Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Jesus Lifts Us Up When We Don't Bear Fruit

by Clint Byars, ForwardMinistries.org

Has this passage ever worried you?  John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away."

You’re not alone, but I have good news for you. The phrase “takes away” doesn’t mean throw away, it means something entirely different. The Greek word for this phrase is 'airo.' It means to lift up, raise up or carry. It also means “to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised up, to bear.” This sheds new light on the dreaded idea of not bearing fruit.

It’s really that simple, if you don’t bear fruit in Jesus He’ll lift you up into Himself and carry you. Jesus is not looking for opportunities to cast you aside. He promised to never leave you. Unfortunately, poorly translated words and phrases have stuck, but a simple browse through any concordance will reveal the actual meaning of the idea being communicated.

When we find obscure passages that seem to contradict other passages we need to just do a little digging, find some context, and not isolate any one passage to prove a point whether it be comforting or fear based.

The heart of Jesus is to come comfort you, not threaten you for failing to perform up to a standard of impossibility.

John 14:16-20 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

He promised to comfort us, not leave us. He promised to glorify himself through us. The only way to do so is to be in Him.

John 15:5-6 “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. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."

Let’s think about this for a minute. In verse 2 of John 15 the KJV says Jesus will take you away if you don’t bear fruit but just a few sentences later he says the only way to bear fruit is to be in Him. So … if the only way to bear fruit is to abide in Him and he’s “taking you away” if you don’t bear fruit, how can He expect you to bear fruit?

He’s not setting you up for failure, He'll stick with you even when you mess up. You can rest easy if the spirit of God is within you. Remain confident in His love for you and allow the indwelling spirit of Christ to grow in you and continue to transform you outwardly.

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