In God’s eyes, there are only two kinds of disciples—and He only approves of one of them. In John 15, Jesus portrays the church as a vineyard, where He is the vine, the Father is the vinedresser and each individual Christian is a branch. He depicts two kinds of branches—those who bear fruit and those who do not bear fruit. Which kind of branch are you?
Branches (i.e., disciples/Christians) that do not bear fruit are taken away, cast out, gathered, thrown into the fire and burned (John 15:2, 6). But, then there are those branches that do bear fruit. Notice in verse two what God does to the fruit-bearing Christians and why He does it.
“Every branch that bears fruit He prunes.” What does that mean? To “prune” means to clean, cleanse, purge, purify. The verb is used in the present tense to emphasize the continual nature of God’s cleansing the fruit-bearing Christian—cleansing him from the impurities and guilt of sin.
How does God prune? Verse three tells us—“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” The word of God is living, active and powerful (cf. Heb. 4:12). His words are not idle print on pieces of paper. God’s word changes lives—it teaches, corrects, disciplines, trains (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). In this way, it prunes those who diligently give themselves to its reading, study and meditation.
So, what’s the purpose? Why does God continue to prune/clean/purify those disciples who bear fruit? Again, we don’t have to go far to find the answer. Read John 15:2 again. “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Do you know why God cleansed you and continues to purge you from your sin and uncleanness? So that you can bear as much fruit as possible! A faithful, diligent fruit-bearer is never satisfied with how much he/she has done for the Lord. A faithful, diligent fruit-bearer—rather than looking for opportunities to take a break or quit—is always active, working and searching for ways to be useful in the kingdom of God.
Why does he/she want to bear more fruit? He who bears fruit is pruned by the Word. He is pruned to bear more fruit. He bears more fruit and continues to be pruned by the Word. He is continually pruned by the Lord and His Word in order that he might bear more and more fruit. (See the cycle?)
How much fruit do you bear for Him and how much more do you long to bear? Get into His word! Let it prune you!