The night before He was crucified, Jesus spent an extended period teaching His disciples. Apparently He began teaching His disciples while they were in the upper room, then continued to teach them as they left the room and walked toward Gethsemane. Part of what He taught them centers upon the image of the vine and branches, reported in John 15:1-8. Specifically, in the context of this image, Jesus uttered the command to “abide in me.”
Interpreters are about evenly divided on the significance of this command. Some understand abiding in Christ to refer to salvation; others take it to refer to some experience beyond salvation that Jesus wanted His disciples to enjoy. Of course, arguments can be advanced on both sides of this debate. I don’t intend to go into all of them here. In my opinion verse 3 is decisive: the disciples to whom Jesus addressed this command were all already believers whose sins had been cleansed by His Word. They were already saved, and they were not in any danger of losing the salvation that they had received. To me, it seems necessary that “abiding in Christ” must refer to some experience subsequent to the reception of Jesus as Savior.
The point of the passage is not about getting saved. It is not even necessarily about growth. The passage is about fruitfulness. A branch (a believer) is able to bear fruit only if it is connected to the vine (Christ). However, not all branches that are connected to the vine will necessarily bear fruit. The branches that do not bear fruit will experience judgment (v. 6), which most likely refers to chastening and removal from service (compare this to 1 Cor. 11:30).read more
