Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 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.
4. Abide in me, and I in you) See on Joh 6:56. ‘And I in you’ may be taken either as a promise (‘and then I will abide in you’) or as the other side of the command (‘take care that I abide in you’); the latter seems to be better.
except ye abide ] There is this mysterious property in the branches of the spiritual Vine, that they can cut themselves off, as Judas had done. Nature does something, and grace does more; but grace may be rejected.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Abide in me – Remain united to me by a living faith. Live a life of dependence on me, and obey my doctrines, imitate my example, and constantly exercise faith in me.
And I in you – That is, if you remain attached to me, I will remain with you, and will teach, guide, and comfort you. This he proceeds to illustrate by a reference to the vine. If the branch should be cut off an instant, it would die and be fruitless. As long as it is in the vine, from the nature of the case, the parent stock imparts its juices, and furnishes a constant circulation of sap adapted to the growth and fruitfulness of the branch. So our piety, if we should be separate from Christ, or if we cease to feel our union to him and dependence on him, withers and droops. While we are united to him by a living faith, from the nature of the case, strength flows from him to us, and we receive help as we need. Piety then, manifested in good works, in love, and self-denial, is as natural, as easy, as unconstrained. and as lovely as the vine covered with fruitful branches is at once useful and enticing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you
Abiding in Christ
I.
TO WHOM THE COMMAND IS GIVEN. To those who are already in Him.
1. We are at first in nature, possessed merely of the powers of nature, as understanding, will, affections; but we must be in grace, which raises us above nature, purifies all our faculties, and directs them to a proper end.
2. We are naturally in the flesh influenced and governed by the body, its appetites, and senses (Gen 6:5; Joh 3:5-6). We must be in the Spirit under the influence and government of His motions and graces.
3. We are naturally in Belial (Eph 2:2; 1Jn 5:18); inspired, deceived, deluded, corrupted by him; but we must be in Christ.
4. How?
(1) By the knowledge of Him (Php 3:8);
(2) by faith in Him;
(3) love to Him;
(4) an interest in Him (Php 3:9).
II. WHAT THIS COMMAND IMPLIES.
1. It implies that we are to retain this knowledge, faith, love, interest, union with Christ; which may be lost (Col 1:23; Joh 15:9-10; Rom 11:22; Heb 10:38). Now, we retain these
(1) When we abide in Him in our thoughts; not only thinking highly of Him, but having our thoughts stayed upon Him.
(2) When our desires, our designs, our will, both in its choice and resolution, and our affections, are set upon these things.
(3) When we dwell upon them in our conversation, and manifest that we love Him, and cleave to Him in our behaviour.
2. To illustrate this: we must abide in Christ, as a branch in a tree, which is supported by it, adheres to it, grows in it, and becomes verdant and fruitful by the virtue derived from it; as a hand in a body, from which it receives its warmth, life, activity, and usefulness; as a man slayer in the city of refuge, for he would be safe only while abiding in the consecrated city; so we are in danger of being overtaken by the curse and wrath of God, unless we have fled to Christ and continue in Him; as a besieged citizen in a garrison, for we are surrounded and attacked by various enemies; as passengers in a ship, for we are on the sea of this world, tossed with the winds and waves, proceeding on our voyage for the port of eternal bliss, and our safety depends on being in the ship.
III. THE PROMISE MADE TO THOSE THAT KEEP IT; AND THE ADVANTAGES RESULTING THEREFROM.
1. Christ will abide in us
(1) By His word, teaching, instructing, directing, strengthening, supporting, encouraging, comforting us (Rom 15:4).
(2) By His Spirit, in His witness as a Spirit of adoption, and in His fruits, which are love, joy, peace, etc. (Rom 8:15; Gal 5:22-23).
(3) By the efficacy of His body and blood (Joh 6:56-57).
(4) By His indwelling presence, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1Co 1:30).
(5) By permitting us to have followship with Him (Rev 3:20).
2. Hence we shall have pardon, acceptance, adoption, safety, access. All our prayers shall be heard (Joh 15:7; Mar 11:24). We shall abound in the fruits of righteousness (Joh 15:5-6; 2Co 9:8).
IV. HOW WE MAY BE ENABLED TO KEEP THE COMMAND.
1. By abiding in a belief of His word, and holding fast all the doctrines, precepts, promises, and threatenings of the Scripture. By continuing to attend the ordinances, public, domestic, social, and private.
2. By guarding against hypocrisy, formality, and lukewarmness, in the use of all ordinances, and maintaining sincerity, spirituality, and fervour therein.
3. By conscientiously keeping His commandments, carefully shunning sins of commission and omission, and whatever is calculated to grieve His Spirit.
4. By guarding against an evil heart of unbelief (Heb 3:12), and holding fast our confidence. By guarding against the love of this present world. (J. Benson.)
Christ the True Vine
I am the True Vine.
I. Christ sets forth the GENUINENESS of His union with His disciples.
II. In the REALITY AND COMPLETENESS of His life-giving power Christ infinitely excels all His forerunners and types.
III. This relationship is much NEARER than that of the shepherd with the sheep.
IV. This union is COMPREHENSIVE, embracing many besides those who are usually recognized as believers. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit.
V. Our union with Christ should be CONSTANT. Twelve times in this allegory the word abide is used. They were in danger of unfaithfulness and apostasy. Christ sought to fortify them. He assured them that He would keep them if they would trust Him.
VI. This communion is one of LOVE (Joh 15:9-16). As the Father hath loved Me, even so have I loved you. Abide in My love. The believer lives in the love of Christ. Christ loves all men; but He manifests His love in a peculiar manner to those whose hearts are given to Him. If we love God, we will delight in His character, we will be drawn by those Divine attributes which Jesus reveals. Love of a holy Being implies hatred of sin. The Spirit convicts the loving heart of sin. Is my fruit recognized as Divine fruit, such fruit as Christ bore?
