1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:1-8

God desires that we produce the fruits of faith and bring glory to His name for graciously saving us from sin and eternal death and enabling and moving us to live for Him and do the works He created us to do (cf. Eph. 2:8-10), but no one can do what is pleasing and acceptable in God’s sight without saving faith in Jesus Christ.

With the illustration of the vine and the branches, Jesus teaches us that He is the only source of life in communion with God, and only those who abide in Him — those who are and remain connected to Jesus through saving faith — can produce fruit acceptable to God the Father. He will cut off those branches that have no faith in Christ and thus produce no fruit for Him.

Our heavenly Father also prunes and purges those branches that do produce fruit so that they might bring forth more fruit for Him (cf. 1 Pet. 4:17-19). This may be through the admonition of God’s Word (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15-17) or through the troubles and hardships of life that force us to re-examine our ways and hold tightly to Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Those who, through faith, are joined to Jesus Christ have forgiveness for all their sins and evil works. They are clean through the Word of the Gospel spoken to them — their sins are washed away in the blood of Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The sharp sword of God’s Word exposes and cuts away the evil from their lives through daily contrition and repentance (cf. Heb. 4:12).

As long as people have true and saving faith in Christ Jesus and His redemptive work, they are fruitful and do works acceptable and pleasing in God’s sight. This is so because Christ, by the indwelling Holy Spirit, abides in them and empowers them to live for Him, and because the sin and impurity yet in their works is forgiven and not held against them.

Apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ, the only true and life-giving vine, no one can do good works in God’s sight; unbelievers remain spiritually dead to God and unable to love Him and honor Him with pure and holy works. They are like a branch that is severed from the grapevine. It will not produce grapes but withers up and is, eventually, thrown into the fire and burned.

So also, the one who does not trust in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for forgiveness and life will not only be unable to do good works in God’s sight; he is dead spiritually and will be gathered up on the Last Day, together with all others who were unbelieving and fruitless, and cast into the eternal fires of hell!

“Abide with richest blessings among us, bounteous Lord; let us in grace and wisdom grow daily through Thy Word. … Abide, O faithful Savior, among us with Thy love; grant steadfastness and help us to reach our home above.” Amen. (“Abide, O Dearest Jesus,” Verses 4 & 6; Author: Josua Stegmann; Translator: August Crull)

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (Read John 14:25-31)

Jesus offered and gave His disciples peace, not the kind the world gives but the peace that only He can give. What is that peace? It’s peace in times of trouble and turmoil, comfort and hope amid despair, and certainty when all seems uncertain.

Jesus’ disciples were about to see Jesus arrested and crucified and to fear for their own lives as followers of Jesus. They were about to see Jesus, their teacher and hope, taken from them and laid in a tomb. They were about to face uncertainty regarding their faith and their future because Jesus, whom they had followed for three years, was about to be taken from them and return to the Father in heaven. But, in all this, Jesus offered and gave to them peace.

As believers in this world, we face tribulations and persecution, uncertainties in life, and fears in death. As sinners, we feel the burden and weight of our sins and despair at the thought of standing before the righteous and holy God who created us to live for Him and do His will and who hates and punishes sin and disobedience. But amid all our fears, uncertainties, and despair, Jesus gives us peace.

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” How true this is! God does not give us worldly peace or a life without fears or troubles; He gives us peace amid those fears and troubles.

Those who place their trust in Him and the salvation He provided for us in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, know they will face tribulation and troubles in this world, but they know that God is still in control and is working all things for their good (cf. John 16:33; Rom. 8:28, 1 Pet. 4:17-19). They know they are sinners and deserve only God’s wrath and punishment, but they take comfort in God’s promise of full pardon and forgiveness for the sake of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (cf. John 3:14-18; 5:24; Rom. 3:9-26; 4:23 — 5:2). They, like everyone else, face death, but they know that Jesus, their Savior, conquered death when He rose again on the third day and that He will keep His word and raise them up again on the last day to reign with Him forever in heaven (cf. John 11:25-26; John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 7:9-17).

So, when we face troubles in life, when we face sickness and death, when we despair over our sins and the judgment we deserve, Jesus offers and gives His peace to all who trust in Him — the peace of sins forgiven through faith in His shed blood, the peace that He will bring us safely through the troubles of this life and is working for our good, the peace that He is always with us and will raise us up on the last day and give us the eternal joys of heaven.

Give us Your peace, Lord, through faith in You and the salvation You won for us by Your innocent sufferings and death in our stead and Your glorious resurrection. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:5-6

On the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion, He told His disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them in the mansions of His Father’s house. He promised them that He would come again to take them to be with Him forever in His heavenly kingdom. Jesus told them, “And where I go, you know, and the way you know” (John 14:4; cf. John 14:1-4).

It was then that “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’”

Jesus replied in the familiar words of John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus told Thomas that He is the way to heaven, He is the truth, and He is the source of life. And He added the words, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

What do Jesus’ words mean? They answer for us a most important question: “How can we obtain eternal life in heaven and not be condemned to the eternal torments of hell in God’s judgment of this evil world?” And Jesus’ answer is very clear.

Jesus is the road or pathway to heaven! His doctrine, His teaching proclaiming Himself as the eternal Son of God and the promised Messiah and Savior of the world, is the truth! And, He is the source of eternal life — He created man in the beginning and gave Him life, physical and spiritual (Gen. 2:7; John 1:1-4), and through faith in Him and His sacrifice on the cross as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; cf. 3:14-18), He is the source of eternal life today.

