Abiding Is Remaining in Fellowship: Another Look at John 15:1-6

By Joseph C. Dillow

[Director, European Center for Biblical Education by Extension, Vienna, Austria]

The beautiful and profound analogy of the vine and the branches in John 15:1–6 has encouraged believers throughout the centuries. It has also become, unfortunately, a controversial passage regarding the eternal security of the saints.

Three approaches have been taken to the passage. Some say the person who “does not bear fruit” (John 15:2a) cannot be a Christian because all true Christians bear fruit. Others say the branches “in Me” that are taken away refer to Christians who lose their salvation. In this view when a believer stops producing fruit, he forfeits justification. Others say John 15:2a and 6 refer to Christians who do not produce fruit and who will therefore experience divine judgment in time and loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ.

The Meaning of “Every Branch in Me”

Most evangelicals agree that the branches that “bear fruit” and are pruned to bear more fruit (15:2b) are true believers. But what about the branches “in Me” (i.e., in Christ) that do not bear fruit? Some say that those who do not bear fruit are not true Christians. They claim they are saved but are not. Smith argued that “in Me” refers to people being in the kingdom in only a general sense. He notes that the future millennium and the present form of the kingdom include a mixture of true and false believers.[1] As Ryle put it, “It cannot be shown that a branch in Me must mean a believer in Me. It means nothing more than a ‘professing member of my Church, a man joined to the company of my people, but not joined to me.’“[2]

Often justification for this interpretation is found by going to the analogy of the vine in Isaiah (Isa 5:1–7; cf. Jer 5:10a; Rom 11:16–24). Here there were branches who were not saved. However, this is irrelevant to John 15, for Isaiah wrote of a covenant people. All Jews (saved and unsaved) are in Israel, but not all professing Christians are in Christ! As will be demonstrated, it is unlikely that “in Me” can refer to an “Israel within Israel” (i.e., the truly saved within the professing company) in view of the consistent usage of “in Me” in John’s writings to refer to a true saving relationship.

Laney has argued differently that those “in Me” are only professing Christians. He notes that the phrase “in Me” can be taken either adjectivally with the noun “branch” or adverbially with the verb “does not bear.” If it is rendered adverbially, then the sentence could be translated, “Every branch not bearing fruit in Me He takes away.” The phrase “in Me” then refers to the sphere in which fruit-bearing can occur.[3] Though this view is exegetically possible, most evangelical commentators and English translations render the phrase “in Me” as an adjective modifying “branch,” so that some branches do not bear fruit. The phrase “in Me” is used 16 times in John’s Gospel (6:56; 10:38; 14:10 [twice],11, 20, 30; 15:2, 4 [twice],5–7; 16:33; 17:21, 23). In each case it refers to fellowship with Christ.[4] It is inconsistent then to say the phrase in 15:2 refers to a person who merely professes to be saved but is not. A person “in Me” is always a true Christian. But what does “in Me” signify? The preposition ἔν is used “to designate a close personal relation.”[5] It refers to a sphere within which some action occurs.[6] So to abide “in” Christ means to remain in close relationship to Him.

What kind of relationship is meant? A review of the 16 occurrences of “in Me” in the Gospel of John seems to suggest that when Jesus used this phrase, He referred to a life of fellowship, a unity of purpose, rather than organic connection. This is somewhat different from Paul’s emphasis. While Paul did occasionally use the phrase “in Christ” (not “in Me”) in this way, he more often used it in a forensic sense to refer to the believer’s position in Christ (e.g., 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 1:7) or to organic membership in Christ’s body (e.g., 1 Cor 12:13). John, however, never used the phrase in that way. For him, to be “in Christ” meant to be in communion with Him.

Christ did not mean that the Father was inside Him and that He was inside the Father. He spoke instead of a relationship between Him and the Father. The “works” (miracles) the Son did enabled the people to understand the nature of the relationship between the Son and the Father. Obviously seeing Jesus’ miracles did not prove to the people that the Son is of the same essence as the Father, organically connected with Him. If that were so, then when an apostle later performed a miracle, it would show that he was also of the same essence with the Son. Instead, Jesus’ miracles showed that God was with Him. They showed that what God the Father did, the Son did, and that what the Son did, the Father did. The miracles demonstrated that the Son and the Father are like-minded and speak the same things. Therefore people are to believe what the Son says because what He says is the same as what the Father says. So the “in Me” relationship speaks not of organic connection or commonality of essence, but of commonality of purpose and commitment.[7]

In John 14:30 the Lord stated that the ruler of this world has nothing “in Me,” that Satan has no part with Christ, no communion of purpose with Him.[8] Jesus was not teaching that the devil has no part of His essence but that they are not like-minded. “In Me” refers not to common essence or organic connection but to fellowship.

