Joh 15:6 | KingComments | STEP | In the Lord has already spoken about the branch that bears no fruit. Here He returns to this and says what the destiny of such a branch is. He speaks of ‘anyone’, not of ‘you’. He knows that the eleven are in Him and are therefore clean and fruit-bearing branches. But if ‘anyone’, someone like Judas, does not abide in Christ as the only source of fruit, it will end fatally with him. This is not about someone who is a member of the body of Christ. Whoever is a part of that body can never become detached from it. The vine and the branches emphasize the connection of believers with Christ as a manifestation of the new life evidenced by bearing fruit. The condition for bearing fruit is the connection with the Lord Jesus as the source of one’s life. The Lord, however, speaks about the possibility that someone confesses by words and deeds to be connected with Him, but of whom it turns out after a while that it is only an outward confession. Letting go of Christ then not only means that the branch does not bear fruit, but that the branch withers and is thrown into the fire to be burned. It is not about suffering damage or loss of works and reward ( ), but about perishing ( ). What the Lord says here of the branch that bears no fruit cannot possibly apply to a true believer. A true believer who does not bear fruit does not exist. Life may express itself very weakly, but if there is real life, it will express itself, small as it may be.

‏ John 15:6

The Branch That Bears No Fruit

In Jn 15:2 the Lord has already spoken about the branch that bears no fruit. Here He returns to this and says what the destiny of such a branch is. He speaks of ‘anyone’, not of ‘you’. He knows that the eleven are in Him and are therefore clean and fruit-bearing branches. But if ‘anyone’, someone like Judas, does not abide in Christ as the only source of fruit, it will end fatally with him.

This is not about someone who is a member of the body of Christ. Whoever is a part of that body can never become detached from it. The vine and the branches emphasize the connection of believers with Christ as a manifestation of the new life evidenced by bearing fruit. The condition for bearing fruit is the connection with the Lord Jesus as the source of one’s life.

The Lord, however, speaks about the possibility that someone confesses by words and deeds to be connected with Him, but of whom it turns out after a while that it is only an outward confession. Letting go of Christ then not only means that the branch does not bear fruit, but that the branch withers and is thrown into the fire to be burned. It is not about suffering damage or loss of works and reward (1Cor 3:13), but about perishing (1Cor 9:27).

What the Lord says here of the branch that bears no fruit cannot possibly apply to a true believer. A true believer who does not bear fruit does not exist. Life may express itself very weakly, but if there is real life, it will express itself, small as it may be.