Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20060611.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part XXXIX: Enjoying God's Parenting In An Evil, Perilous World
D. Part IV - Living Above The Fear Of Losing Our Salvation In John 15
(John 15:1-6)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Since last Sunday morning's message out of John 15:1-17, a member of our Church has asked me what Jesus meant when He said in John 15:2: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he [the Father, verse 1] taketh away . . ." That statement by Christ is rather startling at first glance, for it can appear to mean that if we do not bear spiritual fruit, God will either remove us from being saved in Christ or shorten our earthly lives in judging us with the "sin unto death", 1 John 5:16!

However, at first sight, John 15:6 can be seem more startling! There the branch that does not abide in Christ, the Vine, is withered, and "men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." That verse has led some to think they can end up in Hell even after they have believed in Christ as Savior for many years!

Now, the Church member who asked me this question about John 15:2 knows what truth John 5:24 has been shown in this series of sermons to teach, the truth that we are unconditionally eternally secure in our salvation in Christ ! However, since (a) John 15:1-6 is heavily used by those who teach one can lose his salvation, (b) since we have not yet viewed John 15:1-6 with regard to the subject of salvation security, and (c) since this member asked me about this concern this past week, we need to answer it today!



So, we consider the question: "HOW can Jesus' words in John 15:3 and 15:6 NOT mean we can lose our salvation and end up in hell even if we once believed and spiritually abode in Him? WHAT are those verses REALLY teaching, and WHY?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "How can Jesus' words in John 15:2 and 6 NOT teach that I can STILL LOSE my salvation in Christ and end up in HELL?!"
  1. First of all, the EXTENDED CONTEXT of John 13:33-17:26 does NOT PERMIT John 15:2, 6 to teach one CAN LOSE his salvation:
    1. We have repeatedly seen in this sermon series in John's Gospel that John 13:33-17:26 reveals God's Divine Parental Oversight that counters the idea that He can lose a son from His spiritual family:
      1. When Jesus spoke in John 15, Satan had already entered Judas, a pretender of the faith (John 6:70-71) to lead him to betray Jesus while the true disciples were vulnerably ignorant of it, 13:21-30!
      2. Shortly thereafter, Jesus had predicted Peter would deny Him after Peter had promised he would die for Christ (John 13:37-38), and from John 18:1-3, 24-27, we know this sin came from Peter's yielding to evil peer pressure from people in the world around him.
      3. So, aware of their liability to spiritual defeat from weakness within and from the evil world without, in John 13:33-17:26, Jesus spoke about God's Parental Oversight of His true, remaining disciples:
        1. Christ called His men "little children" in John 13:33, or teknia, "a diminutive expression [of] . . . affection . . . like a father to his little children;" strikingly, this term exists only here in all the Gospels, Leon Morris John (NICNT), p. 632, ftn. 67.
        2. Later in that homily, Jesus said He would not leave His men "as orphans," ['orphanous] (Jn. 14:18; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 388; Arndt & Ging., Grk.-Eng. Lex. of N. T., 1967, p. 586.
      4. Thus, John 15:1-6 can not teach one can lose his salvation, for that idea counters the extended context's theme that God ably ministers for His spiritual sons in view of the threats of evil they face!
    2. Also, John 5:24 & 10:27-30 clearly deny one can lose his salvation!
  2. Second, John 15:2, 6 can NOT refer to ANYONE'S eternal destiny:
    1. John 15:2, 6 can not refer to believers who face Christ's judgment seat, for if one claims the "'burned' branches" of John 15:6 are Christians "who will lose rewards but not their salvation at Christ's judgment seat (1 Cor. 3:15)," he can not show how "Jesus spoke here of dead branches" that have no life, Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 325!
    2. John 15:2, 6 can not refer to professing Christians like Judas who are not really saved (Ibid.), for (a) Judas had previously left the group in John 13:30, (b) being the sole unbeliever of the twelve disciples (John 6:70-71) and (c) Jesus in John 15:5a had revealed the branches then could only have been the TRULY believing disciples who remained!
    3. [We have also shown in section "I" above that John 15:1-6 can not be interpreted to refer to believers who might lose their salvation!]
    4. Thus, it is IMPOSSIBLE to make what occurs to the John 15:2, 6 "branches" apply to the ETERNAL DESTINIES of ANY person!
  3. Thus, we view John 15:2, 6 for Christ's ONLY OTHER POSSIBLE theme, that of SPIRITUAL WELFARE in a BELIEVER'S WALK:
    1. In John 15:1, 5a, Jesus identified Himself as the true Vine (and so Israel in Isaiah 5 as the false vine), the Father as the Gardener and, as we established in "I, B" above, only true believers as the branches.
    2. The reason Jesus used this metaphor was said by Him to show how essential it was for believers to focus on heeding Scripture in living:
      1. Jesus repeatedly linked "abide" in Jn. 15:3-10 to heeding Scripture.
      2. Well, in our last message, we found that, "abide" in John 15 was "'a technical term with the rabbis'" seen in the saying: "'When ten men sit together and occupy themselves with the Torah [Scripture], the Shekina [God's presence on earth] abides among them,'" cited in Morris, Ibid., p. 670, ftn. 13 (emphases and brackets ours).
      3. So, in view of the rabbinical background, by "abide", JESUS meant OCCUPYING or FOCUSING on HEEDING Scripture!
      4. Jesus thus used the metaphor of the vine to reveal that failing to focus upon so as to heed Scripture leaves believers fruitless (15:5c) where focusing to heed the Word leaves us fruitful (15:7) and open to more fruit (15:8) by pruning via Scripture (15:2b)!
    3. Thus, Jesus' metaphor on the living and dead branches serves only to illustrate the STUNNING CONTRAST in a TRUE believer's EARTHLY EXPERIENCE based on WHETHER he focuses on heeding Scripture: if he does do so, he will be lavishly fulfilled in his WALK; if he does not do so, he will know acute defeat in his WALK!
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to BECOME children of God, John 1:11-13. (2) Then, may we be ASSURED we HAVE unconditional eternal security (John 5:24), and so (3) focus on (4) heeding (5) Scripture! (6) NOT doing so leaves us unfulfilled while (7) DOING so leaves us fulfilled (8) to the DEGREE that we do what we do in either case! (9) May we also adopt what God's Word TRULY says IN its CONTEXT that we be settled in doctrine!