1. One of the fruits of union with Christ according to this lesson is patience under discipline (Joh 15:1-3). My Father is the Husbandman. He purgeth it, etc. Ye are clean through the Word, etc. The lot of Jesus was one of severe trial. He was made perfect through suffering. Those who become Christ-like must expect Christ-like trials. The believer can maintain his union with Christ only by uncompromising opposition to every form of evil.
2. Another result of this union is the spirit of dependence on Christ (Joh 15:4-5). Apart from Me ye can do nothing. This sense of dependence on Christ, instead of paralyzing human energy, becomes the source of its power. It enables the soul to look up and confidently exclaim with the apostle, I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth Me.
3. This suggest another fruit of union with Christ, namely, life (Joh 15:6-8). If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. Christ came that we might have life. All the vital juices of the branch and its power to bear fruit come from the vine. So, for every good desire we ever formed, or good word we ever spoke, or good deed we ever did, evidencing a renewed life in us, we are indebted to Christ. He is our life. (G. H.Cheney.)
Abiding in Christ
Believe on Christ is the gospel to the world. Abide in Christ is the gospel to the Church. We cannot think too much of Christ for us, but we may think far too little of Christ in us; yet for perfect salvation we need both. Notice that this is
I. A CALL TO CONSCIOUS VITAL UNION WITH OUR LORD. This implies
1. A realization that of ourselves we can do nothing, that we are mere dead branches apart from Him! We live too much as though we were trees, as though by our own power we were to do Gods will, and we have striven, and then groaned over the inevitable failure. Now, says Christ, be satisfied to be a branch.
2. An assurance that the fulness of Christ is ours. That is involved in the figure, and is stated in the chapter. He goes on to say (as its consequence) that what He has, they share. They are to share
(1) His joy–that My joy might abide in you;
(2) His love–that ye love one another as I have loved you;
(3) His knowledge–all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you;
(4) His rights–that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you;
(5) His persecutions–if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;
(6) His work–the Spirit shall bear witness of Me, and ye also shall bear witness;
(7) His glory–the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them.
3. A surrender of ourselves to Christ for His purposes. For the branch exists for the tree.
II. THE FIGURE OF THE VINE SUGGESTS HOW THIS CALL MAY BE FULFILLED. The words show that the responsibility is with us. Christ can only bless according to our willingness; and willingness is proved by readiness to seek the blessing. Abide in Me, and I in you is a command; it is ours, therefore, to fulfil it. And we ask How? Remember there are degrees in this union; some are more closely joined to Christ than others, and receive more of His life; and this is due to their growth into Him, they have struck the fibres of their spiritual being deeper and yet deeper into His being, and thus are close knit to Him.
1. We need the cords of meditation and prayer to bind us to Him more firmly. The formal prayer, the ill-studied Bible, the almost deserted closet, are the destruction of the hopes held out in the text. The weather soon loosens the old cords, and through perpetual communion they must be perpetually renewed.
2. We need the putting away of whatever would come between Christ and us. Sin hinders Christ giving, for He will not give to sin. Sin weakens our desire and faith, that is, our power of receiving. So everything in any degree contrary to Christ must be put away.
3. We need the ceaseless drawing by faith on His fulness.
III. FROM THIS WOULD COME THAT SPIRITUAL FRUIT BEARING WHICH IS GODS WILL. There would be
1. The natural growth of personal holiness. It is a common thought that before Christ can enter into us we must put out evil. That is not the order. Let Christ in and He will put out the evil, as light puts out darkness.
2. A heart at rest. The poverty of our resources is our perpetual fear; loneliness and care are with some a perpetual grief. But would not that be altered if we consciously abode in Christ?
3. Christs power working through us. Think of being the channel for the will of Jesus. (C. New.)
Mutual abiding
I. THE DUTY ENJOINED.
1. Abide in Me. It has been justly said, that the command is not abide with Me–near Me–or under Me; but, in Me. The fruit-bearing branch is not only in the same place with the vine–near it, under its shadow–it is in it, and it abides in it. The ideas suggested are, residence and continuance. It is as if he had said, Think as I think; feel as I feel; will as I will; choose as I choose; and let My views of all objects and all events be yours, because they are Mine; let My feelings, My volitions, My choices, all be yours, and let them be yours because they are Mine. Prosecute My ends–use My means–rely on Me, entirely on Me. Let My wisdom be your wisdom–My righteousness your righteousness–My strength your strength. Come out of yourselves. Come out of the creature. Come into Me. It is faith that thus unites us to the Saviour, and it is continued faith which keeps us thus united to the Saviour.
2. Let Me abide in you. What is meant by Christs abiding in His people? The best answer is at the seventh verse, and 1Jn 3:24. Christ abides in His people, by continuously making them, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and the instrumentality of His word, understood and believed under His influence, think along with Him–feel, choose, enjoy along with
Him. Christ is so formed in them that it is not so much they who live, as Christ who lives in them.
2. What is the import of the injunction, Let Me dwell in you? Christ never does come into any man, so as to dwell in him, against the mans will Were the thing possible, it would be to degrade man into a mere machine, and involve the incongruity, than which none can be greater, that He who of old inhabited His own eternity, and has heaven for His throne and earth for His footstool, should, as if in want of a house, force an entrance where He was not desired. But His language is, Behold, I stand at the door, etc.
3. The two parts of the injunction are closely connected. Christians will abide in Christ just in the degree in which they let Christ abide in them.
