Aren't branches that don't abide burned?
John 15, the vine and the branches.
The short answer Settled
In the picture, yes. But a believer who does not abide loses his fruit, not his salvation. To abide is to stay joined to Christ, as a branch stays joined to the vine.
Already clean
Jesus spoke to men He had already called clean: "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (). Only then did He say, "Abide in Me, and I in you" (). Abiding is not how they were made clean.
What He ties to abiding is fruit, the good that comes from a life joined to Him: "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" ().
The fire
"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" (). The man is compared to a branch, and what is burned are the branches. Vine wood is good for nothing else: "it is thrown into the fire for fuel," and "Is it useful for any work?" (). The picture shows a useless life, not a lost soul.
The usual objection
The branch that is cast out was "in Me" (), and it ends in the fire (). On this view a believer stays joined to Christ only as long as he abides, and if he stops, he is cut off and burns in hell.
The one who believes "has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment" (). A believer who does not abide faces the Father's discipline in this life: "when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (). And he may be ashamed when Christ comes: "abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming" (). The cost is real, but it is not eternal life.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε Ēdē hymeis katharoi este, "You are already clean" (Strong's 2235, 2513) | Present indicative | Clean before they are told to abide. | |
| Μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί Meinate en emoi, "Abide in Me" (3306) | Aorist imperative | A command to men already clean. | |
| χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν chōris emou ou dynasthe poiein ouden, "without Me you can do nothing" (5565, 1410, 3762) | Present indicative, negated | What is lost is fruit. | |
| ὡς τὸ κλῆμα hōs to klēma, "as a branch" (5613, 2814) | Comparison | The man is compared to a branch. | |
| לָאֵשׁ נִתַּן לְאָכְלָה lā’ēš nittan lə’oḵlâ, "it is thrown into the fire for fuel" (784, 5414, 402) | Perfect passive | What vine wood is good for. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.