Tag: Abide

This is the first of the two multiplying commands, which comes from John 15:1-17 (Thomas and Gundry, Harmony: NASB Sec.219)

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to stress the importance of a life of dependency on Christ instead of self-sufficiency. Jesus said, “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). Abiding in Christ, depending on Him, is the only way that we can experience spiritual fruit. Abiding in Christ involves believing in Him and maintaining unbroken fellowship with Christ.

Historical Background: John 13-17 contains Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. Here Jesus sought to strengthen and confirm the belief of his disciples, teaching them about service, love, heaven, prayer, persecution, the Holy Spirit, joy, victory, and unity. (J. Carl Laney)

Christ and the eleven disciples have just left the upper room (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26; John 14:31) and the teaching on the vine comes as Christ is walking to the garden of gethsemane where he will be betrayed. As Jesus begins to use the metaphor of a vine, perhaps his disciples had a series of flashbacks.

1) Earlier the same week Jesus leveled a series of woes against Israel’s false religious leaders and said that their house (temple) was left to them desolate (Matthew 23:38). Jesus has also spoken of the temple’s destruction (Matthew 24:1-2). A massive vine had been worked into the architecture of the temple.

The vine is a familiar symbol of Israel in the Psalms and the prophets (Psalm 80:8-16; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21; 5:10; 12:10; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17:1-24; Hosea 10:1).1n fact, the Maccabeans (about 150 B.C.) inscribed it on their coins to represent their nation. And Herod the Great, restoring the Jerusalem temple in 19 B.C., had a large vine of gold hung around the entrance to the Holy Place.

2) Jesus has just instituted the Lord’s Supper, complete with the “fruit of the vine” (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:15; Luke 22:18). All this adds to the powerful picture that Jesus is about to paint for his disciples. This Eucharistic Celebration will be one of the most meaningful ways that believers can commemorate and consecrate their connection with the Vine. (Mark E. Moore pgs.238-239)

3) After exiting the upper room (John 14:31) Jesus and his disciples were walking through vine groves that lead to the perfect metaphor for his teaching.

Commanded in the Gospels: John 15:4 – abide; John 15:9 – abide also John 5:38; 6:27, 56; 8:31; 12:46.

Illustrated in the Book of Acts: The practices of a believer that is abiding in Christ are found in the Book of Acts but the technical phrase is not found.

Amplified in the Epistles: 1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 17, 19, 24, 27, 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24; 4;12, 13, 15, 16; 2 John 2:2, 9.

1. If Jesus was “the true vine,” then who was “the false vine”? (John 15:1) In the Old Testament God calls Israel the “vine” but the nation had become apostate. God wanted them to be a light and source of blessing to the world, but because of unbelief Jesus announces that He and He alone is [ego eimi] the true vine.

2. What is the job of the vine? (John 15:4, 5, 8) The job of the vine is to provide the necessary sap to the branches so that they can bear fruit.

3. What was the vinedresser’s (gardener’s) responsibility? (John 15:1-2, 6) The job of the vinedresser is to cut off fruitless branches and prune fruitful branches. It’s the vinedresser’s responsibility to prune and to punish.

4. What are the five different degrees of fruit bearing?

1. “no fruit” John 15:2
2. “fruit” John 15:2
3. “more fruit” John 15:2
4. “much fruit” John 15:8
5. “fruit that will remain” John 15:16

5. Who are the fruitless branches in the analogy of the vine? (John 15:2; Isaiah 5:1-7) The analogy in the Old Testament went like this. God has a root of blessing, and blessing comes through that root and extends to the extremities so that anybody who would be blessed would need to be grafted into the root of blessing. Israel saw themselves as that blessing root. And they had a right to see themselves that way because God had called them his vine. In Isaiah, the Lord said that he planted the vine on a very fertile hill. He looked at his vine, and instead of his vine bringing forth good grapes, it brought forth worthless grapes, and God condemned it.