The experience of peace in the midst of persecution comes only to believers who are obediently walking in His commandments and aligned with His purposes. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace” (John 16:33). John’s writings and the rest of the New Testament confirm that salvation does not automatically result in an experience of peace in the midst of trials. Only when a believer is in Christ in the sense of walking in fellowship with Him does he have peace (Phil 4:6–7).

The view that “in Me” means oneness of purpose and not organic connection is also seen in John 17:21. Here Christ prayed for the kind of oneness among the disciples that He enjoys with the Father, a oneness of love and fellowship: “that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee.” If this “in Me” relationship referred to organic connection, Jesus would not have prayed for an organic connection between Him and believers because it already existed. Jesus desired that believers experience oneness of purpose because that observable unity will prove to the world that they are His disciples, models of Christian love (v. 23). If being in Christ referred only to an organic connection, it would prove nothing. But if it refers to an experiential unity of purpose and fellowship, this would have great testimonial impact.

In John 3:21 Jesus referred to the fact that His deeds had been done “in God.” Arndt and Gingrich correctly observe that this means that His works were done in communion or fellowship with God the Father.[9] Being “in God” does not refer to an organic relationship but to a relationship of commonality of purpose.

Therefore it seems that the phrase “in Me” in John does not require the sense of organic connection often found in Paul’s epistles. To be “in Me” is to be in fellowship with Christ, living obediently. Therefore it is possible for a Christian not to be “in Me” in the Johannine sense. This seems evident from the command to “abide in Christ.” Believers are to remain in fellowship with the Lord. If all Christians already remain “in Me,” then why command them to remain in that relationship? It must be possible for them not to remain. This leads to a discussion of “abide,” one of John’s favorite terms.

The Meaning of “Abide”

The English word “abide” means “(1) to wait for; (2) to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, to tolerate, to withstand; (3) to remain stable or in a fixed state, to continue in a place.”[10] These are also the meanings of the Greek word μένω. However, the slightly mystical connotation in English Bible translations has freighted it with overtones of faith or dependence.

Most Greek lexicons suggest that μένω simply means “to remain.”[11] In the Gospel of John μένω always means “to remain, to stay, to reside, to continue, to endure” (e.g., 1:32, 38–39; 2:12).[12] For this reason the New International Version translates the word “remain.” In 15:4 Jesus told His disciples, “Abide in Me,” that is, “Remain in Me.”

What does it mean “to remain”? When the Lord said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides [remains] in Me” (6:56), He meant that such an individual continues in close relationship to Him. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood seem to refer to the initial act of appropriating Christ by faith with the resultant gift of regeneration (6:50–51, 54, 58). When a person believes in Christ, he comes into a close relationship with Christ. The richness of that fellowship is determined by the believer’s obedience (15:10). However, even though he has believed in Christ, and presently remains in fellowship, he might at some time in the future not continue in that fellowship. Hence the command to stay in fellowship is given.

When Jesus said that the person who believes in Him remains in fellowship with Him, He was speaking a general maxim. He knew some Christians would not continue their fellowship. The proof of this is that in John 15:4 He commanded them to continue to abide. The verb is in the imperative mood, whereas 6:56 has an indicative present participle. If it is not possible to lose fellowship with Christ, why would the Lord warn about this possible failure? A warning regarding a danger no Christians would ever face and against an action no Christian would ever commit is pointless.

There is no basis for equating “remaining” with “believing” in John 6:56, as Blum does.[13] The word “remain” cannot mean “to accept Jesus as Savior.” A believer remains in Christ’s love by obeying His commandments (John 15:9–10). If remaining and believing are equated, then believing means obeying commandments, a thought far removed from the truth of the gospel by faith alone. Had Jesus intended μένω (“remain”) to equal πιστεύω (“believe”), He could have used πιστεύω in 6:56 and 15:4, 7, 10. Not only would a works gospel be taught, but 6:56 would be reduced to the absurd statement “he who believes in Me believes in Me.”

