I am the vine, ye are the branches
Christ here repeats what he said of himself, "the vine", for the
sake of the application of "the branches" to his disciples: which
expresses their sameness of nature with Christ; their strict and
close union to him; and the communication of life and grace,
holiness and fruitfulness, of support and strength, and of
perseverance in grace and holiness to the end from him:
he that abideth in me, and I in him;
which is the case of all that are once in Christ, and he in them:
the same bringeth forth much fruit;
in the exercise of grace, and performance of good works; and
continues to do so as long as he lives, not by virtue of his own
free will, power, and strength, but by grace continually received
from Christ:
for without me ye can do nothing;
nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it
little or great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think
a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can
neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. Nothing is
to be done "without Christ"; without his Spirit, grace, strength,
and presence; or as "separate from" him. Were it possible for the
branches that are truly in him, to be removed from him, they
could bring forth no fruits of good works, any more than a branch
separated from the vine can bring forth grapes; so that all the
fruitfulness of a believer is to be ascribed to Christ, and his
grace, and not to the free will and power of man.