Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them
This verse may make it sound as though the onus in on us, that we must perform moral actions in order to keep this connection with Christ. But this isn't quite right. The direction of this effort involved in this connection is not so much us to him as from him to us.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
It is a true to say that it is by remaining in Christ we bear fruit. It is not quite as accurate to say that by bearing fruit that we remain in Christ, even though there is true sense to it. It misses the point that there is no fruit that we can originate apart from the life we receive through the true vine.
It is the gardener and not ourselves who acts in our lives to make sure we realize our fruit bearing potential. To be united to Jesus and refuse to bear fruit is as a contradiction. It is as though we were a branch that refused to let his life flow through us, and thereby prevent the otherwise inevitable growing of the fruit. Such a disposition would be basically begging the gardener to make objectively the case what is already true in our hearts.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
However, if we simply remain, if we persist and persevere, the gardener will have his way with us. We see the parts of ourselves that are not fruit bearing and the pruning actions of the gardener all to clearly, but the fruit is often less apparent to us. Such a season of life may tempt us to despair. But instead, we should trust the vine and trust the gardener.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth
and reassure our hearts before him
in whatever our hearts condemn,
for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.
Yes, there is a basic external level where we must be walking in the commandments. This is an objective measure that helps protect us from too much introspection. It allows us to rely on God at work within us for the more profound changes we desire without getting lost in our own subjectivity. But even here at this external level we return to the fact that our ability to keep any commandments, to do anything at all, comes from our connection to Christ, apart from whom we can do nothing. The reassurance we have from believing in Christ and loving one another is not a confidence in ourselves, but a thankful awareness of God's power at work in our lives.
and the way we know that he remains in us
is from the Spirit he gave us.
The presence of his Spirit's gifts in us empowers us to live as Jesus lived. His actions within us remind us that we are meant to be his temples, that our lives are meant to be offerings of right praise to God. It is when we become aware of God's action in us, aware of the presence of his Spirit, that we become bold in our prayers.
we have confidence in God
and receive from him whatever we ask,
because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
John wasn't saying that a disciple kept the commandments are earned the answer to his prayers. He was saying that the fact of the life of God within us that enables us to keep the commandments also makes us confident that we will receive whatever we ask in prayer.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
Jesus wasn't finally issuing a test to the branches of the vine to see who would pass and who would fail. He was doing all he could to pump the vine full of his own life. His Father was doing all he could to let it flourish and grow. They wanted each branch to have confidence even when they would be tempted to despair. They desired to reassure them so that they could get through the growing pains and bear the fruit of glory.
We see in Paul one who remained connected to the vine from the moment he discovered it. He met with all sorts of challenges, even in the short passage we read this morning. Fellow disciples feared him. Hellenists tried to kill him. But he did not give up. Neither did he try to solve any of these problems by skill or effort. Instead, he persisted, let himself be pruned by his trials, and became more free and more bold at every turn.
He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem,
and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord.
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