I am
the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that
beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye,
except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in
me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do
nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned. (John 15:1-6).
ARMINIAN ARGUMENT:
“Jesus
is saying in this passage that his first coming was not for the purpose of
judging and condemning the world as on Judgment Day, but that his ministry was
to save the world, though He be rejected by it. The person that does not believe and rejects
Him, Jesus does not condemn because He came to save the world. ‘The world’ cannot mean the elect because it
is the world that rejects Jesus and shall be condemned by His word on the
Last Day.”
(I)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
[Source: Covenant
Reformed News, vol. 3, no. 18]
Q. “Arminians will quote [this text] as proof that people can lose their
salvation. How can a branch in Him not bear fruit?”
The question is predicated on the truth that the vine here in John 15 is
Christ; and that is correct: “I am the vine,” Jesus says, “and my Father is the
husbandman.” The question is, therefore: “How can anyone who is in Christ not
bear fruit, and eventually be cut out of Christ?” It would seem, indeed, as if
this text taught an Arminian doctrine of the falling away of the saints.
In discussing other passages in Scripture in previous issues of the News,
we have had opportunity to discuss with our readers the organic idea
which pervades all of Scripture. It is, admittedly, somewhat difficult to begin
to think in these terms; but it is so essential to a proper understanding of
God’s Word that we turn to it again.
Let us begin by examining an organism in creation. A tree is an organism.
It is one tree, although it is composed of many different parts. All the parts,
however, function and work together, united by one principle of life.
Yet, in that tree are branches that bear leaves and perhaps some kind of
fruit; there are also branches that do not. There are branches that live; there
are branches that die. The dead branches, sooner or later, are blown off by the
wind. Yet, the dead branches were once a part of the tree.
Scripture uses the same figure to describe the church of Christ both in
the old and in the new dispensation. In Psalm 80, e.g., the nation of Israel,
the church in the old dispensation (Acts 7:38), is described as a vine which
God took out of Egypt and planted in Canaan, but which was torn down. Just as
in the nation there were righteous and wicked, so in the vine there are
fruit-bearing branches and dead branches. But the whole nation suffered under
heathen oppressors and was finally taken into captivity.
The same figure appears in Isaiah 5:1-7—which passage our readers are
urged to look up.
In the New Testament, in Romans 11, Paul uses the figure of two olive
trees, the one a natural tree and the other a wild tree. The natural tree is
the nation of Israel; the wild olive tree is the Gentile world. Out of the
natural tree God cuts branches; out of the wild tree He takes branches to graft
in to the natural olive tree.
In John 15, Jesus is talking about the nation of Israel as the branches
of the vine. That nation lived for hundreds of years as a nation. But the
branches that did not bear fruit, and would not bear fruit, are cut off.
How is it that in some sense the whole nation could be said to be “in the
vine”?—whether they were wicked or righteous?
That is possible because Christ Himself was in the nation of Israel from
the very beginning. As far as His human nature was concerned, Christ was present
in that nation. He was, in fact, the root of that nation; the purpose of
that nation’s existence; the reason why God cared for that nation.
Really, because Christ was in that nation according to His human nature from
its very beginning, Christ was always the life of that nation. But always those
who are not really a part of Christ were cut off.
I can only comment very briefly on the application of this great truth,
but it ought to be pondered again and again by all who love God’s Word.
In a way, the church is always such an organism. When Paul speaks of the Gentiles
as wild branches grafted into the olive tree, he makes it very clear that these
branches are generations. God does not graft in individuals. He
grafts into the church generations. These generations are branches—with
their little branches shooting off, which in turn produce little branches.
Believers are always deeply concerned about the salvation of their
children—and children’s children in the line of generations. God saves in the
line of generations. God establishes His covenant in the line of generations.
That is our blessed hope.
---------------------------------------------------
(b)
[Source: Covenant
Reformed News, vol. 6, no. 8]
Q. “Arminians will quote [John 15:1-6] as proof that people can lose
their salvation. How may a branch in him not bear fruit?”
