kjv@John:15:1@ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
kjv@John:15:2@ Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
kjv@John:15:3@ Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
kjv@John:15:4@ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
kjv@John:15:5@ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
kjv@John:15:6@ 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.
kjv@John:15:7@ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
kjv@John:15:8@ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
kjv@John:15:9@ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
kjv@John:15:10@ If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
kjv@John:15:11@ These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
kjv@John:15:12@ This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
kjv@John:15:13@ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
kjv@John:15:14@ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
kjv@John:15:15@ Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
kjv@John:15:16@ Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
kjv@John:15:17@ These things I command you, that ye love one another.
kjv@John:15:18@ If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
kjv@John:15:19@ If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
kjv@John:15:20@ Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
kjv@John:15:21@ But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
kjv@John:15:22@ If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
kjv@John:15:23@ He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
kjv@John:15:24@ If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
kjv@John:15:25@ But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
kjv@John:15:26@ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
kjv@John:15:27@ And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
The believer must know that the Christian walk is not a finalized product it is a developing process, it is a process of pruning and purging toward the goal of increasing the quantity and quality of spiritual fruit.
Jesus obeyed the Father's commandments and therefore abides in His love. Like wise, if we are to abide in His love we must obey His commandments. His command is that we love one another, not as the world would love one of it's own, but, as Jesus loved us even to the giving of His own life. How is it that we can give our lives to one another? Sacrificing, investing our time/energies/resources, surrendering our personal interest/advancement, etc...
The reality of our situation is this: We have been chosen, we have been ordained, we have been empowered, for the purpose of bearing fruit, if we continue to abide. Abiding has everything to do with obeying, obeying everything to do with giving ourselves in love to one another. How quickly this all can get mis-construed if we fail to keep these facts in focus. Christianity then is not a play along at home board game. It is not a play along with only those few other Christians that you personally like and get along with. It is a fruit producing "doing all things for the Lord as He loved us" obedience.
2012 - pBiblx2 Field Wise Bible System Version 2.0.9d - GPL3
