John 15:6

                 Salvation is found in union with Christ. Damnation is found outside the union with Christ. Look at the words of Christ. Those outside of Christ will be gathered up and burned just like dead branches are gathered and burned on a farm or property. Union with Christ is where we are connected by the Holy Spirit. We are empowered by Jesus to live the new life of salvation and we are given all the benefits of Christ by this connection. Without it we are lost.

John 15:4-5

                 We must have union with Christ. It is a key concept to our salvation. The power of justification, sanctification, adoption, and eventually glorification comes from our real union with Christ. The example that He uses is of the vine and the branch. A branch will not grow and produce fruit unless it is united to the main vine. The same is true for us as Christians. To be alive, growing, and producing fruit you must be in union with Christ.

John 15:3

                 We are made clean by the Word of God. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. When we read the Bible or hear the Word of God preached, we see the truth of Jesus. We see who He is as the Son of God and we see what He has done as our Savior and Lord. If you have faith in Jesus as He has been presented in the Word, then the Word has made you clean through Jesus Christ.

John 15:2

Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. If we do not produce fruit, we are a dead branch. We may be outwardly connected to Jesus, but there is no life in us. These branches will be taken away. The branches that bear fruit will be pruned so that they can produce more fruit. The old, dead wood is taken away so that new wood and more fruit can be produced. The dead wood is sin and the fruit is that which comes from the Sprit of God. Christian growth takes place because you are connected to Jesus and He is producing fruit in your life.

John 15:1

 Jesus moves to an illustration of a vine. Notice how Jesus uses illustrations that were accessible to everyone. Grapes grew in this area and were cultivated. When Jesus said, “I am the vine and my Father the vinedresser”, people could understand the picture Jesus was painting. Jesus is going to teach us something very special here about our connection to Him and how that changes us.

John 14:31

It is important that Jesus not only show that he is from the Father. He did this by healing the sick, calming the storm, casting out demons, and even raising the dead. This showed that He was from God and was God. He had power over the spiritual world, the physical world, even death itself. Yet, He wants to show honor, glory, and love to the Father. In this section we see the Trinity: the Holy Spirit (26), the speaking Christ , and the Father (29-31). See the love and honor the Trinity has for each other. We see perfect love in the Trinity.

John 14:30

Who is the ruler of this world? It is Satan himself. He is coming and he will strike at Jesus, but Jesus will crush his head by His death and resurrection. This is a fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. This is our great victory, that the sin and death brought by Satan when he tricked Adam and Eve and lead them into committing sin is undone by the work of Jesus. Satan has no claim on Jesus. If you are in Jesus, he has no claim on you either!