, although we would say that being a member of a church most certainly is a piece of the Christian puzzle that many do miss.
The gospel is about making disciples! It’s about a change, a transformation that takes place not by our own effort and will, but by His work and by His will. We are changed based on what He has done, not by what we can do.
We have some confusion as to what a disciple is all about. It’s here we must address a false dichotomy. We may have heard, “Well, a Christian is someone who is a follower of Christ, but a disciple is someone truly committed.” Scrub that from your minds—there is only one type of Christian (and this is synonymous with disciple): one that bears fruit.
Are you connected to the vine?
A cursory reading of this passage will show a pattern that Jesus is working to drill into his disciples—and for good reason. We must be reminded that John 13-17 is Jesus taking his disciples aside and readying them for his crucifixion, resurrection, and departure to the Father. In the previous chapter, when Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you… and will come again to receive you to myself, that where I am you may be also,” we are reminded that they had questions about the meantime. Jesus then said:
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
So Jesus tells us that through the Holy Spirit he would send, we would be connected to Him and He with us—we would not be alone! But in John 15, we get another picture of what belief is all about. And lest we think that belief is simply mental and intellectual, it’s not. It’s committal, connecting and abiding in “the vine,” who is Christ. And when Jesus talks about the “greater works” from John 14, he uses another term in regards to being a disciple: greater works=bearing fruit.
You demonstrate you are connected to the vine if you bear fruit! But the reverse is true as well: you demonstrate you are not connected to the vine if you do not bear fruit. In verse 2, he makes it clear, “he takes [the branch] away.” In verse 4, Jesus says, “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” Verse 5: “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” Verse 6: He will be thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
In other words, there is no such thing as a fruitless Christian. “By this my Father is glorified if you bear much fruit, and thus prove to be my disciples.” Again, it’s here we must address a false dichotomy. We may have heard, “Well, a Christian is someone who is a follower of Christ, but a disciple is someone truly committed.” Scrub that from your minds—there is only one type of Christian (and this is synonymous with disciple): one that bears fruit.
For those who may think that Jesus is this easy going fellow who simply tells us, “Do your best and that’s what matters,” hasn’t really encountered Jesus’ own words. You may say, “Isn’t Jesus being exclusive? Or worse, isn’t this arrogant? If you’re connected and abide in me, then you’re in good shape?”
Jesus has the right to say this as our Creator. Remember what the Apostle Paul says, “Everything was made by Him and for Him”? He’s our creator and our redeemer. He loves us as our creation and loves us enough to give us a message of rescue. He would seal that message by atoning for the sins of all who would believe by dying a bloody death and being laid in a borrowed tomb.
(Tomorrow: A Disciple Perseveres Through the Pruning)
