2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
March 4, 2026
John 15:1-21
As we recall from a month ago when we were studying chapters 13 and14, Jesus was with his disciples for their last meal. Jesus gave his disciples some final instructions prior to his crucifixion. He shared with them about the greatest command to love one another as he loved them, and that he was going to prepare a place for them. He reminded them that he was the way to the Father and only through him could they inherit eternal life. The 14th chapter closed with Jesus telling his disciples that he always did what the Father wanted him to do. His earthy life was marked by "abiding" in the Father. Jesus continues this abiding theme in chapter 15 but this time it is about his disciples abiding in him.
John 15:1-2. Jesus uses an agricultural analogy of vine, branches and gardener to demonstrate what abiding means. The gardener, the vine, and the branch all act for the purpose of the gardener. The vine is planted by the gardener with the intent that the branches would produce fruit. He calls himself the true vine and the Father the gardener. As the gardener, God cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit, and he cuts back (prunes) those who are fruitful. The unfruitful branches are the unbelievers, and the fruitful branches are the believers. The unfruitful are cut off, but for the fruitful they are positioned to bear more fruit. Just as Jesus abides in the Father, we are to abide in Christ.
Verses 3-6. When Jesus says you are already clean because of the word, he is saying that they are already in Christ. They don't need to get connected; they just need to continue to do the will of the Father. Their fruitfulness is based on their connection to Christ. Branches can't produce fruit if they are disconnected to the main vine. We cannot fulfill the plans of God outside of Christ. Abiding in Christ means to make Jesus your habitation. It means to make Jesus the center of your life. Your life revolves around his purpose and his plan. The plan for all believers is to bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. We are to commit our lives fully to pleasing God and living out his will in our lives. Living outside of the will of God will only lead to displeasure from God. Jesus says those unfruitful branches are of no use to the Lord; they are like broken branches that are used for firewood. You and I were saved to be fruitful branches, not firewood.
Verses 7-8. Jesus gives the disciples a promise that abiding in Christ (submitting to God's will) meant answered prayers. The assumption is that when you are submitting to the will of God, you ask within his will and thus receive what you ask for. For example, if we ask God to help us reach people with the gospel, and seek the Lord for guidance, there is a strong possibility that we will reach people for Jesus and see folks get saved. Why? Because that is lined up with the will of God. We know God wants none to perish. People coming to Christ brings glory and honor to God. Bearing fruit for the kingdom of God pleases God and shows that we are his disciples.
Verse 9. Jesus here takes that idea of abiding and remaining in him to a deeper level and says that true abiding is marked by love. Jesus says in verse 9 to remain or abide in my love. Jesus makes it clear that if a person is living for him, their lives will be marked by love. Love must be the theme of our lives as disciples of Christ. Our care and concern for each other should define us. One cannot say they are in Christ and love is not the focus or center of their actions. When we talk about living out reaming or abiding in Christ we are talking about a lifestyle where love is the motivation for how we act, treat, and speak to one another.
Verse 10. Jesus clarifies this message by stating that love is about submission to God's will. Jesus says he submitted to the commands of the Father, and we should submit to the commands of him. The commands that are to be obeyed and not questioned. They are the orders regardless of how you feel about it. We are commanded to love each other whether we want to or not. It is a command and not a suggestion. Jesus demonstrates this love when he is in the garden prior to being crucified when He states, "not my will, but thine will be done.” Despite the pain of the cross, He went to the cross because that is what He was commanded to do. And we are commanded to love one another, and God is looking for total submission to that without question. He is not looking for us to challenge his authority but to be willingly submit to it. See obedience to God is at the heart of this issue, If God is God, and He is great and mighty, full of wisdom and knowledge. God says we should love one another; it stands to reason that he might know something that we don't know, and our only response is to trust him and his orders. I shouldn't say God is God if I am not going to trust that God knows what he is ordering me to do. Love is about submission to God's will because we must love when we don't feel like loving. Our love cannot originate from our feelings but must originate from a command. If we only love with our feelings, we will be selective with our love and only love the people who are like us, but God calls us to a deeper love that is not motivated by feelings but motivated by his commands.
Verses 11-12. Not only is abiding in Christ's love about submission to the commands of God, abiding or remaining in his love brings joy. First it brings joy to God, and then that joy from God deposited in you and then our joy is made complete. See what should make us happy is what makes God happy. What brings joy to God is our complete obedience to his will. If his will is for us to love one another, then by simply loving each other we bring joy to God that is translated into joy in our hearts. We must make a radical shift in what makes us joyful. Our joy should come from God. Jesus tells his disciples that the way to finding joy unspeakable is to find it in the will of God. The will of God is to demonstrate love like Jesus demonstrated love. Expressing true love for one another pleases God and that joy is deposited into our hearts.
Verses 13-17. Jesus says that the ultimate example of this kind of sacrificial love is dying for a friend. Jesus then says to the disciples that they are his friends if they do his commands an abide in him. He tells them that he no longer considers them servants that are below him, but friends that are with him. We are friends of God. This is a very powerful statement because it means that Jesus isn't withholding anything from them. This friendship with God is about relationship. A relationship that allows for access to God's storehouse. Jesus says because they are friends of God, they can ask God for anything. That is what friends do. If a friend has it and you need it, it is just like you have it. Up till now, there was a sense in which disciples were more like slaves than friends. It was not because Jesus was treating them unkindly, but because they were incapable of being anything else. A "friend" is one with whom you share your thinking, your goals, your motivations, your reasons for doing things. The disciples were simply not able to understand any of these things, even though our Lord communicated many of them to His disciples. But now, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and their abiding in Him, He could openly disclose His plans and purposes, so that they knew not only what He was seeking to do, but how and why He was doing it. No longer were His disciples to be "in the dark"• they were to be fully enlightened as to what He was doing. Abiding in Christ intimately connects us with Christ, so that we not only draw life and strength from Him, but we also come to know His heart and mind. I would ask you to take note of the fact that both Abraham and Moses are called the friend of God. In both cases, God reveals things to His "friend" that He does not reveal to others. And in both cases, based on what God did reveal to His "friend," this "friend" petitioned God on behalf of others, and the petition was granted. He then tells them the command, for the third time, love one another! ! ! Why does Jesus keep on telling them to love one another. Because Love is the true sign of abiding in Christ. New command love as I have loved you, no greater love, remain in his Love, and love each other. Jesus is pressing his point, but too often the church misses the big picture.
Verses 18-21. Abiding in Christ has many benefits, but one of the painful side effects is that because the world hates our Lord, it will likewise hate us. Thus, the abiding in Christ which produces a love for the brethren also incites the hatred of unbelievers towards us. Our Lord's words to His disciples not only indicate that they will experience great persecution from "the world," they also explain just why this hostility will be unleashed on them. Abiding in Christ will result in the "fruit" of being Christ-like. Thus, when the world observes Jesus living in and through His disciples, unbelievers will respond to them just as they once responded to the Lord Jesus. When this happens, the disciples are to recall that the world hated their Master first. If those who followed Jesus were to abide in the world, rather than to abide in Christ, the world would embrace them as one of their own. But since Jesus has chosen to snatch them out of the world, the world will hate them, just as it hated Him.
click here to select another lesson