The True Vine, Part 7
Remaining
John 15v4a
8th November 2014
Jesus said:
John 15v1-4a
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that
it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
The sixth question we addressed to ourselves, based on John chapter 15 is "Do I really believe that if I choose to remain in Christ, then Christ guarantees He will remain in me?
This should be easy to believe. God is not less faithful than we are. Jesus said:
John 6v37-40
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up
at the last day.
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I
will raise him up at the last day."
And, as Hebrews reminds us:
Hebrews 13v5b
God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Since Jesus died for you, and God forgave you and gave you His Holy Spirit, and you repented of your sin and put your faith in His redeeming blood, and God adopted you into His family, there's no way He'll reject you if you want to remain in relationship with Him.
More than that, I believe that God will ensure that I will choose to remain in Christ. I believe in the great doctrine known as The Perseverance of the Saints. Louis Berkof defines this doctrine in this way:
"they whom God has regenerated and effectually called to a state of grace, can neither totally nor finally fall away from that state, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved"
There are several Bible passages that support this idea, including:
John 10v27-28a
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish
Philippians 1v6b
he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1v12b
I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that
day.
2 Timothy 4v18a
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.
I should admit that there are other passages which some people believe each that some Christians will not persevere. Here are three of them, together with my analysis of each (I'm sorry, but this will get a bit complicated - you might want to skip down 6 paragraphs):
Hebrews 6v4-8
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared
in the Holy Spirit,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God
all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed
receives the blessing of God.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be
burned.
This passage serves as a warning of what would happen if we fell away to a sufficient extent. But it's not proof that any of us will fall away. On the contrary, it's part of God's protection to us, helping to ensure that we don't fall away.
Matthew 24v9-14
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because
of me.
At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the
end will come.
Unfortunately, the NIV provides a poor translation here. What it translates as "turn away from the faith" would be better rendered as "be offended" (AV) or "be stumbled" (YLT) which is very different. Also, our Lord doesn't say whether these whose love grows cold are true believers or not. And even for a true believer, for our love to "grow cold" doesn't equate to totally falling away from God.
Hebrews 3v14
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
I think this means, "by holding firmly till the end the confidence we had at first, we will demonstrate that we were truly saved." Those who don't hold firmly to the end were never truly saved in the first place.
So none of these passages teach that any true Christian will not persevere.
I'm convinced that God will ensure that all whom he has elected, called, and saved will always be elect, called and saved. In addition to the first list of passages above, and my interpretation of the second list, I have two powerful reasons for this belief:
Firstly: I believe in Perseverance because I believe in Election.
Our election and salvation come from God, not from ourselves. My theology is Reformed (or "Calvinist") particularly because I am acutely aware that I am unable to save myself, or even to choose to be saved. Such faith in Christ as I have is a gift from God. I remember a time when I didn't have such a faith, and I'm convinced that God enabled me to believe.
The Bible clearly teaches the doctrine of election. Those whom God has chosen, He chose before the beginning of time. I know that many (often called "Arminian") don't believe this to be true. I can only say that I respect those who hold their view, but cannot find it in scripture, and that I suspect that they hold such ideas because they fit with a human idea of "fairness" which is contrary to scripture and to the character of God:
Romans 9v10b-15
Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.
Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election
might stand:
not by works but by him who calls - she was told, "The older will serve the younger."
Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion."
We've largely lost the distinction between fairness and justice. God is 100% just - let no one say otherwise - but He and He alone decides who will receive his saving compassion, and who will not. And whom God has eternally chosen He will never "un-choose".
Secondly: the Holy Spirit tells me that I am a child of God, and I do not believe that God will abandon any of His children.
Romans 8v16-17a
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ
Some would point out that verse 17 here continues with a clause that makes this statement conditional. It concludes:
Romans 8v17b
...if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
But this means "if we accept the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins so that we might be joined to Christ". That is, verses 16-17 together mean "The Holy Spirit talks to every Christian, telling him that he truly is a child of God. We will inherit His kingdom if we are truly His children, born again through repentance and faith in His redeeming blood".
Dear brother or sister in Christ, dear co-heir of God's riches, dear chosen and saved child of God, the One who chose you, called you, died for you and gave you faith to believe, will never let you fall so far as to lose your salvation.
He will, however, continue to exhort you to live a life worthy of Him who called you.