In this passage we come to the last of the seven I am statements. Jesus says, “I am the true Vine.” Jesus uses this illustration to teach his disciples what the only way of bearing fruit comes from. Here are two things to notice.

Abiding in Christ

What does it mean to abide in Christ? The Greek word that is used here for abide means to remain in, not to depart from. This means that to abide in Christ has to do with walking closely with him. Jesus said in verse 4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” This is very clear, that the amount of fruit that we bear is directly correlated to how much we are abiding in Christ and how closely we have been walking with him. I know there have been seasons in my life where the scriptures are the last thing on my mind, where the intentions of my heart are not geared toward Christ, and I realize those are the moments where I am not bearing as much fruit as I can. But, when I am holding close to Christ, when I am running to the Word, when I am running to be surrounded by his people, when my heart has a disposition toward Christ with a desire to know him more, I can see how the fruit starts to grow. That is because I am feasting my eyes on Christ and finding my satisfaction in him means that I will be sober minded by the way that I live my life to glorify him. RC Sproul says about this passage “As Christians, we will bear fruit, but it will vary in degree. The closer we stay to Christ, the more fruit we will bear. The more we wander out from the center and neglect the means of grace that He has given us, the less fruit we will produce.” This is not just a one-way thing, but what we see is that Christ also has to abide in us. Verse 5 says “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” The way that Christ abides in us is when we go to him with a heart that is humbled and acknowledge that we have sinned against a Holy God and repent of our sins and have faith that he took our place on the cross. That is when Christ abides in us through the person of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that teaches us all things that pertain to Jesus.

Bearing Fruit

I do believe that the fruit that Jesus is speaking about is that of our character and godliness. What makes me come to that conclusion is that Jesus said if we abide in his commandments we will abide in his love, he also said that by bearing fruit we would prove to be his disciples, and he also spoke of bearing fruit in loving one another. Bearing fruit means that we are connected to the one who produces the fruit in us, and as people taste our fruit it will be clear to which vine, they belong to. The Word is filled with commandments that are pointing us to look, speak, and act like Christ. It is in the fact that we love one another that people will see that we are his disciples. Bearing fruit means to grow in Christlike character. What is really great to see is in verse 7 Jesus says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Jesus knows very well that if we are connected to him, if we abide in him, and that we love him, we will ask things that would be for the glory of God and those things he will not keep from us. When we ask for patience he will give it, when we ask for love he will give it, when we ask for gentleness, kindness, faith, these are the things that he will not withhold from us, because these are the very fruits, he wants us to have. If you are lacking fruit in your life like I am, I urge you, examine your walk with the Lord, draw near to him, and ask him to help you bear fruit.