The first condition of abiding in Christ, or being in fellowship with Him, is to have believed on Him. A number of other conditions for remaining in fellowship with Christ are mentioned in John’s writings: love other believers (1 John 2:10; 4:12), walk as He walked (2:6), be strong in the faith (2:14), do the will of God (2:17), hold to the truth learned at salvation (2:24), not hate one’s brother in Christ (3:15), keep His commandments (1 John 3:24; John 15:10), and publicly confess Christ (1 John 4:15).

The rewards for meeting these conditions are great. Believers will truly be the Lord’s disciples (John 8:31). But more important, such a life will enable them to stand before Him with confidence when He returns (1 John 2:28).

To “remain in Him” a Christian must keep Christ’s commandments. Only if believers love one another does the love of God remain in them (1 John 4:12). For the love of God to remain in them, it must have been in them to begin with. As elsewhere in John’s writings, “remain” never signifies the initial event of saving faith in Christ but the enduring relationship of walking in fellowship with Him. The word “remain” implies staying in a position already obtained, not entering for the first time. If a nonbeliever should ask, “What must I do to be saved,” it would be wrong to answer, “Remain in Christ.” The believer remains in Christ (i.e., remains in fellowship with Him) by keeping His commandments.

God remains in fellowship with Christians only if they love one another (1 John 4:12). A person becomes a Christian, however, by faith alone. Through the experience of the Holy Spirit a believer then enjoys the fellowship of the Father (4:13). The Holy Spirit is the source (ἐκ, “out of”) from which the child of God draws strength to sustain that fellowship. “And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us” (3:24). This same Spirit not only energizes love and obedience but also public confession of Christ (4:15). If a Christian refuses to confess Christ, his fellowship with the Savior is broken.

In summary, it is preferable to hold that the analogy of branches abiding in a vine depicts a relationship that mature and growing Christians sustain with Christ because of remaining in close relationship to Him, rather than a relationship that all Christians have because of salvation. Fellowship rather than organic union is pictured. A branch “in Me” is not a branch organically connected to Him as a literal branch is organically connected to a vine. Instead it is a branch that is deriving its sustenance from Christ, living in fellowship with Him (as a literal branch derives sustenance from a literal vine), and thus bearing fruit.[14] This is demonstrated by the fact that “in Me” means “in fellowship with Me.”

The Meaning of the Fruitless Branches

Four views have been proposed on the destiny of the fruitless branches mentioned in John 15:2 and 6.

They Are Lifted Up and Encouraged

R. K. Harrison points out that the word translated “takes away” (αἴρω) is best rendered “lifts up.”[15] It is used this way in at least 8 of its 24 occurrences in the Gospel of John (5:8–12; 8:59; 10:18, 24). Contrary to Laney,[16] Harrison says fallen vines were lifted “with meticulous care” and allowed to heal.[17] The writer has observed this practice in the vineyards behind his home in Austria. If that is the meaning, then a fruitless branch is lifted up to put it into a position of fruit-bearing. This does not contradict verse 6, which states that a branch that does not abide is “thrown away,” literally “cast out” (βάλλω ἔξω). This would suggest that the heavenly Vinedresser first encourages the branches and lifts them in the sense of providing loving care to enable them to bear fruit. If after this encouragement, they do not remain in fellowship with Him and bear fruit, they are then cast out.

They Lose Salvation

Some teach that the taking away of the branches points to a believer’s loss of salvation. However, even if verse 2 means “remove” and not “lift up,” loss of salvation is not in view. The figure of the vine and the branches signifies not regeneration but fellowship. As already demonstrated, to cease to abide in Christ does not mean to cease to be organically in Him but only to fail to remain in fellowship with Him. Thus the removal here would simply refer to the removal from fellowship of the Christian who fails to obey.

They Are Separated from a Superficial Connection with Christ

A third view is that the removal refers to the separation of professing Christians from a superficial connection with Christ. This is Laney’s view.[18] But a branch connected to the vine is an illustration of the believer in fellowship with Christ. If “in Me” means to be in fellowship with Christ, as Laney says,[19] then the branch connected with the vine must be a branch in fellowship with the vine, that is, a true Christian, not merely a professing one.

