5b He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
There is great assurance for everyone who wants to triumph over his spiritual failures, dullness and fruitless condition. Jesus here gives to every Christian the most essential key to living a fruitful life. He gives everyone who is discouraged and despondent over his failures, reasons to cheer himself in anticipation of a fruitful life.
A fruitful Christian life is not about one’s sufficiency or ability. One might feel that he is full of weakness. Let him not be ashamed to confess his insufficiency before the Lord. No one can bear fruit by himself, for Jesus had emphatically said that “without me ye can do nothing.” Earlier in verse 4, Jesus said, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” Admitting one’s inability and failures before the Lord and pleading for His help is the first and foremost step to a fruitful Christian life.
Notice what Jesus said: “without me ye can do nothing.” It is when one attempts to live and do things by his own strength and wisdom that he fails. Even in a small attempt like saying a good word that will glorify God, we will utterly fail without His enablement. We have no power at all to begin or accomplish anything spiritual.
To everyone who recognises and admits his helplessness, Jesus says, “Abide in me and I in you” (v. 4). What a sympathising Saviour is our Lord Jesus! He welcomes His weak and frail child to abide in Him. Oh, what consolation it is that a disappointed and troubled Christian can depend on Christ. Abiding in Christ is to depend upon His wisdom and strength in living a life of faith and obedience to His doctrines and counsels, and in modelling our lives after His example.
Christ assures us that He will abide in everyone who abides in Him. Every Christian who lives in total dependence on and submission to Christ can most assuredly say, “Christ liveth in me.” Like the apostle Paul who lived a triumphant Christian life, everyone who abides in Christ can say, “to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). The glorious assurance is that Christ, who is the source and endless supply of a fruitful life, shall then abide in us and help us to bear fruit. A fruitful Christian pleases and glorifies the Lord, and becomes a blessing to those around him. So, let us always abide in Christ.