John 15 Commentary: The result of an ignorant status update I saw in my Facebook Feed.

I am amazed at the biblical ignorance that is out in cyber space. Earlier today, I was reading my Facebook feed, and ran across a status that claimed that John 15:1-11 was irrefutable proof that eternal security of the believer was not true. This could not be further from the truth. It comes from the mistaken idea that we can read the scripture as if it were written directly to us without understanding any of the grammatical and historical context.

John 15 is not written about eternal security or the lack thereof for that matter. While the grammatical context is important in any passage of scripture, the historical context is even so much more important. Reading without taking into consideration the intended audience is a horrible mistake that makes much of the current interpretation totally irrelevant. It is with this in mind that I do this commentary on the fifteenth chapter of John's gospel.

Let me take a minute to lay out the historical context of this passage. First, let's identify the intended audience and the circumstances they found themselves in. Jesus was a Jew, born under the Mosaic Covenant, ministering exclusively to Jews who were practicing the Mosaic Covenant. It was written before the cross event so the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus had not yet taken place. God had sent first, John the Baptist, the last strictly Jewish Prophet to make the way for the Prophet, Priest and King, Jesus the Messiah (Christ.) As John explains earlier in this work, He, Jesus, came unto his own and His own did not receive him. Thus, the message of this gospel is spoken directly to Jews under the Old Covenant before the installation of the New Covenant. This is a most important distinction. For the remainder of this commentary I will make the scripture portion blue text that is in italics so that it can be easily distinguished from my commentary. The version of the scripture used is the CSB, the Christian Standard Bible, which is an offshoot of the Holman Christian Standard Bible. There are no perfect translations including the KJV as they all have their shortcomings. This one however is a good one and is easier to understand.

John 15:1-27 CSB  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." Let's first examine Jesus reason for this statement.  Isaiah chapter five starts out by speaking of the Lord's vineyard. In Isaiah 5:7 it is written that the men of Judah are his pleasant plant. In essence, the Jews in the first century were teaching that they were the Lord's vine. Jesus is correcting this by saying that He, as the promised seed of Abraham (Gal 3) was in fact the true vine.

(2)  "Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit."  So then, it is important to realize that God was looking for the fruit of faith from Israel. He wanted them to believe and receive the Messiah, His Son, that He had sent them. There are many references in the New Testament to plants not producing the fruit they were meant to produce. Look at the fig tree in Mark 11:13. Jesus cursed the tree for not having figs and the scripture tells us that it was not the season for figs. Have you never wondered why the tree was withered when it was not even fig season? It was a metaphor for the nation Israel. It was not the season for Israel to accept their Messiah. Paul explains in Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven that Israel was hardened so that the Gentiles could be brought into the kingdom. He likewise assures in the same parenthetical passage that ALL Israel will be saved.

(3)  "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."  When Jesus says you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you He is assuring them that they have already been pruned. This is a word of assurance so that they will not have to wonder about their fate. It was not just the word that he had spoken. It was what they did with it by faith. One cannot fool Jesus, he knew their hearts and when he assured them, they can rest assured

(4)  "Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me." Jesus is telling them of a symbiotic relationship. They are in Him and He is in them. The fruition of Him being in them will come shortly after the resurrection. He is not saying remain in me as an instruction for fear that they will not remain in Him. Rather it is a way of explaining how they will continue in Him in His absence. Remaining in Him is continuing to believe the gospel. Paul said it this way in Col 2:6, they were to walk in Christ the same way that they received Him. They received Him by faith and they need to continue in Him by faith. The writer of Hebrews puts it another way with the same meaning.  Heb 10:35  "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward." Finally along this point we find that Paul explains it this way in Romans. Rom 14:4  "Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand." This is all very assuring, telling them that they do not have to worry God will keep them abiding in the vine. This is the over-arching message of the New Testament.

(5)  "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.  (6)  If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned." This is likely the verse that the person uses to prove that salvation can be lost or given away. This does not teach that those of verse 3 can lose what they have gained. This is too explain that there are many who have followed Him, said they believed, but will not stick with Him through the crucifixion and resurrection. Furthermore, as I have proved many times over in this blog, the fire referred to here is Gehenna which is a metaphor for the fire and brimstone that will be rained on those who did not believe by Rome in 70CE. Once again, lets look at the intended audience. It was first century believers who were about to undergo the great trial of having the one they had hoped in and believed in crucified by the ruling Jewish Religious Leaders at the hands of the Roman government. It was not written to some distant Gentile Christian thousands of years down the road. It was case and occasion specific. Most all of the messages of scripture are case and occasion specific.Now, can we today benefit from what is written here? Of course! But certainly not in extrapolating a principle that one can lose their salvation. That is absurd and does grammatical violence to the original message.