God says, “Israel is an empty vine.” You see, God had made Israel the stock of blessing, and anybody who would be blessed would be blessed in the tents of Shem. They would be blessed in identification with Israel, the repository of God’s truth and God’s law. But Israel forfeited the place of blessing by unbelief, and so the Messiah comes along and says, “Now, I am the vine, the true one. No longer is a man blessed by being in Israel; he is blessed when he truly is in Me.”

So the fruitless branches are Jews by birth who didn’t share the faith of Abraham in Jehovah God. They are the Israelites of Jesus’ day who rejected their Messiah. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the nation of Israel in these terms. (Isaiah 5:1-7)
Jesus alluded to this passage in Matthew 21 when telling the parable of the Landowner. (Matthew 21:33-39)

In this parable God is the “landowner,” the prophets are “his slaves” and Jesus is his “son.” So what will the landowner do since Israel is not producing fruit?

Matthew 21:43, 45 – Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

6. What is the purpose of a branch? (John 15:2) The vinedresser says the purpose of the branch is to bear fruit.

7. What kind of fruit can we bear as Christians?

1. Character (Galatians 5:22-23)
2. Conduct (Philippians 1:11; Colossians 1:10)
3. Contributions (Romans 15:28)
4. Converts (John 4:36; Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 16:15; Colossians 1:6)

8. What kind of fruit is Jesus referring to in this passage? (John 15:2, 4, 5, 16, 4:36) The kinds of fruit that Jesus is referring to in this context are converts. They are the product of “going” (John 5:16; Mark 16:15). The only kind of fruit that Jesus has taught about in this Gospel is a harvest of souls for salvation (John 4:36). Jesus says, “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” The other references to “fruit” in Scripture were written years later after this encounter with Christ.

9. What does it mean that the vinedresser “takes away” the branches that don’t bear fruit? (John 15:2, 6) Coming on the heels of Judas’ desertion this word picture has powerful implications for the Eleven. Branches that He “takes away” were never believers, that is, they were not actually “in Christ” (John 15:2). Anyone who professes faith in Christ but either does not produce fruit or does not persevere in Christ was never a real believer in the first place. John 15:6 adds, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” These fruitless branches are taken away and cast in the fire like the tares in Matthew 13:39-40.

John MacArthur writes, “The Father ‘takes away’ the branches that fail to bear fruit. John 15:2 doesn’t say He fixes them up; it says He cuts them off. John 15:6 says that those branches are gathered, thrown into a pile, and burned. The Father deals with them with finality. Now if that refers to Christians, we’ve got some problems. I believe that the fruitless branches refer to people who profess to have a relationship to Jesus Christ, who apparently are in the vine as a follower of Christ, but are like Judas and have never been saved. That is obvious because they never bear spiritual fruit. At a certain point in the Father’s timing, the fruitless branches are cut off from the life and health of the vine and the other branches. Professing Christians who aren’t really saved and therefore don’t bear fruit will be cast away and burned in an act of divine punishment.”

10. How does the Father prune the branches? (John 15:2) “The word translated “pruned” [kathairei] literally means “to cleanse,” “to purge,” “to purify.” The verb is commonly used in inscriptions of ceremonial cleansing. It is not the normal word for pruning, but was chosen here because Christ was talking about people rather than vines” – J. Carl Laney. Pruning involves removing things that hinder the branch from full productivity.

God brings trials into our lives that expose the areas that hinder our productivity. These trials open up the areas in our life that the Word of God can address. Unfortunately we often repeat the same trial because we don’t learn to apply his Word the first go-around. Trials that are repeated are often lessons unlearned.