The point of the questioner is quite clear. If a branch is in Christ, it
must, by virtue of being in Christ, bear fruit. Yet the text speaks of branches
in Christ which do not bear fruit. The only explanation would seem to be that a
branch may for a time bear fruit, but cease bearing fruit and require that it
be cut away. Thus a man would lose his salvation—as the Arminians claim.
Let us first of all affirm with all possible emphasis that the Scriptures
teach a preservation of the saints. God continues and perfects the work of
salvation to the very end in the hearts of His people. A falling away of saints
or a loss of a salvation once possessed is impossible.
It is also important to understand that the falling away of any saint is
impossible because salvation is the sovereign work of God’s grace. It is indeed
true that a man could lose his salvation if his salvation depended upon his own
free will. Man’s will is fickle. One moment it wants one thing; the next moment
another thing. If man’s will is decisive in salvation, as so many claim, then
saints can go lost indeed. But God works salvation. That implies the
preservation (not perseverance) of the saints. I say, “not perseverance,”
because God’s work is preservation. We persevere, but only because God preserves.
For biblical proof, see John 10:27-30, Philippians 1:6, etc.
To what does Jesus refer when He speaks of branches which are in Him, but
which bear no fruit?
Jesus is referring in this passage to the nation of Israel as a whole;
i.e., as one organic unity. And He does so under the figure of a vine of which
Christ is the main trunk and God is the Husbandman. The nation of Israel, with
Christ, is the whole plant with its branches.
This figure is very common in Scripture. In Psalm 80, the nation of Israel
is described as a vine as well, which God took out of Egypt and planted in
Canaan, but which is now broken down. In Isaiah 5:1-7 the figure of the nation
as a vineyard is used, but the idea is the same. And the similarity is
striking, so much so that Jesus undoubtedly had these two passages in mind when
He spoke the words of John 15.
In Isaiah 5, God is the Husbandman and the text even speaks of the fact
that He has done everything possible for His vineyard. This same passage
specifically states: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of
Israel, and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant.” And just as John 15 speaks
of unfruitful branches, so also does Isaiah 5 speak of the fact that the
vineyard brought forth wild grapes.
Now it is not my purpose to go into the figure in Isaiah 5 and Psalm 80
in detail. But Jesus has the same idea in mind in John 15.
There are four or five points we ought to notice about this figure.
1) God is the Husbandman in the vineyard because He set Israel apart from
all the nations of the earth as His special people.
2) Christ is the vine because the whole nation has its only reason for
existence in Christ. He was present in the nation from its inception, for He
was born from Israel, specifically from the line of Judah and David. I mean,
the whole nation lived as God’s peculiar people because Christ was “in” the nation
and God’s purpose was realized in Christ. He, as it were, “bore” the nation. It
grew out of Him. He is, in fact, called the root out of a dry ground.
3) But the nation had in it elect and reprobate. This does not differ
from creation. A vine has fruit-bearing branches and non-fruitful branches. A
corn plant is grown for the few kernels of corn in produces, and then is
destroyed. A tomato plant must have its “sucker” stems cut out. An apple tree
must be pruned every year. This is the same as God’s purpose in election and
reprobation within Israel and within the church.
4) The elect are the fruit-bearing branches who are truly in Christ. The
reprobate are the unfruitful branches who, though organically a part of the
nation (and the church) for a time, must be cut away.
5) The text looks at the matter from the viewpoint of our calling—a
calling we must never forget. We are called to bear fruit. The only way to do
that is to abide in Christ. The nation of Israel rejected Christ and the nation
was destroyed for its sin.
But through it all God accomplishes the sovereign purpose of His will.
---------------------------------------------------
(II)
Prof. David J. Engelsma
The
explanation of this passage, which goes back to Calvin himself, as one can find
by reading his commentary, is that there is a close relation to Jesus Christ
that is merely external and apparent. It is the relation of someone’s
profession. This does not last, showing itself by being unfruitful. At the same
time, Jesus' words emphasize the necessity of being fruitful as genuine
disciples of Him. (DJE, 03/03/2020)
---------------------------------------------------
(III)
More to come! (DV)
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