Life in Christ
Living in the Vineyard Series
John 15:1-11
As we begin our study of John 15, understand that Jesus uses the vineyard as an illustration for us, revealing to us the importance of 3 relationships: Up, around and out.
Up in our relationship with Him, around in our relationship with each other and finally out in our relationship with the world.
Today we begin by considering principles to our life in Christ and asking this question: What does life in Christ look like?
1. Begins with Faith, vs. 4
The word that is translated as “remains” or “abides” in most of our translations is the Greek verb “meno” which can also be translated as:
1. to remain, abide
a. in reference to place
1. to sojourn, tarry
2. not to depart 1a
b. to continue to be present 1a
c. to be held, kept, continually
d. in reference to time
1. to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure 1b
e. of persons, to survive, live
The mental picture I get in all of this is that of faith.
Abide means faith, faith means abide.
It is faith that saves us, that will not allow for us to depart, to be held continually, and to not perish.
To have faith is to have life.
What is faith?
We all say that we know what faith is, but do we really KNOW?
Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines faith as, “Belief, trust, and loyalty to a person or thing. Christians find their security and hope in God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and say "amen" to that unique relationship to God in the Holy Spirit through love and obedience as expressed in lives of discipleship and service.”
Webster’s Dictionary says faith is, “1 a: allegiance to duty or a person: loyalty b (1): fidelity to one’s promises (2): sincerity of intentions
And of course, in Heb. 11:1 we have an active or working definition of faith: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.”
Faith is an assurance that you have, that literally means life or death…because your life does depend upon it.
As a born again believer you are casting all of your hope in the sacrificial death of Christ, and not on anything of your own doing…unlike any other major religious belief system in the world.
This is a calculated risk, but one that you know is well worth it.
Where is your faith?
Where your faith is focused on matters…because it is life or death.
If it is in Christ, you are saved…if it is on yourself, you are lost.
2 quick truths about this faith, first of all…
A. Faith saves us, Eph. 2:8-10, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift-not from works, so that no one can boast.”
John 14:6
Acts 4:12
It is only faith that saves…have you found that faith?
And a 2nd quick truth, it is…
B. Faith sustains us
Read 2 Cur. 5:7 simply says this, “For we walk by faith, not by sight”
Not relying simply on what we know or can see, but on Him who we trust and believe in.
Faith is life.
Life is being in Christ…is that where you abide?
A life in Christ is one that is saved by faith and lives by faith.
A 2nd quality about life in Christ is that it…
2. Bears much Fruit, vs. 5
I don’t know much about agriculture, in fact, in the big scheme of things my knowledge is somewhere between little to none.
But I do know this; an apple tree is going to produce apples if it is healthy.
And an orange tree will give you oranges when it is healthy.
Pecan trees give you pecans and in a vineyard a grape vine that is healthy will give you grapes.
If I come to a grape vine and it is not producing grapes, or not producing good grapes I know there is something wrong with it.
It can be diseased, it can be improperly grounded (mentioned by Jesus in a parable), or it may not be a grape vine at all.
What am I getting at?
The same thing that I believe Christ was pointing out in vs. 5, if you are saved by faith and living by faith, you will be bearing the fruit of faith.
Your lives will be bearing fruit.
Look at vs. 8.
That is evidence of discipleship.
2 types of fruit here:
A. Fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22-23.
* Notice it is singular “fruit”, meaning all are part of it.
B. Disciples, see Matt. 28:18-20.
God hasn’t called us to be fruit inspectors, which is what we tend to do…but he has called us to bear much fruit.
Are you bearing fruit?
Fruit of righteousness?
Fruit of faith?
Fruit that is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Most importantly, are you a fruit bearing disciple that is helping bring more disciples into the kingdom?
If not, what must you do to bear much fruit?
What changes in your life, by faith, do you need to make to bear fruit?
What does life in Christ look like?
It begins with faith, bears much fruit and finally it…
C. Brings out Obedience, vs. 10
The Greek verb for keep in our verse is “tereo” which can mean, “to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard”
Here is the simple truth, if we belong to Christ…meaning we are saved by faith, living by faith and bearing fruit, it is as a result of our obedience.
Simply doing what God asks and commands for us to do.
Sounds easy, huh?
Or easier said than done…more than likely, for most of us, it is the latter.
Let’s face it, we have a hard time listening and an even hard time doing what we are told.
ASK: Who here actually likes doing what they are told to do?
ILLUS:
Here is a confession, since my wife isn’t here…so you can’t tell, ok?
When we are in the van and I’m driving and she tells me to do something that is basically an “obvious”…I don’t do it.
We were going to Texarkana recently and the sun was just barely starting to go fade over the hills and Brigitte said, “Turn on your lights.”
You know what I did?
I reached and then stopped and thought, “Hello…I’m driving, I passed a test, I’ve been on this road hundreds of time, I’ve driven in the daylight, night time, rain, maybe even snow!”
How easy would have been for me to simply say, “OK, and turn the light on?”
Just for the record, I turned them on about 15 minutes later.
Let’s be honest though, we do the same with God.
He says love your neighbor and we say, “Are you kidding, that person?”
We are told to witness to the lost and we say, “That isn’t what I’m good at” or “It’s not my gift.”
Maybe God simply wants us to be at church, in Bible study, or even…dare I say, “Tithe” and we respond in hearts by saying, “Not today”.
All excuses, and none of them good enough.
We are told that we should “keep” the commands of God.
We are “to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard”.
How are you doing with those commands?
How about the great commandment? Love the Lord and your neighbor.
How about the great commission? Making disciples?
We can go on from there:
• Prayer
• Worship
• Fellowship
Are you doing what God has commanded you, are you obeying?
Listen to what God said through one of His priests back in the Old Testament, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention [is better] than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam. 15:22
Today, there is nothing better you can give to God than your obedience.
Obeying His call to salvation.
Obeying His call to bear fruit.
Obeying His call to simply obey.
TRANSITION TO CLOSE:
This morning I want to ask you this, are you in obedience to God?
When you peel off all the pomp and circumstance, can you honestly say to God this morning, “I’m in obedience”?
If you are not born again, you are out of obedience and you will have to pay the penalty for that.’
Which is a shame, that is why Christ died for you.
If you are a born again believer: are you living by the faith you were saved by?
Are you living a life of obedience in terms of bearing fruit?
Are you doing what God expects you to do and commands you to do?
If not, now is the time to fix that.
To obey is better than sacrifice, God has called you to obey today.
