Cast them into the fire
John
{15:1} I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
{15:2} Every 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.
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We know that God is the Husbandman, that Jesus is the vine, and that we are the branches.
We know that we need to bear fruit as a result of this connection.
We know that we will be purged so that we bring forth more fruit.
These things are important to remember lest we believe we can produce fruit on our own. Of ourselves we are nothing. NOTHING.
John
{15:3} Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
We are clean through the word Jesus speaks to us. We have to listen to the words of Jesus. It is through listening that we learn from the Vine, and all things coming from the Vine only do so through the will of the husbandman.
{15:4} Abide 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.
Jesus says- abide in me and I in you.
We have to abide- to live in Jesus. Our lives are not our own. We can give our lives to Jesus and live in Him and He will live in us. It's a choice we make. Just as it's a choice you make where you abide physically, it's a choice you make as to where you will abide spiritually.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
You can cut off a branch from a vine and watch it and what will happen? It will wither and die. It will no longer bear any fruit at all. When we choose to separate ourselves from Jesus and go off on our own or attach ourselves to other evil vines, we will not bear the fruit of the Spirit. Any fruit we bear will be poison even if it's exterior has it looking like the perfect piece of fruit.
Jesus says- As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
He tell us how we produce fruit. We don't strive to produce fruit, we strive to be in Him and the fruit will come from that abiding.
{15:5} I 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.
Jesus says- I 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.
He says it so perfectly. There can be no mistaking what He's saying. Without Jesus we can do nothing. People will scoff at that and go about doing all sorts of things, mocking God and saying 'See! I can to do all sorts of things without you! I don't need you!' And yet what they don't realize is that all those things they are doing are not good things. Again they shout, 'See all the good things I can do without you!' And yet they don't understand that the very fact they lay claim to what they do negates any goodness it holds. The very breath they breath is from God. The very body they have is from God. They would not exist without Him and to live as if that doesn't matter, as if they manage somehow to breathe breath into their own bodies and keep their own hearts beating. We can lay no claim, no glory to anything we do without first acknowledging it is by the Grace and Mercy of God that we are able to do anything. When we abide in Jesus and realize this truth then yes, much fruit can come from us through Him, only through Him.
{15:6} If 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
Yes, any branch not abiding in the Vine, not attached to the Vine and living as a result of that bond will die and will be burned away to nothing. It's true and so few realize how true it is.
We need this connection!
We need this abiding!
We need this relationship with our Lord and Savior, a relationship that is as viable as that of a plant with a vine and branches. A living growing, producing relationship.
May God our heavenly Father, be realized as the source of all life.
May Jesus our Lord and Savior, be realized as the Vine that is given life by the Husbandman and in turn gives us life.
May we in Christ produce the fruit of the Spirit, good fruit, much fruit.
By His Grace, by His Mercy.
In Christ,
Amen.
3/25/10
Continuing the study on Eternal Verities (Eternal Truths) -
I'm going to copy parts of a thought paper about the Godhead and eternal truths. I'll interject it with my own thoughts and probably end up breaking it up into digestable pieces, meaning give it bit by bit so it's not overwhelming and gives us time to think about what's being presented. If you're reading this you'll have access to the internet and as such it's easy to check various facts such as the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words. Don't hesitate to take time to check things for yourself. We are accountable for what we can do and that means seeking the knowledge where we can. In our time we live in something called the 'Information Age' and it is. Information is right at our fingertips and we have to avail ourselves of it.
May God bless us as we seek to understand more fully His will, His way, the truths that we need to know and believe as this world becomes more and more deceptive.
*******
Eternal Verities -- The Incarnation -- Part 2 -- In the Epistles is to be found a theology of the Incarnation, a theology sufficiently detailed so that it can be determined beyond question whether Christ-
-took upon Himself the nature of Adam prior to the Fall
-or the nature after the Fall
-or a selected human nature which resembled both the post-Fall and pre-Fall Adamic nature.
Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth, stated that God in "reconciling the world unto Himself," made Christ "to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be the righteousness of God in Him." (II Cor. 5:19,21)
2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliatio
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
While the emphasis by Paul in this section of his letter is on reconciliation and its ministry, it cannot be overlooked that basic to this reconciliation is Jesus "made sin." This could not be unless He incarnated in the fallen nature of man where sin held its dominion.
To break the power of "the strong man," Christ had to "first bind the strong man," then He could "spoil his house." ( Matt. 12:29)
Mat 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
We can but dimly comprehend the depths of the condescension to rescue man from the grasp of sin, except as we meditate on the "outer darkness" that enveloped the cross and hear the anguished cry that pierced the Heavens, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me"? The result - "we [can] be made the righteousness of God in Him."
As he continued his epistle, Paul noted another aspect of the Incarnation. He wrote - "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." (II Cor. 8:9) This was more than the mere fact that "the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." (Matt. 8:20) As Alford in his Greek Testament comments - "It was not merely by His renunciation of human riches during His life on earth, but by His exinanition [act of evacuating] of His glory." (Vol. II, p.681)
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My thoughts--
It is true we can scarcely begin to comprehend the depths that Christ went to in order to save us. The worth He places upon us is something we can't even begin to understand. Do you place any worth on another person? We usually do. We have parents we treasure, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, lovers, children that we value and yet to what depths would we go for them? Some people have given their lives for others and they do so knowingly and understandingly. They are willing to give up their very breath to save another and it's miraculous in its own right. Yet, we as sinners making a sacrifice give up our breath of life but no more than that. We have no power, no glory, no righteousness in us to sacrifice. Christ had to give up so much to save us, so much we just can't compare on any level to that sort of sacrifice. We are creatures that are born to die, that is our inevitable fate in this world. We know we will die, we know what death is, and we know that there is life in Christ after we die and He returns for us, but still, death is promised to us on birth. Christ before the incarnation didn't have that promise of death, Gods do not die they have eternity, they are everlasting from everlasting. To give us such existence and take on flesh to die... the sacrifice goes beyond all we can comprehend.
May God help us to live in Him. By His righteousness alone we will have life everlasting in Him, with Him. By His unfathomable love, by His amazing mercy, by His pure grace now and forever, His will, not ours be done.
Amen.
3/25/11