Lesson: By His metaphor of the vine and the branches, Jesus taught ONE KEY truth -- that it was IMPORTANT for BELIEVERS to FOCUS on HEEDING His WORD for BLESSING in their EARTHLY LIVES!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 What I find especially rewarding about this message is the way it came to exist, for it conveys GOD'S application in great clarity:

Tuesday morning, June 6th when I sat down at the computer to begin to type up this sermon, I had planned to teach John 15:18-16:3 on the issue of handling persecution! I even had written up preliminary notes on the matter while still at home earlier that same morning!

Yet, right when I brought up the sermon template to begin to type in this sermon, a sharp concern arose within me on the need expressed by the member who had asked about John 15:2! This concern became so strong that I wrote this sermon instead!

After I had keyed into the computer this "new" message outline, I realized how key points of its thesis rested on a SUSTAINED FOCUS on truths we had noted before on "God's Parental Oversight" revealed in John 13:33-17:26! I checked my file to find that, in this series in John's Gospel, 6 of the last 7 sermons have used this subject:

(a) Today's sermon recalls that because we have repeatedly shown in past messages that John 13:33-17:26 displays God's able Parental Oversight of the believer, it is absurd to say John 15:2, 6 teaches a believer can lose his salvation and cease to be a child of God. That counters the idea of God's all-sufficiency as our Parent!

(b) This sermon also recalls that Judas, as we have often shown in these same past messages, had already as a professing but false believer left the upper room to betray Jesus (John 13:30). Thus, the "branches" in John 15 are not false believers, but true believers (15:5a).

Thus, God had led me to APPLY the THEME of this sermon in the very PROCESS of FORMING it, which theme is our need to have a SUSTAINED FOCUS on HEEDING His Word!

In application, then, (1) God this week signaled He wants us as a Church to be SURE we ALWAYS have UNCONDITIONAL salvation security! (2) Second, He has signaled this week that He wants us as a Church to make it our chief aim in life to FOCUS on HEEDING His WORD for BLESSING! (3) Third, He signaled thus that He wants ME in PARTICULAR to keep Bible exposition my SUSTAINED FOCUS in ministry RATHER than getting SIDETRACKED onto any other ministry, no matter how needy it may be (a repeat temptation I face in my ministry efforts)!