And Jesus Himself said He is the only way to be saved: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Only those who look to Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness will be saved and enjoy a place in the mansions of His Father’s house. As the Apostle Peter said of Jesus in Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for you? The only way to go to heaven, the only source of true doctrine, the way to have life in communion with God the Father and to partake of the eternal joys of heaven is through faith in Jesus and the atoning sacrifice He made for you when He suffered and died on the cross. There is no other way!

Dear Lord Jesus, Son of God, and my only Savior, wash away my sins in Your shed blood, receive me into Your eternal kingdom, and grant me a place in the heavenly mansions of Your Father’s house. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. 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.” John 14:15-18 (Read John 14:15-24)

Do you love Jesus? It’s easy to say yes, but if we truly love Jesus, we will hear and do what He taught and commanded. Jesus said in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”

Among Jesus’ disciples, many loved Him and heard His Word, but one failed to love Him and keep His Word. He even betrayed Jesus for financial gain and did not know Jesus’ love for him well enough to look to Jesus for pardon and forgiveness. But for those who loved Jesus and kept His Word, Jesus had words of comfort as He went to the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father.

Though Jesus would no longer live and dwell with them as He had over the past three years, Jesus would not leave His true disciples as orphans in the world; He would come to them and dwell in them. “How?” we might ask. Jesus explained that when He said, “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.”

Jesus told His disciples who loved Him and kept His Word that, when He was glorified and at the Father’s right hand, He would ask the Father to send them another Helper, God the Holy Spirit, who would dwell in them forever. This Helper (Parakleton in the Greek original) comes alongside believers and comforts and consoles them with the Gospel of forgiveness and life in Jesus and His cross. He leads and guides believers into the truth through reading and hearing His Word (the Bible), and He coaches them and encourages them as they live their lives in this world while awaiting the return of Jesus, their Savior. The world does not know Him, but believers know Him; He dwells in them and works in their lives.

Jesus did what He promised on the day of Pentecost, when He poured out His Holy Spirit upon His disciples, giving them a right understanding of the Scriptures and emboldening them to bear witness to Jesus and the salvation He provided for us when He suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again. And Jesus still gives His Holy Spirit to all who believe and are baptized into His name today.

It is as Peter said on the day of Pentecost: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). The Apostle Paul also wrote to Titus: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7).

Jesus has not left us as orphans in this world. He comes to all who know Him, love Him, and trust in Him and His Word by the indwelling Holy Spirit. His Spirit teaches us from God’s Word, brings us to a knowledge of the truth about our utter sinfulness, and points us to the cross of Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), for pardon and forgiveness. Through the Bible, the Holy Spirit leads and guides us in the truth, coaches us as we live out our lives for Jesus in this world, and preserves us in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting in the mansions of our heavenly Father’s house.

Jesus has not left us comfortless; He comes to us and dwells in us as believers, and He will keep us safe in His hands until we are with Him forever in heaven.

O gracious Savior, give us Your indwelling Holy Spirit, who has been with us and brought us to know and trust in You as our Savior, that You may dwell in our lives and lead and guide us safely through this world to Yourself in heaven. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.’” John 13:36-38

Jesus had told His disciples that He was going away, speaking of His coming death, resurrection, and ascension, but His disciples did not understand. Peter questioned Jesus about where He was going and why he could not follow Him there now. Peter even told Jesus, “I will lay down my life for Your sake.”

It was then that Jesus revealed the weakness of Peter’s commitment: “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.”

In the Gospel of Matthew (26:35), we read that Peter told Jesus, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

Of course, we know what happened. As Jesus said, before the rooster crowed, Peter had three times denied being a disciple of Jesus (cf. Matt. 26:69-75; Luke 22:54-62; Mark 14:66-72; John 18:15-18, 25-27).

What do we learn from this? Never say never! It is foolish to put confidence in our fallen sinful flesh. It is safe to say that anyone who places confidence in his or her own human strength or resolve does not know the weakness and corruption of our own human nature. Such might consider the word of God recorded by Jeremiah the prophet in chapter 17, verse 9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

And yet we think and say, “I would never do that!” Or with Peter, we say, “I would never deny Jesus, even if I had to die for Him!” We foolishly think we would never fall away from the faith!

But look at Peter, a bold disciple of Jesus, the one who confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God (cf. Matt. 16:16). His strength and resolve failed him, and he denied Jesus three times.

But what about you? Have you ever had the opportunity to confess or share your faith in Jesus but shrunk back and said nothing? Have you pretended by your silence not to know Him or be his disciple? And, if you are so confident you will never fall from the faith, consider all the other one-time believers who have fallen away.

Why does Peter himself say (2 Pet. 2:20): “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning”?

And why does God’s Word include the warning of Hebrews 6:4-6: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame”? Why does the apostle John speak of a sin unto death in his first epistle? (Cf. 1 John 5:16; Heb. 10:26ff.)

My point is this: Do not put confidence in your own sinful flesh but trust in the mighty working of God through His Word to both bring You to faith in Christ and His sacrifice on the cross and to preserve You in that faith through the continued hearing and learning of God’s Word. After all, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17), and “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). And remember that “He who has begun a good work in you [bringing you to know and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and making you a disciple of Jesus] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

O gracious and merciful God, forgive me for the many times I have faltered in my faith and failed to confess Your Son and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Give me the wisdom to continue in Your Word that Your Holy Spirit might strengthen and preserve me in the true and saving faith in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]