If the fruitless branches are only professing Christians, then what bearing did the passage have on the disciples? Laney argues that it is intended to give them instruction concerning those to whom they would minister and who would not bear fruit.[20] Yet the passage gives every indication that it was addressed in its entirety to the disciples to tell them how they could bear fruit in their lives. Jesus said to them, “If you [the disciples, not those to whom they would one day minister] abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:7–8). He then told them of His love for them, that He wanted them to complete His joy, and so forth (15:9–16).

Jesus wants His followers to bear fruit and in this way to “be” (aorist middle subjunctive of γίνομαι) disciples (15:8). The basic difference between εἰμί and γίνομαι is that the latter suggests a coming into being in contrast to merely being. Thus in the act of fruit-bearing, a believer comes into being as a disciple. This is difficult to translate in English but the sense is clear: when a Christian is bearing fruit, in that act of fruit-bearing he is becoming a disciple: “that you bear much fruit and…be My disciples” (15:8).

When Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (15:3), He was not contrasting the disciples with those who are only professing Christians. Verse 2 mentions two kinds of Christians: those who are in fellowship with Him who are not yet producing fruit, and those in fellowship with Him who are bearing fruit. The former need to be lifted up by the Vinedresser so they can become fruitful, and the latter need to be pruned so they will bear more fruit. The disciples had already been “pruned” (they were “clean”—the same Greek word καθαιρέω) through Jesus’ word spoken to them. The disciples were now given instruction on how they, not those to whom they would minister, could continue to bear fruit. They could continue to bear fruit if they remained in fellowship with Him (i.e., if they were abiding in Him).

In John 15:4, Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Here Jesus was apparently warning His hearers about the danger of their removing themselves, by disobedience, from His influence and enablement. But that does not imply that the ones being warned are not believers. In fact since they are commanded to remain in that sphere of influence and enablement, it seems that they are in it already and hence are regenerate.

They Receive Divine Discipline in Time and Loss of Rewards

The fourth view on the destiny of unfruitful branches is that they receive divine discipline in this life (possibly including physical death) and loss of rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. This is the view Chafer propounded and seems to fit the context well.[21] The consequences of the failure of a true Christian to abide in fellowship with Christ are stated in verse 6: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

If a true Christian does not remain in fellowship with Christ, he will be thrown away (βάλλω ἔξω, “cast out,” much as a branch is severed from the vine) and discarded. As argued earlier, the point of the figure of the vine and the branches is not to portray organic connection but enablement and fellowship. This casting out then is not from salvation but from fellowship. The result is that these branches, carnal Christians, are cast into the fire.

To what does the fire refer? Fire is a common symbol in the Bible for God’s judgment on His people in time (e.g., Isa 5:24; 9:19). Less frequently it is associated with the fires of hell. Believers out of fellowship with Christ are therefore cast into divine judgment in time (cf. 1 Cor 3:15). It seems mere quibbling to say that since the fire in 1 Corinthians 3:15 is applied to believer’s works and the fire in John 15:6 refers to the believer himself, therefore those two verses could not be referring to the same event.[22] Paul wrote that the believer is the building and that the building is built up with various kinds of building materials and that the fire is applied to the building. The apostle obviously saw an intimate connection between the believer and his work. To apply the fire of judgment to the believer is the same as applying it to his work. Indeed the believer’s works are simply a metonomy for the believer himself.[23]

Conclusion

According to John 15, when a believer is not bearing fruit because of sin or spiritual immaturity, the Lord lovingly lifts him up so he can bear fruit. The believer who is in fellowship with Christ and who is bearing fruit is pruned so he can bear more fruit. The analogy of the vine and the branches signifies not organic connection with Christ but fellowship with Him. The believer who does not remain in fellowship because of disobedience is cast out in judgment and withers spiritually, and faces severe divine discipline in time and loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ. Nothing in John 15:1–6 demands that it pictures loss of salvation. Nor does the passage suggest that all believers will always bear fruit. It is only believers who remain in fellowship with Christ who bear fruit.

