By John Stenen In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus says something that should be very alarming to many ‘Christians.’ In verse two He says, “Every branch in Me (believers) that does not bear fruit He takes away…..” The only way we can bear fruit for God is to abide in Christ. To abide does not mean to have a one time religious experience and then go on your merry way, never serving the Lord all through your life -and to go on and live your life as such, that people do not know if you are a Christian or not. If you abide in Christ, your life would be producing much fruit; it would just come natural as an apple tree producing apples. In verse six of that chapter, Jesus says, “If a man abide not in Me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” That sounds horrible to me. It reminds me of the parable Jesus told in Luke 12:41-48. He tells of a faithful servant who was given the opportunity to serve the Lord, and if he is faithful, he will be well rewarded. However, if that same servant says in his heart, “My Lord delays His coming and quits living for the Lord and stops being obedient to his responsibilities and lives worldly, verse 46 says, “the Lord will cut him in sunder, and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” You may believe that as a Christian we can live any way we choose and do what we want, when we want, even though it is contrary to God’s Word - you are deceiving yourself. We all need to examine our hearts to see whether or not we are in the faith, (2 Cor. 13:5). God bless.
