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Last week we learned that God the Father is the gardener of the vineyard and that Jesus is the vine. 

We also discovered that we are the branches.   Remember when you used to sing that song in Sunday School, “He is the vine and we are branches, His banner over me is love”? Well, the song is somewhat the skeleton of the truth that I would like to put flesh on so that we can truly understand God’s Word and apply it to our lives.

This brings us to our passage for this week in John 15:2

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

Last week we learned that the words ‘cuts off’ actually means ‘to lift up’ in the Greek language, which the New Testament was originally written in.  It is the word “airo”.  

The same word used in Matthew 9:6. This means that God the Father as the vinedresser or gardener goes around to lift us out of the dirt so that our branch will be free to produce fruit.  

This is a common practice in vineyards today.  But notice the progression from no fruit to fruit, and then from fruit to more fruit.  

If you are living a life as a believer and you have no fruit, we have to ask ourselves, ‘What is the meaning of fruit’? The word “fruit” in the Bible is used many times to refer to as ‘works that you do for God with a pure motive’.  

This is how the word is used here.  God expects that if we have trusted in Jesus as our personal Saviour, then we are going to work for Him. We cannot say that we love God and neglect to do His will on the earth.  

Now please understand that good works does not get us to heaven nor does it give us bonus points with God so that we can earn eternal life. There are no good works that are good enough to meet God’s requirement for our sin.  

In fact, Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it really clear for us: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

The only way we can obtain eternal life is as a free gift from God when we admit our sin to Him and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, shed His blood for us, died and was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day.  

When we put our trust in Jesus we have eternal life, no works required or accepted.  

However, after we accept Christ we are to work for Him. In fact, this is the evidence of a genuine experience with God in salvation. 

This is the fruit that Jesus is referring to.  When you love someone, you will get to work on their behalf because you want to demonstrate that love.  

What Jesus is saying here is that if you are saved (you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour), but you are not doing anything for God, then you have no fruit.  

The solution to this is God will lift you up out of the compromise or the “dirt” so that you can produce fruit for Him. The result is that you will start to produce some fruit for God.  

But to get from some fruit to more fruit, notice what the vinedresser does?  He prunes you.

Pruning is not something that we like most times. The reason we are not producing fruit is because we have too much access in our branch. We have overgrown leaves and the nutritious sap is being wasted in the access. 

When pruning takes place to any fruit tree, the gardener is causing the sap to be concentrated, or to increase in potency in order to produce a greater yield of fruit in both quantity and quality.  

Maybe the reason you are having a hard time in your Christian life lately is not because God is against you, maybe He is just getting rid of some of the access in your life.  

God prunes us sometimes of people that bring us down, or a relationship we should not be in, or a even the good “busy” things we are doing, in order to bring His best in our lives.   

If you are being pruned by God, don’t fight it, rather submit to His will so that He can get the most out of your time, treasure and talents.  

Remember, He is an excellent vinedresser. You are the branch, so allow Him to prune you… after all, your fruit for God will only increase. n

Last week we learned that God the Father is the gardener of the vineyard and that Jesus is the vine. 

We also discovered that we are the branches. Remember when you used to sing that song in Sunday School, “He is the vine and we are branches, His banner over me is love”? Well, the song is somewhat the skeleton of the truth that I would like to put flesh on so that we can truly understand God’s Word and apply it to our lives.

This brings us to our passage for this week in John 15:2

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

Last week we learned that the words ‘cuts off’ actually means ‘to lift up’ in the Greek language, which the New Testament was originally written in. It is the word “airo”.  

The same word used in Matthew 9:6. This means that God the Father as the vinedresser or gardener goes around to lift us out of the dirt so that our branch will be free to produce fruit.  

This is a common practice in vineyards today. But notice the progression from no fruit to fruit, and then from fruit to more fruit.  

If you are living a life as a believer and you have no fruit, we have to ask ourselves, ‘What is the meaning of fruit’? The word “fruit” in the Bible is used many times to refer to as ‘works that you do for God with a pure motive’.  

This is how the word is used here.  God expects that if we have trusted in Jesus as our personal Saviour, then we are going to work for Him. We cannot say that we love God and neglect to do His will on the earth.  

Now please understand that good works does not get us to heaven nor does it give us bonus points with God so that we can earn eternal life. There are no good works that are good enough to meet God’s requirement for our sin.  

In fact, Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it really clear for us: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. 

The only way we can obtain eternal life is as a free gift from God when we admit our sin to Him and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, shed His blood for us, died and was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day.  

When we put our trust in Jesus we have eternal life, no works required or accepted.  

However, after we accept Christ we are to work for Him. In fact, this is the evidence of a genuine experience with God in salvation. 

This is the fruit that Jesus is referring to. When you love someone, you will get to work on their behalf because you want to demonstrate that love.  

What Jesus is saying here is that if you are saved (you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour), but you are not doing anything for God, then you have no fruit.  

The solution to this is God will lift you up out of the compromise or the “dirt” so that you can produce fruit for Him. The result is that you will start to produce some fruit for God.  

But to get from some fruit to more fruit, notice what the vinedresser does?  He prunes you.

Pruning is not something that we like most times. The reason we are not producing fruit is because we have too much access in our branch. We have overgrown leaves and the nutritious sap is being wasted in the access. 

When pruning takes place to any fruit tree, the gardener is causing the sap to be concentrated, or to increase in potency in order to produce a greater yield of fruit in both quantity and quality.  

Maybe the reason you are having a hard time in your Christian life lately is not because God is against you, maybe He is just getting rid of some of the access in your life.  

God prunes us sometimes of people that bring us down, or a relationship we should not be in, or a even the good “busy” things we are doing, in order to bring His best in our lives.   

If you are being pruned by God, don’t fight it, rather submit to His will so that He can get the most out of your time, treasure and talents.  

Remember, He is an excellent vinedresser. You are the branch, so allow Him to prune you… after all, your fruit for God will only increase. 

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