II. THE MOTIVES BY WHICH THE INJUNCTION IS ENFORCED.
1. Compliance with the injunction is necessary to prevent unfruitfulness and its fearful consequences. A vine branch by itself can bring forth nothing, not even blossoms or leaves. All men are naturally unholy and unprofitable. There is no way in which they can be made fruitful, except by being cut off from their original stock, the first Adam, and being grafted into Him who is the True Vine. When men are awakened to a sense of the dangers of a state of spiritual barrenness, they often endeavour to become fruitful of themselves. They go about to make themselves holy by the works of the law: but the thing is impossible. There is no good fruit but what is the product of Divine influence; and no channel for Divine influence to flow into the human heart, but the mediation of Jesus Christ. It is not, Without Me ye can do little; it is, Without Me ye can do nothing. It is not, Without Me ye will do nothing–that is true too–but it is, Without Me ye can do nothing. It is not, Without Me you can accomplish–finish–nothing; it is, Without Me ye can do nothing.
2. Compliance with this injunction alone can, and certainly will, secure fruitfulness, with all its blessed results. No stream without a fountain; no fountain, unless obstructed, without a stream. Three effects are mentioned by our Lord
(1) The answer of whatever prayers we present to God;
(2) The glorification of God;
(3) The clearly proving to ourselves and others that we are really the disciples of Christ. (J. Brown, D. D.)
Branches not mechanically in the vine
It is, of course, possible to attach a bough or branch either to the stem of a vine or the trunk of any other tree by artificial means, and so to secure a kind of external union therewith. A length of cord or iron wire may accomplish a poor and pitiful result like that; but the stem knows it not and the branch is withered, however painfully and skilfully art may struggle to endorse the lie. In the same way we may be mechanically and externally united to the visible Church of Christ. That is entirely an affair of contrivance, a mere matter of ligature or glue. It is altogether and at most a concern of nomination, register or ceremonial. But let it be remembered that this is in itself stark naught. Never a rotten branch on the floor of a forest, a branch that breaks and crackles beneath the foot of a passer-by, is more dead than we are, if the hasp and staple of Church membership, if the hook and eye of registration, if the glue of mere sectarian adhesion, if the paint of mere external profession are all that holds us on to the Christ of God. (J. J.Wray.)
Union with Christ the means of salvation
Of the precise origin of the late civil war in America I am not quite sure; but I am told it was a perverse misunderstanding on the subject of slavery. The North was against the slave trade, the South for it; and so both parties appealed to arms. But be that as it may, one thing is clear: not many months passed before the question of slavery was swallowed up in the most important question of the Union–the Union of the States. Who is for or against the slave? There the conflict began. Who is for or against the Union? There it finished. Neither am I quite certain of the first cause of the prolonged controversy between earth and heaven, man and God. A rumour was afloat in my native neighbourhood that it all began in a slight misunderstanding touching a certain apple tree in the garden of Eden. But be that as it may, the question of the apple tree has been long ago swallowed up in the more important question of the union–the union with the Son. Salvation hinges not on such questions as what was the first sin, or who is the greatest sinner? but upon the simple straightforward question–Who is for or against the union with Jesus Christ? Do you believe in the only-begotten Son? (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
Union with Christ and fruitfulness
The villages in Persia may be derided into two classes: those of the plains, treeless, sterile and poor; and those of the mountains, where the springs and torrents encourage the growth of plane, mulberry, poplar trees, and orchards, and allow channels for the nourishment of plantations. Elevation means fertility here. (H. O.Mackey.)
The reciprocities of personal salvation
I. CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER.
1. How.
2. When.
3. Why.
II. THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST.
1. How.
2. When.
3. Why. (S. S. Times.)
Union with Christ
1. A spiritual union (1Co 6:17; 1Co 12:13; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 4:13).
2. A vital union (Joh 14:19; Gal 2:20).
3. It embraces our entire persons, our bodies through our spirits (1Co 6:15; 1Co 6:19).
4. It is a legal or federal union, so that all of our legal or covenant responsibilities rest upon Christ, and all of His legal or covenant merits accrue to us
5. This union is between the believer and the person of the God-man in His office as mediator (Joh 14:23; Joh 17:21; Joh 17:23). (A. A. Hodge.)
Abide in Christ
Be like Miltons angel, who lived in the sun. Abide in Christ, and let His words abide in you. Closer, closer, closer, this is the way to spiritual wealth. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The entire dependence of sanctity on Christ
1. Without Me, in Joh 15:5, should rather be rendered, Apart from Me, separate from Me, in state of independence on Me. Without the assistance of a strong person, a weak one cannot lift a heavy weight; but the dependence of the weak on the strong in order to lift the weight, is not the dependence which the word here employed indicates. Apart from the soul the body is motionless, and cannot stir a finger. This is the sort of dependence indicated here.
2. The subject brought before us is, that the sanctification of the Christian, like his justification, is entirely dependent upon our Lord. As regards our justification, this is clearly seen (at least in the Reformed Churches) and generally admitted. But it is thought that, unlike justification (which is something that passes on the sinner externally to him, a sentence of acquittal in consideration of Our Lords merits), sanctification is an achievement mastered–much as a lesson is mastered–by a variety of exercises, prayers, almsdeeds, sacraments, etc., and when mastered, a sort of permanent acquisition, which goes on increasing as the stock of these spiritual exercises accumulates. It is not regarded in its true light as a momentary receiving out of Christs fulness grace for grace, as the result of His inworking in a heart, which finds the task of self-renewal hopeless, and makes itself over to Him, to be moulded by Him.
3. Let us take two illustrations
(1) His own. As the branch, etc. The circulating sap, which is the life of the tree, is indeed in the vine branch, so long as it holds of the stem; but in no sense whatever is it from the vine branch. Cut off the branch from the stem, and it ceases instantaneously to live, for it has no independent life. Even so the fruits of the Spirit, while of course our hearts are the sphere of their manifestation, are in no sense from our hearts; but a righteousness outflowing continually from the fulness of grace which is in Christ.