(7)  "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.  (8)  My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples." Here again we see the words remain in me. The admonition to remain in Him is to continue to believe in Him even though he is crucified. Part of remaining in Him is allowing what He has said to remain. How does one prove that they are his disciples? This is answered in John 13. In John 13:35 Jesus says that people will know that they are disciples of His if they love one another. Love proves that one is a disciple of Jesus so then, the fruit that is produced is love. It is the presence of the fruit of love that will bring glory to the Father. Now while this was spoken by Jesus before the resurrection, He was referring to what would happen after the resurrection. However, He is not telling them the way it will operate at this time. He will do that in verse 26.

(9)  “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.  (10)  If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  (11)  “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.  (12)  “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you." Here Jesus is telling them what it means to obey his commands. Paul tells us that all of the commandments are rolled up in loving the other. Also, John in his first epistle spells it out exactly. He makes certain that his audience knows exactly what Jesus commands are. 1Jn 3:21-23  "Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God  (22)  and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.  (23)  Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us." First, we have Jesus telling them about the commandment to love one another. Paul agrees with that as I mentioned above and now John is telling those of his community that the commands are two. 1) Believe in the name of Jesus and 2) love one another. There is a precise operation to the ability to love and I will take that up a little later in this. For now, I'll say that there is a supernatural catalyst that causes the love and it is done FOR the one believing the gospel.

(13)  "No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.  (14)  You are my friends if you do what I command you.  (15)  I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father." It is important to realize that all of this is directly related to remaining in the vine. It is all directly related to the assurance that there is a perseverance of the saints that is promised by God through Christ, and achieved for the believer supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. One cannot lose that. It is sure. He is speaking to those who knew Him and BELIEVED He came from God. You can find that out by carefully reading not only this passage, but John chapter 16 as well. Remaining in Him is to continue to believe that He came from God as the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. You will see as you read on that this ability to remain in the vine is brought about by the Holy Spirit. Actually, it is the fact that He laid down His life for them that will be the catalyst that creates the supernatural love that proves discipleship. 

(16)  "You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you." This verse of the passage proves that they CANNOT lose their salvation. They did not choose Him, He chose them. Not only that, but he appointed them to produce the fruit of love, and further to the point, the fruit would remain as well. The saint, who truly believes in God's provision in Christ, believes the death burial and resurrection was efficacious for them, believes that God was in Christ NOT imputing sin, but instead imputing Christ's righteousness as a free gift.... that saint, who is resting in, clinging too, and relying on Jesus will NEVER be allowed to fall away. 

(17)  “This is what I command you: Love one another.  (18)  “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.  (19)  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you." Here again we see Jesus telling them that the world, and here he means the religious Jewish world, the Pharisaic world, would hate them. It is interesting that in the current evangelical scene today, modern day Pharisees, seem to hate the one who believes in God's grace. People are always looking for a performance standard that the saint needs to achieve to be saved. It is so sad that it makes me sick to death almost. In the beginning of John 16 which is a continuation of this theme he says that they will be put out of the synagogues and those who kill them will think they are doing a service to God. It is interesting to me that so many that today, try to kill the spirit of grace think they are doing a service to God.   

(20)  "Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  (21)  But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me." Contrary to proving that a saint can lose salvation, this passage along with chapter 16 & 17 is written to assure that a SAINT cannot lose salvation. Those who do not remain were never a chosen saint in the first place. 

(22)  "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin." Here again is proof positive that Jesus is referring to those religious Jews that did not really believe that he was the Messiah." Had he not come, they would still be fine in their religiousity. They would be practicing the Law and doing Temple sacrifices and everything would be hunky-dory for them but unfortunately for them, He came and they DID NOT believe. Not really. They were so comfortable in their religious practice that they did not want to trust in a person. They were unable to accept the fact that He came to show them a better way. They were not willing to accept a better covenant based on better promises. This is where historical context is so very important. Remember I mentioned that at the beginning of this commentary. In order to understand what is written one has to understand the mind set of the intended audience. The intended audience was those who believed that God was doing a new thing among them.  Yes, some of the Jews would believe and most would not but those who believed were NOT in danger of losing their salvation. They could not!

(23)  "The one who hates me also hates my Father.  (24)  If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.  (25)  But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason." They had seen the miracles first hand and still did not believe. Can you imagine that? ... seeing the blind given sight, the lame able to walk, the dead being brought back to life. This is the context for those who would be thrown in the fire. The fire would be the siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of the city and the temple. The truth of this passage is that those people referred to in verses 6 & 7 were never believers. They were not saved from the beginning.

(26)  “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me.  (27)  You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning." Here is the final assurance of this chapter that the saints addressed will persevere. They will testify of Him because they were with Him and believed in Him from the very beginning. There is a lot to be said about how the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth actually enables the saint to supernaturally love. There is not enough of that today as I fear that too few people really truly understand and believe the gospel.