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Chapter 15
1, 2. Fruit-bearing Testifies to Abiding
—“I am the true vine,
and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit he taketh away.”
“In me.” This does not mean that those who are really in Christ
do not bear any fruit. God has purchased us through Christ, that He
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might be a propitiation for our sins. We are within the bounds of
His mercy; for in mercy His arm encircles the whole human race.
Since Christ has paid the price for all the service that we should give
Him, we are His servants by purchase. Although we are in Christ
Jesus by His covenant of promise, yet if we stand in a position of
perfect indifference, without acknowledging Him as our Saviour, we
bear no fruit. If by failing to be a partaker of His divine nature we
bear no fruit, we are taken away. Worldly influences take us away
from Christ, and our portion is the same as that of the unfruitful
branch—“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.”
“Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit.” Our fruit-bearing testifies whether we are really
abiding in Christ....
We are Christ’s property. “Ye are not your own,” “ye are bought
with a price.” Are we in Him by living faith? If we do not bear
any fruit, the powers of darkness take possession of our minds, our
affections, our service, and we are of the world, though we profess
to be children of God. This is neither a safe nor a pleasant position,
because we lose all the beauty and the glory and the satisfaction that
it is our privilege to have. By abiding in Christ, we may have His
sweetness, His fragrance, His light. Christ is the Light of the world.
He shines in our hearts. His light in our hearts shines forth from our
faces. By beholding the beauty and the glory of Christ, we become
changed into the same image (
Manuscript 85, 1901
).
1-5. Identity With Christ Needed
—The branches in the True
Vine are the believers who are brought into oneness by connection
with the Vine.
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