(2) When we walk abroad on a beautiful day, our eye catches a variety of colours lying on the surface of the landscape,–there is the yellow of the golden grain, the green of the pasture land, the dark brown of those thick-planted copses, the silver gleam of the stream which winds through them, the faint blue of distant hills seen in perspective, the more intense blue of the sky, the purple tinge of yonder sheet of water–but none of these colours reside in the landscape. Now, apart from the sunlight no object has any colour; as is shown by the fact that, as soon as light is withdrawn from the landscape, the colours fable from the robe of nature. The difference of colour is produced by some subtle difference of texture or superficies, which makes each object absorb certain rays, and reflect certain others in different proportions. Now Christ is the Sun of righteousness, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, the fair colour of every grace and Christian virtue. When Christ is shining upon the heart, then these virtues are manifested there, by our Christian graces of one description, by another of another, according to their different receptivity and natural temperament. The great secret, then, of bringing forth much fruit, or of all advance in holiness, is a constant keeping open the avenues of the soul towards Him. If a vine branch is to sprout, the tube by which it communicates with the stock of the tree must adhere tightly to the stem, and be well open for the passage of the sap. If you desire to see the colours of furniture in this room, whose shutters are closed, throw open the shutters, and admit the full flood of sunlight. And if you desire to see the dead heart, put forth the energies of spiritual life, and the dark heart illumined by the fair colours of spiritual grace, throw wide open the passage of communication between Christ and it, and allow the Life which is in Him, and the Light which is in Him, to circulate freely through it.
I. Take heed, first, that YE ABIDE IN ME. This is done by faith. As we first consciously entered into fellowship with Christ by faith, so there is no other way to abide in Him, than by repeated exercises of the same faith. The faith which enables the soul to abide in Christ is nothing else than an assured trust and confidence that, as He has already wrought out for us our acceptance with God, so He will work in us every gracious disposition which is necessary to qualify us for glory. It is not enough to supplicate these graces; we must lean upon Him for them, and fix the eye of expectation upon the promise of His new covenant: I will put My laws into their mind, etc. And as without holiness no man shall (or can) see the Lord, must not Christ be much more earnestly anxious to make us holy, than we can be to be made so? If we do not believe in this earnest anxiety of His, do we believe in His love at all? Ah! what if these struggles to be holy should themselves be in a certain sense a token of unbelief? What if the poor bird imprisoned in the cage should be thinking that, if it is ever to gain its liberty, it must be by its own exertions, and by vigorous and frequent strokes of its wings against the bars? If it did so, it would ere long fall back breathless and exhausted, faint and sore, and despairing. And the soul will have a similar experience, which thinks that Christ has indeed won pardon and acceptance for her, but that sanctification she must win for herself, and under this delusion beats herself sore in vain efforts to correct the propensities of a heart which the Word of God pronounces to be desperately wicked. That heart,–you can make nothing of it yourself;–leave it to Christ, in quiet dependence upon His grace. Suffer Him toopen the prison doors for you, and then you shall fly out and hide yourself in your Lords bosom, and there find rest.
II. LET ME ABIDE IN YOU. Christ thus teaches us that ordinances, as well as faith, form part of His religion. In order to fruitfulness the sap must rise from the vine stock, and pass into the branch, this is the abiding of the vine in the branch. Similarly Christ must continually send up into our heart a current of holy inspirations, new loves, good impulses, devout hopes–i.e., communicate Himself to the soul by the continual influx of the Holy Ghost. And this is made specially in the Supper of the Lord. Of course the Divine allegory quite precludes the supposition that without faith in the recipient the Holy Supper will avail anything. The vine stock may push upwards its sap in strong current, at the first outburst of the genial spring; but what will that avail the branch, which does not hold closely to the tree, which is half broken off from the stem, and the fracture filled up with dust, or corroded by insects? Christ may offer Himself to us in the Lords Supper; but, if the soul cleaves not to Him, if the avenues of the heart are not open towards Him, how can He enter? (Dean Goulburn.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Abide in me] Hold fast faith and a good conscience; and let no trials turn you aside from the truth. And I will abide in you-ye shall receive every help and influence from me that your souls can require, in order to preserve and save them to eternal life.
These two things are absolutely necessary to our salvation:
1. That we continue closely united to Christ by faith and love, and live in and to him.
2. That we continually receive from him the power to do good; for as the branch, however good in itself, cannot bear fruit from itself, through its own juice, which it has already derived from the tree, and can be no longer supported than it continues in union with the parent stock, neither can ye, unless ye abide in me. As the branch partakes of the nature of the tree, is nourished by its juice, and lives by its life, so ye must be made partakers of my Divine nature, be wise in my wisdom, powerful in my might, and pure through my holiness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This our abiding in Christ is expounded, by an abiding in his words, Joh 15:7, by abiding in his love, Joh 15:10, an abiding in his Spirit, 1Jo 2:27, a walking as Christ walked, 1Jo 2:6, an abiding in the light, Joh 15:10, not sinning, 1Jo 3:6. The exhortation is, without doubt, to a holiness of life and conversation, by which our union and communion with Christ is upheld and maintained, and which is in itself an abiding in the love of Christ: nor is there a want of sufficient reason for this exhortation, though our union with Christ cannot be dissolved, nor our communion with him wholly interrupted; because,
1. It must be upheld and maintained on our part by the exercises of faith and holiness.
2. The sense of it in our souls may be eclipsed, and wholly fail, Psa 22:1.
3. We may fall away foully, though neither totally, (as Lutherans say), because the seed of God abideth in the believer; nor yet finally (as papists say).
