John 15:1-8 clearly teaches that Christ is the Vine who produces the fruit, the fruit being the good works of His believers. The Branches symbolize the believers who can either abide in the Vine or not. The Branches who abide in the Vine are those believers who desire to be close to Christ, to obey Him, to study His Word, to meet for worship and to lead a clean life for the glory of God. But these efforts on the part of His believers do not produce the fruit. These efforts only allow the sap from the Vine, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, to flow through the Branches to produce the fruit.
John 15:6 does not teach that a believer who fails to abide in the Vine loses His salvation. This verse teaches that the carnal believer receives discipline from God for not yielding his life to the control of the Holy Spirit. This same kind of discipline is recorded in I Corinthians 3:15. Believers saved by the grace of God never lose their salvation. John 10:27-29.
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