John 15:1-6 (NKJV)

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  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. 

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 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.

“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.

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.

In the above verses, Jesus is emphasizing the importance of maintaining faith by using an illustration of a vine and its branches. He stated that people would initially demonstrate faith in Him which would be evidenced by their fruits or actions. Nevertheless, they would fail to be faithful and are “thrown out like a fruitless branch.”

People have often used this metaphor to teach that if you don’t produce fruit, you will be lost forever.

Explanation

It is important to understand the context of this passage. Jesus here provides a contrast between the false branch (Judas Iscariot), who would betray Him in the near future, and the true branch (the disciples), who would remain faithful to Him.

According to Jesus, there are people who adhere to Christ superficially but bear no fruit in reality.

The word abide is a key term in these verses.

Abiding isn’t a separate aspect of salvation; rather, it’s a state of intimacy with Christ that believers should aim to achieve after salvation, and it’s through God’s Spirit that we achieve it.

According to the Bible, salvation is a gift of grace and is maintained by grace (Galatians 3:2–3).

Additionally, if a branch could somehow fall away from the vine, resulting in the loss of salvation, it would contradict other passages in Scripture that teach eternal security (John 10:27-30).

With all of this in mind, the True Vine metaphor can be interpreted as follows:

Jesus is the True Vine, and those who truly abide in Him are the branches. Believers in Christ are strongly connected to Him and know that if He did not preserve them, they would be lost.

Pretenders who are unsaved are the withered branches that do not “abide” in Him. They falsely accepted an invitation to be attached to the vine but drew no life from Him.

For a while, Peter and Judas appeared to walk the same path with Christ. Peter, however, was a member of the vine, while Judas was not.

This is how the apostle John re-emphasized the ‘withered-branch’ principle in 1 John 2:19:

1 John 2:19 (NKJV)

They (people opposed to Christ) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

When Jesus uses the phrase “in Me” it is merely describing those who outwardly and superficially attach themselves to Him (cf. Matt. 13:20–22; Rom. 9:6–8; 11:16–24; 1 John 2:19). 

True churches will always have people who appear to be part of the faith but are, in reality, false converts. The New Testament offers many illustrations of such individuals. They are likened to tares growing among the wheat (Matt. 13:25–30), bad fish that are eventually discarded (Matt. 13:48), and goats who face eternal punishment (Matt. 25:33, 41).

Jesus also warns of those who will be left outside when the master closes the door (Luke 13:25–27), foolish virgins who miss the wedding feast (Matt. 25:1–12), and unfaithful servants who squander what they were entrusted with (Matt. 25:24–30).

Additionally, Scripture speaks of apostates who depart from the fellowship of believers (1 John 2:19), showing an unbelieving heart by turning away from God (Heb. 3:12), continuing in sin after receiving knowledge of the truth (Heb. 10:26), and ultimately falling to destruction (Heb. 10:39).

Though these individuals may believe they are on the path to heaven, they are actually on the broad road leading to destruction (Matt. 7:13–14).

It is clear from Jesus’ teachings that abiding in Him as a genuine disciple will result in righteous behavior and eternal joy and blessing (John 15:10-11). But those whose profession of faith is false (like Judas) will be fruitless and ultimately suffer eternal torment.