We had need therefore of all exhortations and arguments imaginable, to persuade us to do what in us lieth that we may abide in him. We have a great encouragement to the use of all possible endeavours to abide in the love of God, from the promise annexed,
and I in you; that is, I will abide in you; do you strive, and I will help you to perfect; do you fight, and I will help you to overcome; I will continue to you such gradual influences of grace, as shall be sufficient for you; grace wherein and whereby you shall stand, Rom 5:2. You shall be kept by the power of God through faith to salvation, 1Pe 1:5. But look as it is with the branch, it cannot bear fruit of itself; but if it be once separated from the influences of the stock, it dies and withers; so it will be with you, you can bring forth no fruit unless you abide in me.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Abide in me, and I in you; as thebranch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine,&c.As all spiritual fruitfulness had been ascribed to themutual inhabitation, and living, active interpenetration(so to speak) of Christ and His disciples, so here the keeping up ofthis vital connection is made essential to continued fruitfulness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Abide in me, and I in you,…. The former of these is an exhortation to continue in the exercise of faith and love upon Christ, holding to him the head, cleaving to him with full purpose of heart, and so deriving life, grace, strength, and nourishment from him; the latter is a promise encouraging to the former; for as Christ is formed in the hearts of his people, he continues there as the living principle of all grace. And so,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me; which strongly expresses the necessity of abiding in Christ by fresh repeated acts of faith: and it is easy to observe, that when believers depart from Christ, though it be but partially, and for a time, for they cannot finally and totally depart from him, in what a poor, withered, fruitless condition they are, both in their frames and duties.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Abide in me ( ). Constative aorist active imperative of . The only way to continue “clean” (pruned) and to bear fruit is to maintain vital spiritual connexion with Christ (the vine). Judas is gone and Satan will sift the rest of them like wheat (Lu 22:31f.). Blind complacency is a peril to the preacher.
Of itself (‘ ). As source (from itself) and apart from the vine (cf. 17:17).
Except it abide ( ). Condition of third class with , negative , and present active (keep on abiding) subjunctive of . Same condition and tense in the application, “except ye abide in me.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Of itself [ ] . Properly, from itself. See on 7 17.
No more can ye [ ] . Literally, so neither can ye. So Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Abide in me, and I in you.” (meinate en emoi kago en humin) “You all remain in me, and I remain in you all,” as my church, my chosen witnesses. Go on in your witness and work, living as I have lived, loving as I have loved, and serving as I have served my Father, Joh 20:21.
2) “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,” (kathos to klema ou dunatai karpon pherein aph’ heautou) “Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit from itself,” apart from its vital heart-connected engrafting, Jas 1:21, drawing strength from the true wine, the feeder source, without the Spirit and nature of the vine itself, the new nature, Rom 8:9; 2Co 5:17; Eph 2:10.
3) “Except it abide in the vine; (ean me mene en te ampelo) “Unless it remains in the vine,” Christ Jesus, from whose Divine nature the believer lives and bears fruit, as a new creature; This was an object of our Lord’s prayer, (for them and for His branches today) later that evening, Joh 17:23; Paul asserted that he lived through this new life, bearing a like kind of fruit through Him, 1Co 9:27; Gal 2:20.
4) “No more can ye, except ye abide in me.” (houtos oude humeis ean me en emoi menete) “Nor can you all, unless you all remain in me,” where I am, in the midst of the church, caring for my branches, my vineyard, Mat 28:20; Heb 13:5; Rev 1:12-20. One who falls into sin does not confess his sins, as a child of God, becomes unfruitful to the Master, not unsaved, not a child of the devil.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. Abide in me. He again exhorts them to be earnest and careful in keeping the grace which they had received, for the carelessness of the flesh can never be sufficiently aroused. And, indeed, Christ has no other object in view than to keep us
as a hen keepeth her chickens under her wings, (Mat 23:37)
lest our indifference should carry us away, and make us fly to our destruction. In order to prove that he did not begin the work of our salvation for the purpose of leaving it imperfect in the middle of the course, he promises that his Spirit will always be efficacious in us, if we do not prevent him. Abide in me, says he; for I am ready to abide in you And again, He who abideth in me beareth much fruit. By these words he declares that all who have a living root in him are fruit-bearing branches
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Abide in me, and I in you.The clauses are here connected as cause and effect. The second is the promise, which will not fail if the command of the first be observed. The union then, and all that follows from it, is placed within the power of the human will. All is contained in the words, Abide in Me. He who obeys this command has Christ abiding in him, and is a fruitful branch of the true vine.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.The branch regarded of itself, apart from (except it abide in) the vine, has no original source of life. The sap flows from the vine to branch and tendril and leaf and fruit. The branch of itself is a lifeless organ, and only fulfils its functions when it is connected with the vine. So in the spiritual life, men apart from Christ have no original source of life and fruitfulness. The true life flows from Him to every branch that abides in Him, quickening by its power the whole man, and making him fruitful in good. The man who lives without faith in God may be said to exist, rather than to live, and misses the true aim of his being.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Abide in me This is the great lesson of the apologue. In Christ you are, in Christ abide. To these apostles, surrounding him like the cluster upon the stem, as he was about to leave them, and they to separate from each other, he addresses this final admonition. Whatever your lot, wherever your place, do this one thing, abide in me, and all is safe. Their only danger is apostacy. And they can only abide in him by bearing fruit. And they can bear fruit only by abiding in him. Christian life is the source of Christian action; and Christian action is, back again, the source of Christian life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
. “Remain dwelling in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains fruitfully connected to the vine, so neither can you unless you remain fruitfully connected to me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains dwelling in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Here He puts the matter clearly. He is the Vine, and the disciples (and His people) are the branches. Unless life is flowing from Him to them as a result of His indwelling in them (see Joh 6:56; Joh 8:31), and as a result of their full commitment to Him in trusting faith, then in spiritual terms they can do nothing. They are useless. But if they are fully connected to Him in faith, obedience and prayer (even though faltering, for the Vinedresser can cope with that), if they are ‘in Christ’, then they will finally produce abundant fruit in lives rich in godliness and powerful in effectiveness in whatever God wants them to do. All their success depends on the Vine.