Understanding Why a Farmer Prunes The Vines:

To understand the spiritual lesson regarding God’s dealings with people, it is necessary to understand why a farmer prunes vines. According to one expert regular pruning is necessary during the vine’s growing season.1

“Pinching” with the thumb and finger removes the growing tip of a vigorous shoot so that it will not grow too rapidly and be broken or damaged by the wind. “Topping” involves the removal of one or two feet from the end of a growing shoot to prevent a later loss of the entire shoot which might be snapped off by the wind. “Thinning,” the removal of flower or grape clusters, enables the rest of a branch to bear more and better quality fruit. “Pruning” involves the cutting away of suckers that arise from below the ground or from the trunk and main branches. In addition to this pruning during the growing season, during the fall or winter, the farmer prunes the vines back to the main stalk, except for perhaps two mature shoots. 2

Another way that God prunes the believing branches is through loving discipline (Hebrews 12:4-13). J. Carl Laney “As the vinedresser cuts away what would hinder the productivity of the vine, so God the Father, through loving discipline (cleansing, purging, purifying), removes things from the lives of believers that do not contribute to their spiritual fruitfulness. The writer of Hebrews may have had this ‘pruning’ in mind when he pointed out that God disciplines his children. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6). He added that while divine discipline is sorrowful, not joyful, ‘afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (John 12:11).

The ‘pruning’ of fruit-bearing disciples may not always be the result of sin. Pruning may be (designed to prevent it. Paul was privileged to be caught up to paradise and experience unspeakable things (2 Corinthians 12:1-4). This unique opportunity gave Paul a tendency to boast, but God corrected this tendency by giving him a ‘thorn in the flesh’ – a physical affliction – to keep him from exalting himself (2 Corinthians 12:7).”- J. Carl Laney

11. Is it possible to be genuinely saved and yet not manifest any fruit or good works in one’s life as a result of regeneration? (James 2:14-26; Luke 8:15, 21; Matthew 7:21-23) According to some evangelicals today, the answer is “yes” (Zane Hodge). In an attempt to avoid a works religion, some Christians today have imposed on the orthodox doctrine of salvation an unscriptural dichotomy between faith and fruit. Jesus teaching on the sower and the seed makes it clear that only fruit bearers are in the family of God. It’s not just those that hear the Word of God but those who hear it and bring forth fruit as they patiently apply it and do it (Luke 8:15,21). The fruit of obedience in their lives gives evidence that they are no longer sons of disobedience but genuine children of God (Ephesians 2:2; 5:6; Colossians 3:6).

It’s not the perfection of their life but the overall direction. Salvation is not verified by a past act but by present obedience.

12. Who are the branches that bear fruit? (John 15:3 John 13:10) Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” Jesus here assures the Eleven that they are among the fruit-bearing branches. With use of the word “clean” [katharoi] Jesus alludes back to a statement that he made earlier that evening to Peter. Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:10). When Jesus said, “not all of you” he was referring to the “Judas branch” who was not a true believer but had superficially connected himself to the Vine. The Eleven disciples were clean because of the Word and gave evidence that they were abiding in Christ by being fruit-bearing branches.

13. What did Jesus command His disciples to do? (John 15:4) Jesus commanded His disciples, “Abide [Aorist Imperative] in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” Abiding in Christ involves believing in him and maintaining unbroken fellowship with Christ. The word “abide” [meinate] is one of John’s favorite words. The Greek word is meno.

W. E. Wuest provides insight into this Greek word:

Its classical usage will throw light upon the way it is used in the N.T. It meant “to stay, stand fast, abide, to stay at home, stay where one is, not stir, to remain as one was, to remain as before.” In the N.T., it means “to sojourn, to tarry, to dwell at one’s own house, to tarry as a guest, to lodge, to maintain unbroken fellowship with one, to adhere to his party, to be constantly present to help one, to put forth constant influence upon one.” “In the mystic phraseology of John, God is said to meno in Christ, i.e., to dwell as it were in him, to be continually operative in Him by His divine influence and energy (John 14:10); Christians are said to meno in God, to be rooted as it were in him, knit to him by the Spirit they have received from Him (1 John 2:6, 24, 27; 3:6); hence one is said to meno in Christ or in God, and conversely, Christ or God is said to meno in one (John 6:56; 15:4),” Thayer quotes Ruckert in the use of meno in the words “Something has established itself permanently within my soul, and always exerts its power in me,”

