John 15 Lesson

ABIDING IN JESUS

Jesus said to His disciples:

• “He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5,

• “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” – John 15:6.

To abide means “to accept or act in accordance with.” (source: Google dictionary) 

To abide in Jesus means to  acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior. 

Abiding in Jesus is a requirement to get to Heaven, as the Apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to the Romans:

• If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” – Romans 10:9-10.

JESUS IS THE TRUE VINE 

We are all given free will to live our lives, and there are many paths that we can choose to go down. 

There is only one path, however, that leads to eternal salvation. 

Consider the following words spoken by Jesus in the following two scriptures:

1. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” – John 15:1,
2. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5.

Both scriptures acknowledge the fact that there are many vines (paths) we can follow.  But in the end, there is only one path that leads to eternal salvation! 

FOLLOWING JESUS

We make decisions every day about who we are going to follow. 

Are we going to be like the world, and look to satisfy our own sinful lusts?

Or are we going to follow the example of the True Vine who lived to glorify God and serve others?

If we choose the latter, we are abiding in the love of Jesus.

When we abide in Jesus, we become part of something much bigger than ourselves. 

When we abide in Jesus, we choose to have an abundant life. 

When we abide in Jesus, we choose to accept the precious gift of eternal life.   

• “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” -John 10:10.

ABIDING IN JESUS IS A COMMITMENT

The branches of a tree depend on the vine for their very existence.  It is the same for us.

When we abide in Jesus, we are no longer living for ourselves, we are living to glorify God and serve others.

When we abide in Jesus, His commands and teachings will shape all that we do!

Jesus does not want us to be wishy-washy, or to call on Him only when we need something.   He wants us to be passionate about following Him every day.

Consider the following scripture:

• “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.   Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” – Mathew 7:21-23.

CONCLUSION

We all have a choice to make as to who we are going to follow.

The only choice that leads to salvation is to follow Jesus and obey His commands.

To abide in Jesus means that we are “all in” and committed to following Him no matter where the path leads us. No matter how difficult the road in front of us may be.

A partial commitment to following Jesus does not work any more than a branch that is sometimes connected to the vine.   In both cases, the branch will die because it has lost its connection to the vine that gives it life.  

Jesus said:

• “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6.  

Once we understand this, we have an important decision to make.  Are we going to follow Jesus and commit to abiding in His teachings, or are we going to follow the sinful ways of the world? 

Nobody can make this decision for us. 

It is a decision that each of us must make for ourselves. 

We will conclude today’s lesson with the following scripture:

• “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.  But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve:whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:14-15.