The idea of ‘abiding’ is that of a response of faith followed by obedience. The one who partakes of the benefits of His death, that is, who comes to Him though faith in Him and His cross, abides in Him (Joh 6:56). Those who respond to Him with a continuing faith rather than a shallow, sign-induced faith, come to abide in His word and are thus truly His disciples and come to know the truth which makes them free (Joh 8:31). Those who are His do not abide in darkness but have the light of life (Joh 12:46). We know that we abide in Him and He abides in us because He has given us of His Spirit (1Jn 4:13). Abiding begins on being born from above and is to continue on through life. Like faith it is the gift of God, and it results in everlasting life.
John sees the world as split into two groupings, ‘the world’ and ‘true abiding believers’. One side abide in the world and in darkness and in the arms of the Evil One (1Jn 5:19), the others abide in Christ. There are weak believers and strong believers, but all who continue with Him abide in Him, while those who permanently go from Him evidence the fact that they are not His (1Jn 2:19). In 1Co 9:27 Paul spoke of those who would be rejected after testing and was determined not to be among them. Jesus taught the same. We are built either on rock, and hear His words and do them, or sand, and do not hear His words and do them (Mat 7:24-27). Note the contrast, the former hear His words and do them, the latter do not. So we are either in the narrow way or in the broad way (Joh 7:13-14), and only the former leads to life. Only those who do the will of the Father will enter into the Kingly Rule of God (Mat 7:21-23). We show no favours if we water down God’s word in order to suggest that bare belief in a theological fact is sufficient. Our response must be one of trust and obedience in a person. Although having said that He is the final judge of fruitfulness not us.
The same lesson came from Jesus’ own interpretation of the parable of the sower. On the one side are those who are caught up in the world, those who are deceived by Satan, and those who have a shallow, false faith which is not lasting (Mat 13:19-22), and on the other are those who truly believe and produce a great harvest (Mat 13:23). Some of the latter produce more fruit than others (thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold), but all are fruit bearing.
‘Can do nothing.’ They can do nothing, that is, of spiritual value. Nothing which furthers the purposes of God. They can invent great inventions, they can fathom the physical universe (to some extent), they can produce great masterpieces, but all these will pass away. Anything that is enduring must result from dwelling continually in Christ.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 15:4-5. Abide in me, and I in you. “Continue steadfast in your love and attachment to me, live in constant communion with me, let your hearts be stayed upon me with habitual and full confidence and faith, and I will abide in you; for this is the methodtoderivefrommeallneedful supplies, particularly the influences of my Spirit, ch. Joh 14:26 the comfortof my presence, Joh 14:23 the protection of my providence, Joh 14:27 and the direction of my word, Joh 15:7.” As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, &c. no more can ye, &c. “Your continuing in this union with me; this faith and confidence upon me; this exercise of my divine presence, this habitual communion with me, is as necessary to the production of all the internal and external works of righteousness, as the continuing of the branches in the vine is to their fruitfulness. To make you sensible of this was what I proposed, when I told you that I am the true vine, and you the branches, Joh 15:5. I must therefore repeat it again, that union and communion with me, sincerity in the belief, steadfastness in the profession, and diligence in the practice of my religion, accompanied as they always are with my blessingand assistance, and the inspiration of my Spirit, are the only means of making a man fruitful in holiness. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me, , separate from me,(in allusion to the vine and its branches)you can do nothing. If you apostatize from me, and are deprived of my influences, you can do nothing for your own sanctification and salvation.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 15:4 . To this purity, however, must be added the continuous faithful persistence in my living fellowship.
] here: on (not in ) me , (Nonnus), as is required by what follows, hanging on me as the branches hang on the vine, Joh 15:2 . Euth. Zigabenus aptly remarks: .
] to the fulfilment of the requirement [161] is attached the promise: and I will abide on you
, Euth. Zigabenus with the whole power of spiritual life, which I impart to my faithful ones; I will not separate myself from you, like the vine, which does not loosen itself from its branches. On as a supplement, see Bornemann in the Schs. Stud . 1846, p. 56. The harsher mode of completing the sense: and cause that I abide on you (Grotius, Bengel), is not demanded by Joh 15:5 , where is the fulfilled .
, . . . ] If he shall not have abided , etc., refers merely to (as in Joh 5:19 ), and is so far a more exact definition of the , “ vi aliqua propria , quam habeat extra vitem,” Grotius.
] so neither you , namely . , i.e . , Joh 15:5 . Bengel well remarks: “Hic locus egregie declarat discrimen naturae et gratiae,” but also the possibility of losing the latter.
[161] Comp. Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 74.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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.
Ver. 4. As the branch cannot bear fruit, &c. ] All our sap and safety is from Christ. The bud of a good desire, the blossom of a good resolution, and the fruit of a good action, all come from him, Gratia praevenit nos ut velimus, et subsequitur ne frustra velimus. (Augustine.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4. ] . must not (with Euthym [207] , Meyer, and Lcke) be taken as a promise , which (see on above) would be contrary to the sense: but (with Aug [208] , Tholuck, Bengel, Stier, who however modifies it by rendering “ so abide in Me that I may abide in you”) as a clause dependent on , ‘Take care that ye abide in Me and I in you:’ both these being necessary to the bringing forth fruit: see Joh 15:5 , where the two are similarly bound together.
