No Value In The Dirt

“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.” (Joh 15:6 AV)

 

There is a dispute if John 15 refers to salvation or if abiding in Christ is for the believer.  The verse above is often used to support the view that abiding in Christ is another way of saying one is saved.  However, verse ten of the same chapter would cast a bit of doubt on that understanding.  Abiding in Christ means living in obedience to His word.  John further pens the truth in his first epistle that love for God is first and foremost marked by obedience.  Note above that it is men that gather the withered vines and not God.  The Holy Spirit does not gather the unfruitful branches.  Nor does the father.  It is men that gather them and dispose of them.  John fifteen is not referring to salvation.  It assumes it.  The unproductive branch is that branch that does not desire to abide in the vine by striving after obedience.  The withered branch is not reproducing itself.  It is bearing no fruit.  Note also it is not other branches that dispose of the unfruitful ones.  The withered branch does not abide in the vine.  It has fallen to the earth.  It identifies with the world.  The men of the world are far better acquainted with the unfruitful branch than the other branches are.  Therefore, it is they that dispose of the withered branch.  In short, the world will dispose of a withered Christian who has no interest in living for the LORD.  If the branch sees no value in abiding, the world sees no value in him or her either.

What struck me is the world has no use for a disobedient saint.  The backslidden saint believes he or she has found friends in the world.  Just the opposite is true.  They are not friends.  They are examiners.  If the saint continues to profess a relationship with Christ, yet does not walk with Him in obedience and faith, then the world has no use for him or her.  They are not after a half-hearted Christian.  They are after those who will completely disown the Savior.  My mind goes to the vast majority of those who profess Christ and try to live in the world while being part of the world.  It may work in the short term, but in the end, the world will have no use for a withered believer.  There is no halfway place where the lukewarm believer can comfortably live.  What speaks volumes to me is the men do not remove the branches from the vine.  They still have value.  The men of the world remove the unfruitful saint because they see no worth.

I can understand if the vine or other branches see no worth.  That would be expected.  A branch that has ceased to produce fruit is of no use to the vine and other branches.  I would expect the vine and branches to separate and cease to nurture a branch that refused to produce no fruit.  I would expect the vine and branches to see the lost potential in the withered branch.  The vine and branches do everything they can to bring that branch back to fruitfulness.  However, once it has fallen to the ground, it will never be restored.  It has totally associated itself with the world.  But the men of the world see no worth, either.  The unfruitful branch is in a most miserable situation.  The vine and branches cannot help it.  Those whom he thought would value him simply cast him to the fire with never another thought.  The best thing an unfruitful branch could do is be grafted back into the vine and branches so that it might be fruitful.  It must seek restoration.  It must desire the fellowship of the vine and branches.  There is no middle ground of survival.  He either abides in the vine, or he is rejected by those whom he thinks are his friends.  There is no other option.