The word therefore has the ideas of “permanence of position, occupying a place as one’s dwelling place, holding and maintaining unbroken communion and fellowship with another.” John uses meno in the following places in his gospel, John 1:32, 33, 38, 39; 2:12; 3:36; 4:40; 5:38; 6:27, 56; 7:9; 8:31, 35; 9:41; 10:40; 11:6; 12:24, 34; 12:46; 14:10, 16, 17, 25; 15:4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16; 19:31; 21:22, 23; in 1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 17, 19, 24, 27, 28; 3:6, 9, 14, 15, 17, 24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16; in 2 John 1:2, 9. The words “abide, dwell, tarry, continue, be present,” are the various translations in the Authorized Version (KJV). Study these places where the word occurs, and obtain a comprehensive view of its usage.

In John 15, the abiding of the Christian in Christ refers to believing in Christ and maintaining unbroken fellowship with Him. He makes his spiritual home in Christ. There is nothing between himself and his Savior, no sin unjudged and not put away. He depends upon him for spiritual life and vigor as the branch is dependent upon the vine. The abiding of Christ in the Christian is his permanent residence in him and his supply­ing, that Christian with the necessary spiritual energy to produce fruit in his life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Wuest Word Studies in the Greek New Testament Vo/.3, pgs.64,65)

14. What is the only way a Christian can bear fruit? (John 15:4) You must be abiding in Christ.

The Importance of Abiding for Small Group Leaders:

“Abide in Me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). No amount of skill training can replace the necessity of an intimate relationship with Christ through the Word and prayer. Abiding in Christ is not negotiable if you want to produce more fruit and fruit that remains. John 4:36 says, “And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life.”

Joel Comiskey (Home Cell Church Explosion, Touch Publications, 2002) did a case study on eight of the fastest growing cell churches in the world. More than 700 cell leaders completed a survey that was designed to determine why some cell leaders succeed (fruit) and others fail at evangelizing and giving birth to new cells. His survey findings revealed that there wasn’t anything sensational or mystical about their fruitfulness. The first 2 factors that affect cell multiplication are:

• The cell leader’s devotional time. Those who spend 90 minutes or more in devotions per day multiply their groups twice as much as those who spend less than 30 minutes.
• The cell leader’s intercession for the cell members. Those who pray for cell members are most likely to multiply groups.

15. What are the conditions for Abiding in Christ? (John 15:7; 1 John 2:6, 24; 3:6, 24; 4:13, 15, 16) The one who abides:

1. Spends time in God’s Word and prayer – John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” The basis for abiding in Christ is communication with God through Bible Study and prayer. We talk to God in prayer and He talks to us through his Word.
2. Walks as Jesus walked – 1 John 2:6 “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
3. Holds to the truth learned at salvation – 1 John 2:24 “As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”
4. Doesn’t habitually sin – 1 John 3:6 “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.”
5. Keeps the commands of Christ – 1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”
6. Conscious of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence – 1 John 4:13 “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”
7. Confesses that Jesus is the Son of God – 1 John 4:15 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
8. Lives in love – 1 John 4:16 “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

16. What are the rewards for meeting the conditions for abiding in Christ? (John 15:5, 7, 8, 11, 16; 1 John 2:28) The rewards for abiding in Christ are:

1. Bears much fruit – John 15:5 “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.”
2. Answered prayer – John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
3. God is glorified – John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
4. Joy made full – John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
5. Bear fruit that remains – John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
6. Confidence when Christ returns – 1 John 2:28 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”

17. What phrase in John 15:5 stresses our dependency on Christ to bear fruit? Jesus said, “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.” The phrase, “for apart from Me you can do nothing” makes it emphatically clear that we can do “NOTHING”, not something but nothing if we are not Abiding in Christ.

