JOHN 15:1–9 – “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

THEME OF THE DAY:  ALL OF GRACE ALL THE TIME. Today’s scripture is the Parable of the Vine and Branches.  Its application is the fruitful Christian life as well as defining the whole of living out the Christian life – abiding in Christ as we recognize His abiding in us.

As this instruction from the Lord unfolds, pay particular attention to the verse in which the Lord makes clear, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”  What must grip us is simply the truth that nothing means nothing when it comes to anything in the spiritual realm. And we are quick to acknowledge this truth toward our salvation.  We boldly proclaim, “We are saved by grace alone, in Christ alone, by faith alone” but what about serving and living for the Lord?  Don’t we have a tendency to slip into living and serving the Lord in the strength of ourselves and our performance?  And don’t we equally have a tendency to view our spiritual condition before God on our performance?

In Jerry Bridges’ excellent book Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love (by the way, read every book Bridges wrote for your spiritual edification and growth), he captures this “performance treadmill” well.  He wrote, “My observation of Christendom is that most of us tend to base our personal relationship with God on our performance instead of His grace. If we’ve performed well, whatever well is in our opinion, then we expect God to bless us. If we haven’t done so well, our expectations are reduced accordingly. In this sense, we live by works rather than by grace. We are saved by grace, but we are living by the ‘sweat’ of our own performance.  We seem to believe success in the Christian life (however we define success) is basically up to us; our commitment, our discipline, and our zeal, with some help from God along the way. We give lip service to the attitude of the Apostle Paul, ‘But by the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Corinthians 15:10), but our unspoken motto is, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’”

Ponder Bridges’ words in the backdrop of Jesus’ teaching on the abiding life in Him.  And do so with the loud cry of “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” from the lips of the Lord Jesus.  Then pray, “Lord teach me this truth that all I am, all I have, and all I do is by grace, the grace that comes from abiding in You as You abide in me.”  This is the path to joyful and fruitful Christian living and service.

So, in conclusion of today’s nugget, let’s listen again to Jerry Bridges, “The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Christ instead of on my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience.”

PRAYER: “Father, help me to see my complete dependency upon Your Son for both salvation and living.”

QUOTE: “We are saved by grace alone and we live and serve by grace alone.”

In the affection of Christ Jesus,

Pastor Jim