[207] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[208] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
Here the natural strictness of the similitude is departed from. The branch cannot sever itself from the vine: but, such a case supposed , every one will see the inevitable consequence. Bengel says well, “Hic locus egregie declarat discrimen natur et grati.” It is the permitted freewill of the creature which makes the difference between the branches in the two cases.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 15:4 . It is in and through you I live henceforth. [or ]; illustrating by the figure the necessity of the foregoing injunction. A branch that falls to the ground, and no longer abides in the vine as a living part of it, cannot bear fruit, so neither can ye except ye abide in me. That is, ye cannot bear the fruit my Father, the vinedresser, looks for, and by which He will be glorified, Joh 15:8 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Abide. Greek. meno. See p. 1511.
and I. Read “I also [abide] in you”. Omit the full stop, and supply “for”.
cannot = is not (App-105) able to.
of. Greek. apo. App-104.
except = if . . . not. Greek. ean me. App-118 and App-105.
no more = even so neither. Greek houtos oude.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] . must not (with Euthym[207], Meyer, and Lcke) be taken as a promise, which (see on above) would be contrary to the sense: but (with Aug[208], Tholuck, Bengel, Stier, who however modifies it by rendering so abide in Me that I may abide in you) as a clause dependent on , Take care that ye abide in Me and I in you: both these being necessary to the bringing forth fruit: see Joh 15:5, where the two are similarly bound together.
[207] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[208] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
Here the natural strictness of the similitude is departed from. The branch cannot sever itself from the vine: but, such a case supposed, every one will see the inevitable consequence. Bengel says well, Hic locus egregie declarat discrimen natur et grati. It is the permitted freewill of the creature which makes the difference between the branches in the two cases.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 15:4. , and I) The first person here is to be supplied from the imperative, , abide, by the following periphrasis (circumlocution or paraphrase): See that ye abide in Me, and that I abide in you.-, even as) This passage admirably sets forth the distinction there is between nature and grace.- , of itself) This is explained in the following clause, , …, except it abide in the vine; so , without Me ye can do nothing. Joh 15:5.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 15:4
Joh 15:4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me.-There was the same mutual dependence between Jesus and his apostles that exists between the vine and the branches. The branches can live only through the life they draw from the vine, so the disciples of Christ can live only through their union with him and the life they draw from him. So, too, the vine produces its fruit through the branches. Jesus would exert his influence to do good through the apostles. He teaches the world through them. A higher glory was to come to Jesus when he ascended to his Father and the apostles endued with the Spirit preached the gospel. [The prime necessity of the branch is to remain attached to the vine. But there can be no abiding in the spiritual vine except by a continued attention to the word of Christ. That which grafts us in continues us there. This being true of us, the abiding in him necessarily involves his abiding in us through his word. The moment a branch is cut or torn from the vine the conditions of life have ceased. There can be no more production of fruit. For a few hours there may be a semblance of life, but it is soon gone. The theme here formulated is not that of the moral powerlessness of the natural man for any good; it is that of the unfruitfulness of the believer left to his own strength, when the question is of producing or advancing the spiritual life, the life of God, in himself or others.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
abide
To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share. On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not unceasing consciousness of these things, and of Him, but that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him.
See “Fellowship,” 1Jn 1:3. See “Communion,” 1Co 10:16.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Abide: Joh 6:68, Joh 6:69, Joh 8:31, Son 8:5, Luk 8:15, Act 11:23, Act 14:22, Gal 2:20, Col 1:23, Col 2:6, 1Th 3:5, Heb 10:39, 1Jo 2:6, 1Jo 2:24-28, 2Jo 1:9, Jud 1:20, Jud 1:21
I: Joh 6:56, Joh 14:20, Joh 17:23, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:10, 2Co 13:5, Eph 3:17, Col 1:27
As: Isa 27:10, Isa 27:11, Eze 15:2-5, Hos 14:8, 2Co 12:8-10, Gal 2:20, Phi 1:11
Reciprocal: Exo 28:34 – General Num 35:28 – he should Pro 15:31 – abideth Mat 12:33 – and his fruit good Mar 4:20 – which Joh 3:21 – that his Joh 6:53 – Except Joh 17:26 – and I Rom 11:22 – if thou 1Co 1:9 – the fellowship 2Co 12:2 – in Christ Phi 4:1 – so Phi 4:13 – can Col 2:7 – built Col 2:19 – nourishment 1Th 3:8 – if 1Th 5:21 – hold 1Jo 2:27 – ye shall 1Jo 3:6 – abideth 1Jo 5:18 – keepeth 1Jo 5:20 – and we
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ABIDING IN CHRIST
Abide in Me, and I in you.
Joh 15:4
Abide in Methese words sum up all Christian life; I in you sum up all the promises of the Lord to the Christian.
I. To abide in Christwhat does it mean? It means
(a) To cherish in mind the constant recollection of the Lord Jesus.
(b) To study His teaching.
(c) To live by His example.
(d) To be full of frequent prayer to Him.
The one great aim of the Christian must be to please his Lord.
II. Christs Presencehow is it manifested; It is seen
(a) In the growth of the conscious leading on, of the strengthening of the will to resist temptation.
(b) In the diffusion of His love in the heart leading on to a more complete surrender.
The Lord is rich in mercy towards all who abide in Him.
Archbishop Temple.
Illustration
Those who are in Christ are bound to serve God with their whole being; with their intellect no less than with their heart and their strength and their substance. They are distinguished from others, not by any difference in the strenuousness of their labours, but by their motive and their aim. For them all that falls within human observation is a potential parable of spiritual realities, through which a fresh vision may be gained of the glory of God. They will be the keenest of men to watch for the dawn of new ideas. For them there can be no despondency and no indifference. They bring to the Lord the firstfruits of all that He has lent to them, and commit their gains to His keeping.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
4
Everyone understands the law of nature that requires continuous connection between a vine and its branches in order to bear fruit. The spiritual law is no less established concerning the relation between Jesus and his disciples. There is no salvation apart , from Christ, as taught in too many passages to cite now.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
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.