18. What will happen to the branches that bear no fruit? (John 15:2, 6) Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

19. What is the reward for abiding in Christ in John 15:7? Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask [Aorist Imperative] whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” The reward for abiding in Christ is answered prayer. It’s conditional on our abiding in Christ and time spent in his Word. Jesus can confidently assert that you can pray for “whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” because that promise is only for those that are abiding in Christ. Those that are believing and maintaining fellowship with Christ ask for things that are consistent with his will (1 John 5:14). The verb “ask” [aitesasthe] is an Aorist imperative that denotes urgency.

20. How can we prove that we are Christ’s disciples? (John 15:8) Jesus says, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” We prove that we are Christ’s disciples by bearing much fruit (converts). If you were in a court of law and had to prove that you are a disciple of Christ by the people that you’ve led to Christ would you have sufficient evidence? God is the One who saves, but are you actively partnering with God by cultivating, planting, watering and reaping when the opportunity presents itself?

21. What does Christ command his disciples in John 15:9? Jesus said, “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide [Aorist Imperative] in My love.” The word “abide” [meinate] in the phrase “abide in my love” is an aorist imperative. The imperative mood is the mood of command.

22. What is the promised reward for keeping the Commands of Christ? (John 15:10) The promised reward is abiding in Christ’s love. John 15:10 says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” The word “if” [eon] makes the promised reward conditional. The promised reward for obedience is that the disciple of Christ “will abide in My love” [meneite en mou te agape]. The verb “abide” is a future active indicative which pictures us in the sphere of his love as we keep his commandments.

Jude wrote, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life” (Jude 1:21). John MacArthur writes, “This ‘keeping’ in the Greek construction, relates to place or location ‘in the love of God,’ where we can receive his blessings.” Jude has already said that every true believer is eternally secure in God’s love. In Jude 1:1, he tells his readers that they are the “beloved in God the Father.” This verb “beloved” is a perfect participle in the Greek, and means that God loved us at a point of time in the past with continuing and abiding results. We are the continual object of his love.

We do not control God’s love for us, but as Moffatt notes concerning Jude 1:21, his love “has its own terms of communion.” Hiebert says, “Jude is asking his readers to keep themselves consciously in God’s love, just as a doctor tells his patient to keep himself in the sunshine. The reader must be alert to keep anything from clouding their consciousness of his love” (Hiebert, pg. 285).

The way to keep ourselves in the love of God is to keep his commandments. You may ask, “Can I be separated from the love of Christ?” God’s elect who have been justified by his blood (Romans 5:8-9; 8:31-39) cannot be separated from the love of God.

Love Not Returned (1 Corinthians 16:22)
Recipient of God’s Wrath (Romans 5:8-9)

23. What things did Jesus speak that produce joy in the disciples of Christ? (John 15:11) Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” The word “that” [hino] provides the purpose for the things that Jesus has taught them in John 15:1-10. When we abide in Christ, bear much fruit, abide in his Word, abide in Christ’s love it arouses nothing but pure joy!

24. How does Jesus define the kind of love that we should express to one another? (John 15:12-13) Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” We are to love [agapao] each other with a self-sacrificial love. The word “love” [agapao] used in these verses is the verb of intelligent, purposeful, and committed love that is an act of the will. This love is in contrast to the emotion and tender affection of phileo and the physical, sensual love of eros (which is not used in the New Testament). Agapao love doesn’t love because the object is loveable, it has nothing to do with feelings other than the fact that after you have repeatedly chosen to love someone, you start to treasure the person that you’ve invested in and feelings (affection) often follow.

