“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
C.J. asks a great question:
I was reflecting on the Lord Jesus Christ’s words in John 15:5 where He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” I am focusing especially on that last statement.
Many use this verse to say we are incapable of doing anything good apart from God. Some go as far to say that we should have no confidence in ourselves at all, and that we must be completely submitted and dependent on God to lead a life pleasing to Him.
Is it wrong to ever have confidence in one’s abilities? Can there be an acceptable balance between trusting in both God and myself when it comes to taking on life’s challenges and in pursuing sanctification?
The key is to consider all passages that deal with the question. In this case, we must not simply consider John 15:5. After all, the Lord does not elaborate on what He means.
The Lord is clearly not saying that unbelievers can do nothing at all. He is not even saying that believers out of fellowship can do nothing. All able-bodied people can work, raise a family, enjoy recreational activities like hunting, fishing, golf, tennis, and so forth. They can even help stranded motorists, give money to the poor and needy, and care for their aging parents.
What He is saying is that a believer out of fellowship with Him can do nothing that is fully pleasing to the Lord.
Raymond Brown commented,
“You can do nothing. The same idea is found in 2 Cor 3:5: ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our sufficiency is from God’” (John XIII-XXI, p. 661).
Lange and Schaff write,
“Christ is speaking of specifically Christian labors and achievements. Christian vital activity is entirely dependent upon vital communion with Christ” (“John” in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, p. 463).
In The Grace New Testament Commentary on John’s Gospel, I wrote,
“When a believer lives in the sphere of the flesh, he can do nothing that pleases God. However, believers have the Holy Spirit within them. When they live in light of their born-again status, they produce good fruit that pleases the Lord Jesus” (p. 449).
Even a casual reading of Paul’s epistles shows that Paul was highly confident in his abilities. Of course, he did not view his life as ever being lived apart from abiding in Christ (cf. Gal 2:20). But as he lived by faith in Christ, he was a confident person.
We should be confident, as well. But we must not be cocky. The proud look is one of the seven things God hates (Prov 6:16-19). If we realize the source of spiritual strength is found in abiding in Christ, we remain spiritually strong. Samson lost his supernatural strength when his hair was cut. We lose our spiritual strength if we are cut off from the Vine.
I must confess that I’m not sure if the Lord meant that apart from Him we can do nothing that is pleasing to God. I think the issue is being fully pleasing to Him. Even a believer out of fellowship with Christ seemingly can do some things that are pleasing to God like caring for his children, giving help to the poor, giving to his local church, and repenting (e.g., Luke 15:17-21).
Lenski quotes Besser’s excellent comment tying John 15:5 with verse 4:
“Wherever fruit is borne, which pleases the vinedresser and is sweet to his taste, this hangs upon the branches, but it is the vine which bears both the branches and the fruit, and penetrates them with its sap. All the holy thoughts, words, and works of Christians, which, made sweet by the taste of love, delight God, are altogether fruit of the branches which remain in the vine, with the vine’s living sap in them, are altogether gifts received from the abundance of Christ, who is the heart’s treasure of love, the mouth’s spice of love, the hand’s power of love” (John, p. 1035).
Zane Hodges did not like the words, “Such a worm am I” in the song Alas and Did My Savior Bleed. He felt that was based on a false sense of self. In Zane’s view, believers should view ourselves as sinless in the core of our being. He understood 1 John 3:9 to mean that the born-of-God part of us never sins. Sin is always an expression of the flesh. Zane felt we should always see ourselves in Christ. As we abide in Him, we are overcomers.
Be confident in your gifts and abilities without being cocky. As we realize our power and strength comes from Him, we retain the dependent attitude necessary to be well pleasing to God.
Abide in Him and you will keep grace in focus.
