The Humbling, Liberating Admission
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NASB).We are born into this world separated from God. This is because of the fall of humanity through the choice of our first parents.Starting in this position, the only resource we have is ourselves. We may rely on some other people, but in the end every decision, every activity, every step is comprised of our own choices made in our own power.
The Tragic Results
In this sad, depraved state, all we receive (and all the world gets) from our best efforts is nothing compared to the glory we were intended to enjoy. We were made to be conduits of the love, wisdom, grace, and power of God.Instead, even our best efforts are “filthy rags” in God’s economy. We may look good to others. We can try to dress up those rags, but they are rags nonetheless.Jesus emphasizes what is possible in our mere humanity with one telling phrase: “apart from Me you can do nothing.”We don’t believe this, of course. The great Liar whispers in our ear that we can do this on our own.We try and fail, and then he whispers that we are worthless. He puffs up in pride with one voice and condemns and accuses with the next, pushing us from one ditch to the other like a rag doll. All the while, without Christ, we are working hard and producing nothing.
The Great Admission
But Jesus is pure Truth. The perfect Husbandman speaks the following to us (if we will listen), and it is absolute reality.“I am the Vine.”He is the source of life, the fountain from which everything we need springs. He often refers to Himself as simply “I AM.” And Hebrews says that faith is believing that “He is” (Hebrews 11:6). He is what? He is everything! Life, power, wisdom, truth, understanding, and on and on.“You are the branches.” Think of this as you view a tree outside your window right now. The branch, if cut off, withers and dies. But as it remains (abides) in the vine, it receives all its life, nutrients, and power from the vine.The branch is merely the conduit through which vine-life flows. And the vine gives the branch the happy privilege of bearing the fruit that the vine itself is producing through the branch.The branch can do nothing—absolutely, positively nothing—apart from the vine.|
The Liberating Assent
This one sentence explains everything about us, about Jesus Christ, and about true Christianity. We can try to live without being joined to Christ, and we will live and die and produce zero fruit that matters and lasts.Or, by God’s grace, we can be grafted into Jesus Christ, recognize our place and purpose, rest and cooperate with Him, and bear much fruit.Our job is to remember who He is and who we are, and to understand the difference. And then to live every common day looking to and relying on the One who is all in all. To repent of our humanistic living and rely on the great I AM is the heart of personal revival. It starts here.But it begins with this humble admission: Apart from Jesus I can do nothing. Repeat that out loud a few times. Pause and think deeply about that word that describes the sum of your life without Christ’s empowerment: nothing.And when you have grasped this great reality and begun to live in its light, you have taken the first step to the fruitful life.