You are already clean because... (Part 3)

John 15:3 has given me so much new revelations in the past weeks. 

You can read part 1 and part 2 of my reflection, where I reflected on the conditions of how we are in Christ - cleansed and victorious. 

Let's go back again to John 15, Jesus' saying on the True Vine. 

15 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 
4 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. 
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Source: Internet

It shows me these truths about being in union with Christ. 

1. A believer has to first come into a genuine union with Christ, just as a branch needs to be really, wholly connected to the vine. 

The Apostle Paul wrote about olive tree in Romans 11. About the Israelites being the original branches and the Gentiles being wild olive tree branches. About the wild olive branches being grafted into the natural olive tree. 

Romans 11:24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

The original Greek word for grafted is egkentrizo, which means to cut into for the sake of inserting a scion. It gives a good illustration of how the olive branch becomes and is one with the olive tree. 

Source: Internet

Imagine cutting a branch and doing a half-hearted job at grafting in the branch to a tree! Needless to say, it is impossible for the branch to become one with the tree. 

Similarly, be it vine branches or olive tree branches, we can only truly abide in the vine (John 15:4) and became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree (Romans 11:17) when we are one with Christ. 

It has to be a genuine union with Christ. Without that, the branch will not be able to draw and partake of the life of the vine. And if the branch cannot draw and partake of the vine, it will not survive, much less bear fruit, and therefore will be taken away (John 15:2). 

2. A believer who abides in Christ has to be cleansed and is already cleansed. 

Notice how Jesus did not explain who the branches are in verse 1 to 3. 

He only mentioned "every branch in Me" and that "every branch that bears fruit He prunes (kathaírō), that it may bear more fruit". 

He then went on to address the listeners, saying "You are already clean (katharós) because of the word which I have spoken to you". 

To summarize John 15:1-8, every branch (believer) that abides in the vine (Jesus):

1. Will surely bear fruit 
2. Needs to be pruned (cleansed) in order to bear more fruit
3. Is already cleansed by Jesus' Words

When we first received salvation, a divine exchange took place where forgiveness, cleansing, redemption, blessing, victory and so much more becomes ours. 

Well, technically, that divine exchange actually took place 2000 years ago at the cross. But when we accept Christ and come into union with Him, we appropriate it  and receive it. Now, that divine exchange is ours! 

I would like to encourage you to listen to Pastor Leif Hetland as he talks about the price that Jesus paid for us on the cross and the beauty of what is available to us as a result of it, in his short sermon titled The Divine Exchange At The Cross

3. A believer is cleansed by the Word. 

Nobody likes to be pruned. 

There, that's a fact. Especially when being pruned means being cleansed by removing off all the filth and impurities. Surely it is not an easy and pleasant process. 

Remember how the prophet Malachi described God "like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap." (Malachi 3:2)? That doesn't sound like a pleasant experience to me. 

But here, Jesus plainly told us that "the words He has spoken over us have already cleansed us." So, I dare say, pruning, cleansing, purging does not necessarily have to equate hardship, trials or persecutions or unpleasant disciplining. 

I would much rather live out what the Holy Spirit revealed to me - that I am cleansed by the Word. 

Eph 5:26 tells us that Jesus sanctify and cleanse her (which is the church) with the washing of water by the word. 

Isn't it easier and better to abide in the Word and be continually cleansed by His Words? 

4. When a believer is in union with Christ, just as the branch is in the vine, it is an on-going, continual remaining. 

That is what abiding means, after all. 

The original Greek word for Abide, menō, means to remain:

1. In reference to place: to tarry, not to depart 
2. In reference to time: to continue to be, to last
3. In reference to state or condition: to remain as one, not to become another/ different. 

When Jesus told us to abide in Him, and He in us, and His words in us, he was instructing us to remain, abide in Him in the most absolute manner - place, time and condition. 

5. When a believer abides in Christ, there is an outward manifestation of this abiding. 

Just as a branch will bear fruit outwardly when it's inwardly connected to the vine, verse 5, 7 and 8 clearly tell us that there is an outward manifestation in our abiding in Christ - fruit, answered prayer and discipleship. I'm sure there are more. 

Verse 8 goes on to explain the reason: By this My Father is glorified. 

Beloved in Christ, 

Firstly, please know that you are already clean because of the word Jesus has spoken to you. 

Secondly, please see that pruning doesn't necessarily have to be tough trials and unpleasant disciplinary actions from a God who likes to prune us. 

Thirdly, as we come into union with Christ, menō in Him - tarrying and not moving away, continuing at all times and becoming as one with Him. 

Lastly, may the fruits that we bear as a result of abiding in Him glorifies our Father.