“Remain in me”
May 2, 2021
14:1 – 15:17 Being in Jesus, just as Jesus is in the Father
Read John 15:3-5
The Father is like a gardener who “prunes” (literally cleanses) the branches in order to make them more fruitful (15:2) and this same word provides the link to “you are already made clean” (3). Jesus assured the disciples that their position in him was already established through the cleansing of his word. This refers to their acceptance of his message to them (13:10). The basis of our being in Jesus is that we have been made clean through faith in the truth he revealed, a revelation which culminated in his death for our sins (1 Cor.6:11; Titus 3:5-6).
So it is by grace alone through faith alone that we are brought into Christ. But the key thing then is to remain in him, so that his life can go out through us (4). The word remain is the Greek word meno which has the sense of to be but with the added note of permanence i.e. to dwell, to abide, to remain there. The importance of this word is seen by its repetition – meno occurs three times in verse 4 alone, and then a further seven times in verses 5-10. So the Christian needs to abide continuously in a close relationship with Jesus, in the confidence that Jesus and the Father live in us and make their abode in us (4a; 14:20; 14:23).
Once again, Jesus declared that he is the vine, and this time he spelled out that believers are like branches in that vine (5a). The life of the vine flows to and through the branches, which is why there can be no fruit without him (4b) for he alone is the source of life – “apart from me you can do nothing” (5b). But the corollary of this is that whoever does remain in him will certainly and inevitably “bear much fruit”.
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