The phrase “Once saved, always saved” expresses the fact of the ‘eternal security’ every genuine believer enjoys during todays “dispensation of the grace of God.” – being exempt from judgment and punishment for sins committed before and even after salvation… by grace through faith in Christ as Savior.

But some say this verse refutes the doctrine of ‘eternal security,’ pointing to Jesus’ words here, spoken to His Twelve Apostles of Israel.

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6)

This verse is commonly employed to prove the idea that the possibility of the “loss of salvation,” after having been saved.  Allegedly, if a Christian does not “bear fruit” (that is, he has a life of sin instead of maintaining good works), then he will lose his place in Heaven. They assert that Father God will disown such Christians from His family if they do not practice ‘holy living’ sufficiently. By the way, how much is sufficiently?

In any case, is that what Jesus is teaching for Christian obedience today?

In John chapters 13–16 is the general context for chapter 15 where Jesus Christ is speaking in the upper room after they had eaten the Last Supper, on the night of His arrest and trial. These are Jesus’ words to Israel’s believing remnant, whom He calls the Father’s “little flock,” (Luke 12:32). These are disciples who submitted to John’s baptism of repentance, thereby being outwardly noted as having come out of Apostate Israel.

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

With this background in mind, we now turn to John 15:1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” Interestingly, the Biblical concept of “a vine” is nothing new in Scripture.

“Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.” (Psalm 80:8)

Undeniably, this “vine” refers to Israel, especially when compared to the words of Isaiah:

“Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: ²And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth ‘wild grapes’…. ⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” Isaiah 5:1-2, 7)

Clearly this above refers to Israel, not “the body of Christ,” nor is Jesus God’s originally intended “vine.”

But, the “vine” nation of Israel brought forth ‘wild fruit,’ fruit that God did not accept. The Jews became involved with pagan religion, idol worship, gross heathenism. Their nation, then Apostate and corrupted, became a nation that God had neither created nor intended. Therefore, Jesus says, “I am the true vine.”

If Israel will ever be God’s people, His nation of people in the Earth must then be associated with Jesus Christ, for only Jesus Christ is “well pleasing” in God’s sight (Matt. 3:17). Israel will ultimately be saved only “in the Lord,” to thereby be justified and given right standing before JEHOVAH God.

“²⁴Surely, shall one say, ‘in the LORD’ have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. ²⁵‘In the LORD’ shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” (Isaiah 45:24-25)

As opposed to being “in the Lord,” the people of Israel, as all men, are naturally born “in Adam” as hell-bound sinners. These two-headships is found and explained in Paul’s letter to the Romans

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. ¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶ And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷ For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰ Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹ That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:12-21)

In John 15 the Lord Jesus says His Heavenly Father is the “husbandman,” (farmer) of John 15:1. However, Satan was also laboring in Israel, but Satan is trying to bring about his own nation, a people that will accomplish his will in the Earth. Read Matt. 13:24-43 parable to note God’s work versus Satan’s counterfeit work in Israel… planting “tares,” etc.

Now back to John 15:2: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

Under Israel’s Law program, faith was proven by the “works” it was to produce. James, wrote to Israel saying “faith without works is dead” (cf. Jas 2:14-26). JEHOVAH God aims to ultimately create an Israel as His literal, physical, visible, nation on earth with earthly good works. This all starts by being, as Jesus said, “in me” (15:2 above).

The spiritual ultimately produces the physical expression. There is to be fruit-bearing among believing spiritual Jews only, as James 2 says, but those works are really the result of God working IN the believers rather than believers (or unbelievers) struggling in themselves to be justified before God. This same confusion abounds in Christendom, even today among some of “the Church, the Body of Christ.” Genuine righteous living is the result of God’s work in the hearts of men.

Now to John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” This is linked to the ‘purging’ of verse 2. God cleans the Messianic Jews by using “His Words,” which Jesus said “are spirit and life.’ Paul says we mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). Jesus Christ spoke God’s Words to Israel so Israel would have a chance to be clean, that is, to become Father God’s righteous servants on earth. (cf. John 17:1-26).

Israel could bear the fruit that He wanted them to produce in them long ago, when they came out of Egypt under Moses, but, due to their unbelief, He would not accept their “wild fruit” (Isaiah 5:2). Man’s works are as the sparks of self-effort. “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (Isaiah 50:11) So, the LORD had to create a new Israel, a born-again Israel, a nation spiritually born of Him instead of born of Satan (see Jn. 8:44, 1 Jn. 3:1-15).

Moving on to John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except (unless) ye abide in me.” Jesus Christ is speaking in the light of the whole nation Israel. He is sending out His 12 Apostles (not Judas Iscariot, but later Matthias) to convert the Apostate Jews. These unbelievers must be told to abide in Jesus Christ, as He will abide in them. He is “the vine,” life supply, and they are the branches. Without Him, they will not be able to bear fruit that God accepts. Unless they come to faith in Jesus Christ, they will not become the nation God wants.

The vine provides the branches with nourishment; “the vine,” not the branches, is directly attached to “the root,” which is Christ as the self-sustaining “root out of dry ground.” Religion, even God’s religion (Judaism), will not help these lost Jews. They need to now be “in Christ”: they must come to Jesus by faith in Him being Messiah, in order to become God’s earthly people!

Christ then says in John 15:5: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” This points back to verses 1 and 4. Jesus Christ is “the vine,” of the true nation Israel that Paul refers to as “The Israel of God” (Gal 6:16).

If Israel is to be the nation God intended, they must be “in Jesus Christ.” They have to come to a personal relationship with Him… by faith. ‘Whoever abides in Him, and He in them, they will bring forth much fruit.’ It is not that they will simply produce fruit; they will produce a lot of fruit. Without Him, they cannot do anything. The branches depend on the real vine, and so the believing Jew must rely upon Jesus Christ. Works are not the primary issue; faith is first and foremost, then good works become the demonstration of that faith. Go back to our comments about “literal, physical, visible, earthly” Israel having “literal, physical, visible, earthly” works to do. Remember, there is a day coming when God will put His Spirit in those of Israel and cause them to walk in His statutes. “I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:27)

Finally, we come to our key verse, John 15:6, the supposed problem verse:

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

This warning is not to the Apostles of the believers in Israel, but to the people to whom the Apostles will minister. The “little flock” Apostles must caution their unsaved Jewish brethren of the dangers of not abiding in Christ. The unbelievers among Israel will be cast forth as a withered branch, thrown into the fire and burned along with all the lost Gentile souls. This is the all-consuming fire is to be seen at Christ’s 2^nd coming (cf. 2Thes. 1:7-9, Matt. 13:30, 37-43), giving way to the 2^nd death in the “the Lake of Fire.” (Rev 20:14)

John 15:6 is not a threat against believers, neither the Messianic Jews of the “little flock” or us Christians today during “the dispensation of the Grace of God.” It has nothing to do with working to stay saved or wind up in “the Lake of Fire.” There is nothing in John 15 about Christians losing salvation, losing justification, losing eternal life. It’s a warning to the unsaved audience of the Twelve Apostles, those Apostates who the Apostles are to warn when they begin their ministries in the Book of Acts. For the remainder of this study, we will briefly survey more of the chapter to gain additional insight.

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)

If they abide “in Him,” the lost Jews will get into Christ… by faith, When the Messianic believers let God’s Words get into them, and then their prayers will be answered because they will the praying of God’s will.

Unanswered prayer is a very troubling issue for so many, but it does not have to be. Personal prayer is simply talking directly with God the Fagther in the light of His Words… to you. It's not talking to God in light of His Word in the Bible generally, or to someone else, such as Israel.

Today unanswered prayer results from us expecting Father God to do something He did not say He would do for us, perhaps for the believers of Israel in “time past,” but not us. He may have told someone else, in another age, He would do it for them, but He never told us (“the body of Christ”) He would do it for us. We must go to Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, for God’s Word to us. Paul is “THE apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), the Lord Jesus Christ’s spokesman to us in this “the Dispensation of the Grace of God” (Eph. 3:2). We cannot just grab verses from John 15 and force them upon us today... for Jesus had come only to speak and minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… during His earthly ministry.

“But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-6)

Now, we will go ahead and read more from John 15 about Israel’s fruit-bearing:

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. ¹⁰ If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. ¹² This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. ¹⁵ Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:8-15)

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). This passage is used today by Christendom’s legalistic pastors and teachers to try and make Christian ‘good works compulsory’ under threat of ‘salvation lost,’ saying; “Oh, you had better have works to prove your salvation or God will throw you out of His family!”

They primarily use this verse to refute the “once saved, always saved” slogan Bible believers have gained a reputation for. But they misuse John 15:6 claiming to it shows there’s no such thing as ‘once saved and always saved’! They quote Jesus saying He will reject and burn those who do not abide in Him!

Yet, the fact is that we as grace believers have been “sealed with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).

It’s undeniable that the Lord Jesus says in John, “If a man (of Israel) abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” But this admonition should be considered in light of something highly significant. It is not a threat to believers, but a warning to the unbelievers of Israel who fail to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! The Jews who have not joined the “Little Flock,” Israel’s believing remnant, will be consumed when Jesus Christ returns at His Second Coming (cf. Zech. 13:8-9). They must be a part of redeemed Israel—they must forsake apostate, satanic Israel—or they will face God’s wrath! This message was entrusted to the “little flock,” is for them to preach to the unbelieving lost Jews. John 15:6 was spoken with only the ‘lost, unfaithful Jews’ in mind.

One thing that needs to be made clear is that God’s grace is not against “good works” (Titus 2:11-15). Our Christian lives are to be filled with genuine good works (Eph. 2:10). But the Law’s, fear and guilt do not motivate or empower anyone us to do right (that would be ‘legalism’). We are under grace and not law.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. ¹⁵ What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Romans 6:14-15)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

It is ‘gratitude’ to Father God for what He has done for us in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins—This is what inwardly compels us to yield our lives to His will. (See 2 Cor. 5:14-21)

“For he (the Father) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; (so) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It is highly significant that nothing like John 15:6’s threat appears in Paul’s entire Book of Titus, yet Titus abounds with instructions about maintaining ‘good works’ under grace (Titus 1:16, 2:7, 2:14, 3:5, 3:8, 3:14). Surely then, John 15:6 was never intended to be a threat to us Christian grace believers during today’s “dispensation of the grace of God” concerning “the Church, the Body of Christ.”

Just think about it, you as a believer became forever joined to the Lord the moment you first believed, this apart from any good work of yours. You become “one spirit” with Christ’s “Spirit of life.” How can you become lost? Paul wrote of this union; “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Cor. 6:17) Jesus Christ’s resurrected “Spirit of life” was dispensed into the believer’s human “spirit of man” (Zech. 12:1b), whereby we become “one spirit” with Him who is forever in us as the new, righteous, us. Our “spirit of man” has been eternally mingled with His Spirit, as tea gets into water, becoming INSEPARABLE.

We were thereby “regenerated” in our spirit… having received Christ Spiritually as the “Seed (Gk. sperma)” of the Father (cf. Gal. 3:16, 1Peter 1:23), dispensed into our human “spirit of man.” We were thereby literally ‘born of the Spirit’ by God’s very own nature-bearing “seed, which is Christ”; we cannot become unborn. Salvation is ultimately to have received Christ’s crosswork for us by faith, thereby becoming a partaker of Christ’s resurrected life and nature (Col. 3:4, 2Pet. 1:4).