[Abide in me.] Indeed, a true fixing and abiding in Christ is by a true faith. But may we not suppose our Saviour here more peculiarly warning them against apostasy, or falling back from the gospel into Judaism, a plague likely to rage exceedingly in the church?
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 15:4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. Thus cleansed, one thing more is required, that they maintain their position, that they continue in the vine. It is the law of the branch that, if it is to flourish and bear fruit, there must be a constant and reciprocal action between it and the vine of which it is a part. This is expressed in the two clauses before us. He who will not abide in Christ cannot have Christ to abide in him. How much is made dependent upon the human will!
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Ver. 4. Abide in me, and I in you; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, no more can you, unless you abide in me.
To continue in the vine is for a branch the condition of life, and consequently its only law. All the conditions of fruitfulness are included in this. The imperative proves that one abides in this relation, as one enters it, freely, by the faithful use of the divinely offered methods. Joh 15:7 will show that the fundamental means is the word of Jesus. , to abide in me, expresses the continual act by which the Christian sets aside everything which he might derive from his own wisdom, strength, merit, to draw all from Christ, in these different relations, through the deep longings of faith. This condition is so completely the only one laid down for the action of the force of Christ in him, that in the following clause Jesus omits the verbalthough it would properly be necessary for another person and at another time (I will abide)as if to make them feel that this act on His part is an immediate and necessary consequence of the act demanded of the believer; where the latter is accomplished, the former cannot fail to be realized. In this way, the action of Christ, no less than our own, is boldly placed under the control of our freedom. It is naturally on this second fact (I in you), of which the first: You in me, is only the condition, that the fruitfulness of the branch directly depends.
Hence the end of Joh 15:4; the duty imposed on the believer results from the immediate unfruitfulness with which his separation from the vine would affect him as a branch. Here, as in Joh 15:19, is an explanation of , and not a limitation applied to the whole preceding idea: by himself, that is to say, if he does not abide….
The theme here formulated is not that of the moral powerlessness of the natural man for any good; it is that of the unfruitfulness of the believer left to his own strength, when the question is of producing or advancing the spiritual life, the life of God, in himself or in others.
After having described the new position and the law which it imposes, Jesus sets forth in the following verses, 5-8, the sanction of this law of life and death which He has just declared. And first, in Joh 15:5, the glorious results which the fruitful branch will obtain and the opposite result of unfaithfulness.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 4
Except it abide in the vine; remain connected with the vine, so as to draw from it nourishment and support.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The first sentence in this verse is capable of three different interpretations. It may be a conditional statement. In this case Jesus meant that if His clean (i.e., saved) disciples abode in Him He would abide in them. I believe this is the best interpretation. Earlier Jesus had presented abiding in (in contrast to departing from) Him as a real possibility for His believing disciples (cf. Joh 8:31-32; Joh 15:10). He did not speak of abiding as the inevitable condition of believers. Jesus’ described His relationship with believers as more or less intimate depending on their love and obedience to Him (Joh 14:23-24). He did not present abiding and not abiding as white and black categories, as being either completely in or completely out of fellowship. Rather He presented our relationship to Him much more realistically, namely, as having a more or less intimate relationship.
Second, the sentence may be a comparative statement. The meaning would then be that the disciples should abide in Jesus as He abode in them. Obviously Jesus wanted His disciples to abide in Him, but the use of "and" (Gr. kago, from kai ego) is unusual. A comparison would usually contain "as" rather than "and." Moreover the verb "abide" (Gr. meinate) is an imperative, and the possibilities surrounding this verse indicate that not abiding is a real possibility for a believer. Jesus, on the other hand, would always abide in the believer by His Spirit even if the believer did not abide in Him (Joh 14:17; cf. 2Ti 2:12-13).
Third, this may be an imperative statement. If it is, Jesus meant that the disciples and He should commit themselves to abiding in one another. The idea would be, Let us commit to abide in one another. The problem with this view is that Jesus had already committed Himself to abiding within His believing disciples (Joh 14:17). Furthermore the strong second person imperative in the first clause of the sentence argues against a mutual exhortation. It puts the emphasis on the believer’s responsibility primarily.
The branches then should make a deliberate effort (indicated by the imperative verb "abide") to maintain a close personal relationship to the true vine. We should do this not because failure to do so will result in our losing the life of God that we possess. Jesus promised that He would never withdraw that from us (Joh 6:37-40; Joh 10:28-29). We should do it because the extent of our fruitfulness as believers is in direct proportion to our intimacy with Jesus. Divine life depends on connection with the true vine by exercising saving faith in Him, but fruitfulness depends on abiding in the vine by exercising loving obedience toward Him.
Much confusion has resulted from failing to recognize that Jesus spoke of "abiding" in two senses. He used it as a synonym for saving faith (Joh 6:56). Some interpreters have imported that meaning into this verse. [Note: E.g., Blum, p. 325.] However, He also used it to describe the intimate relationship that those who have exercised saving faith need to cultivate with God (Joh 8:31). All believers abide in Jesus in the first sense, but all do not abide in Him in the second sense (cf. Joh 15:10; 1Jn 3:24). It is in this second sense that Jesus spoke of abiding here (cf. Joh 15:9-10). He stressed the importance of believers abiding in Him by using the word meno ("abide") three times in this verse alone. It occurs 11 times in this chapter and 27 times in John’s epistles, where John expounded Jesus’ teaching on this subject further.
"The imagery of the vine is stretched a little but the point is clear: continuous dependence on the vine, constant reliance upon him, persistent spiritual imbibing of his life-this is the sine qua non of spiritual fruitfulness." [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 516.]