Notes

1. Charles R. Smith, “The Unfruitful Branches in John 15, ” Grace Journal 9 (Spring 1968): 10.
2. J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.), 4:334.
3. J. Carl Laney, “Abiding Is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1–6, ” Bibliotheca Sacra 146 (January-March 1989): 64.
4. Six of the 16 occurrences refer to the Father being in the Son. They are 10:38; 14:10 (twice), 11; and 17:21, 23. And one verse (14:30) speaks of Satan’s having nothing “in Me,” that is, having no true fellowship with Christ.
5. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), p. 259.
6. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, s.v. “Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament,” by M. J. Harris, 3:1191.
7. In John 14:10 “in Me” refers to a close working relationship between Christ and the Father, a unity of purpose.
8. In 14:20 the Lord said that “in that day” they would know that He was in them and they were in Him (“you in Me and I in you”). This means that when they would see Him in His resurrected state, they would know again the fellowship they had with Him before. “That day” could refer to either the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost or the appearances of the resurrected Christ to His disciples. The previous verse seems to connect it with the resurrection appearances. This is confirmed in 16:16, where He also spoke of the fact that in a little while they would no longer behold Him and then in a little while they would see Him, a reference to His appearance in resurrection. The meaning then is that, when they would see Christ in resurrection, they would understand fully some things they did not fully understand before. The objective knowledge of the resurrected Christ would bring about this clear perception. At that time they would see clearly that Christ had been operating in complete unity of purpose with the Father and that they were in complete unity of purpose with Him. Apparently they would know something they did not know before. They were already regenerate, but there was something they either did not know at all or knew only imperfectly. What would bring about the change? The New Testament does not say, but later John stated that before the resurrection the disciples did not understand that He had to rise from the dead (John 20:9). Apparently seeing Christ resurrected brought a flood of understanding concerning the Old Testament predictions and Christ’s unity of purpose with and obedience to the Father. The resurrection removed doubts about who Christ is and resulted in a change that lasted the rest of their lives. They committed themselves fully to follow Him forever. That commitment brought about by their seeing Christ in His resurrection on “that day” resulted in their total unity of purpose and obedience to Him. That is when they knew the experience of unity and fellowship, “you in Me and I in you,” with their resurrected Lord.
9. Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, p. 259.
10. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1987), p. 44.
11. For example Hauck says it means “to stay in a place,” figuratively “to remain in a sphere,” “to stand against opposition, to endure, to hold fast” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. μένω, by F. Hauck, 4:574–88). The word is used of the permanence of God in contrast to human mutability. God’s counsel “endures” (Rom 9:11), His Word endures (1 Pet 1:23, 25), the New Covenant endures (2 Cor 3:11), and faith, hope, and love endure (1 Cor 13:13). Paul used μένω of the perseverance of believers in the faith (1 Tim 2:15). If they endure, they will reign with Him. But if they are faithless, He “remains” faithful (2 Tim 2:12–13). Munzer says μένω “means to remain, e.g., to stay in a place (Luke 19:5), or with someone (Luke 24:29; Matt 26:38); to continue to exist for a specific time (Matt 11:23); to live (John 1:38); or metaphorically to hold fast, or remain steadfast, e.g., in a teaching (2 Tim 3:14; 2 John 9), in fellowship with (John 14:10), in the unmarried state (1 Cor 7:40), to stand firm, pass the test, e.g., when one’s works are judged (1 Cor 3:14); to live on, and not to have died (1 Cor 15:6)” (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, s.v. “Remain,” by Karlfried Munzer, 3:224).
12. John used μένω frequently, 66 of 118 times it occurs in the New Testament (40 in John, 23 in 1 John, and 3 in 2 John).
13. Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 2 vols. (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983, 1985), 2:325.
14. “Abiding in Christ is the same as bearing fruit (John 15:5). If there is no fruit, it is a sign that the fellowship has already been interrupted (John 15:6; 1 John 3:6)” (Munzer, “Remain,” p. 226).
15. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1988), s.v. “Vine,” by R. K. Harrison, 4:986.
16. Laney, “Abiding Is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1–6, ” p. 59.
17. Harrison, “Vine,” p. 986. Harrison states that αἴρει in John 15:2 is from αἴρω, “to lift,” not from αἰρέω, “to catch, take away.”
18. Laney, “Abiding Is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1–6, ” p. 61.
19. Ibid., p. 64. Laney calls it being in the sphere of Christ and under His influence.
20. Ibid.
21. Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 8 vols. (Dallas, TX: Dallas Seminary Press, 1948), 7:4.
22. Laney, “Abiding Is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1–6, ” p. 61.
23. A metonomy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is used for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated.