Unfruitful Branches

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. John 15:2

The questioner whose question we deal with in this article asks: "Arminians will quote it as proof that people can lose their salvation. How may a branch in him not bear fruit?"

The point of the questioner is quite clear. If a branch is in Christ, it must, by virtue of being in Christ, bear fruit. Yet the text speaks of branches in Christ which do not bear fruit. The only explanation would seem to be that a branch may for a time bear fruit, but cease bearing fruit and require that it be cut away. Thus a man would lose his salvation -- as the Arminians claim.

Let us first of all affirm with all possible emphasis that the Scriptures teach a preservation of the saints. God continues and perfects the work of salvation to the very end in the hearts of His people. A falling away of saints or a loss of a salvation once possessed is impossible.

It is also important to understand that the falling away of any saint is impossible because salvation is the sovereign work of God's grace. It is indeed true that a man could lose his salvation if his salvation depended upon his own free will. Man's will is fickle. One moment it wants one thing; the next moment another thing. If man's will is decisive in salvation, as so many claim, then saints can go lost indeed. But God works salvation. That implies the preservation (not perseverance) of the saints. I say, "not perseverance," because God's work is preservation. We persevere, but only because God preserves. For Biblical proof, see John 10:27-30, Phil. 1:6, etc.

To what does Jesus refer when He speaks of branches which are in Him, but which bear no fruit?

Jesus is referring in this passage to the nation of Israel as a whole; i.e., as one organic unity. And He does so under the figure of a vine of which Christ is the main trunk and God is the Husbandman. The nation of Israel, with Christ, is the whole plant with its branches.

This figure is very common in Scripture. In Psalm 80 the nation of Israel is described as a vine as well, which God took out of Egypt and planted in Canaan, but which is now broken down. In Isaiah 5:1-7 the figure of the nation as a vineyard is used, but the idea is the same. And the similarity is striking, so much so that Jesus undoubtedly had these two passages in mind when He spoke the words of John 15.

In Isaiah 5, God is the Husbandman and the text even speaks of the fact that He has done everything possible for His vineyard. This same passage specifically states: "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant." And just as John 15 speaks of unfruitful branches, so also does Isaiah 5 speak of the fact that the vineyard brought forth wild grapes.

Now it is not my purpose to go into the figure in Isaiah 5 and Psalm 80 in detail. But Jesus has the same idea in mind in John 15.

There are four or five points we ought to notice about this figure.

1) God is the Husbandman in the vineyard because He set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth as His special people.

2) Christ is the vine because the whole nation has its only reason for existence in Christ. He was present in the nation from its inception, for He was born from Israel, specifically from the line of Judah and David. I mean, the whole nation lived as God's peculiar people because Christ was "in" the nation and God's purpose was realized in Christ. He, as it were, "bore" the nation. It grew out of Him. He is, in fact, called the root out of a dry ground.

3) But the nation had in it elect and reprobate. This does not differ from creation. A vine has fruit-bearing branches and non-fruitful branches. A corn plant is grown for the few kernels of corn in produces, and then is destroyed. A tomato plant must have its "sucker" stems cut out. An apple tree must be pruned every year. This is the same as God's purpose in election and reprobation within Israel and within the church.

4) The elect are the fruit-bearing branches who are truly in Christ. The reprobate are the unfruitful branches who, though organically a part of the nation (and the church) for a time, must be cut away.

5) The text looks at the matter from the viewpoint of our calling -- a calling we must never forget. We are called to bear fruit. The only way to do that is to abide in Christ. The nation of Israel rejected Christ and the nation was destroyed for its sin.

But through it all God accomplishes the sovereign purpose of His will.