25. What is the prerequisite for a spiritual friendship with Christ? (John 15:14) Jesus told His disciples, “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” Habitual [poiete] not just sporadic obedience is the prerequisite to spiritual friendship with Christ. You can be in a natural family and feel closer to some family members. This is also true in our spiritual family. Jesus defines friendship in terms of obedience. The obedient Christian life results in becoming a confidant of Jesus (John 15:15). Discipleship results in friendship! This is counterintuitive to our contemporary thinking, that we must establish a meaningful friendship before we can disciple someone. If someone longs to become more like Christ and is willing to submit to an accountable relationship, the result of this discipleship relationship will be friendship. The phrase “if you do” [eon poiete] is a present active subjunctive. The subjective mood affirms objective possibility. It assumes that a verbal idea is not now a fact but may become one. The action is possible, but it depends on certain objective factors. The objective factor in this context is obeying the commands of Christ.

26. How did Jesus elevate the disciple’s standing in the gospel ministry? (John 15:15) Jesus said, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” Because of their obedience “Jesus elevated the disciples above mere tools and made them partners in his work. A slave is never given a reason for the work assigned to him; he must perform it because he has no other choice. The friend is the confidant who shares the knowledge of his superior’s purpose and voluntarily adopts it as his own. Jesus declared that He had revealed to the disciples all that the Father had given to him. The disclosure of the mind of God concerning his career and theirs would give them assurance that they were engaged in the right task and that God would ultimately bring it to a successful conclusion.” (Expositors pg.153) Discipleship ultimately leads to friendship.

27. What were we chosen and appointed for? (John 15:16 cp. Acts 4:13) Jesus said, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” Jesus chose us to “go” and “bear much fruit.” He chose us to “go” NOT to “sit.” Christ has a bias for action. Every believer is sent as a missionary! God doesn’t choose the equipped, he equips the chosen. The disciples weren’t chosen because they were competent, they were competent because they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). You learn ministry by doing ministry. Some people want to grow and then “go.” Christ wants you to grow as you “go.”

28. How does John 15:17 fit into the context? Jesus concludes by saying, “This I command you, that you love one another.” Every believer is on mission for God, but it’s a co-mission that we are to do together. The love that we have for one another as we fulfill the Great Commission is the great apologetic in our day (Acts 5:42).

Sources: The questions and answers for this study were gleaned from the following resources.

1. Serendipity Bible for Groups by: Serendipity House, Zondervan Publishing House, 1998
2. Abiding is Remaining in Fellowship: Another Look at John 7 5:7-6 by: Joseph C. Dillow, Bibleotheca Sacra, Volume 147, January-March 1990, Number 585, Pages 44-53. Dallas Seminary Press, 1990.
3. The Expositor’ s Bible Commentary, Volume 9 by: Frank E. Gaebelein, Zondervan Publishing House, 1 981 .
4. Jesus Christ Disciple Maker by: Bill Hull, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1990.
5. A Re-evaluation of the Johannine Concept of Abiding by: John Paul King, Thesis from Dallas Theological Seminary on microfiche, 1974
6. Abiding is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1-6 by: J. Carl Laney, Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 146, January-March 1989, Number 581, Pages 55-66. Dallas Seminary Press, 1989.
7. Abiding in Christ by: John MacArthur Jr., Moody Press, 1986.
8. Abiding in Christ by: John R. Mott, The Herald of Gospel Liberty, The Christian Publishing / Association, Dayton Ohio, 1918
9. The Gospel under Siege by: Zane C. Hodge (Dallas: Redencion Viva, 1981 ), pp. 9-18.
10. The Chronological Life of Christ Vol.2 by: Mark E. Moore, College Press Publishing Company, 1997
11. Second Peter and Jude: An Expositional Commentary by: D. Edmond Hiebert, Unusual Publications, 1989

1 H. E. Jacob,. Grape Growing in California,” Circular #116 (California Agricultural Extension Service, The College of Agriculture, University of California at Berkeley, April 1940).

2 James E. Rosscup, Abiding in Christ: Studies in John 15 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1973), p.50

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber Jr.]
© Copyright 1994 Richard D. Leineweber Jr.

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