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JOHN 15:6 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 15:5John 15:7
“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.”
Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned — the consequence of failing to abide is total separation from the source of life and thus from fruit-bearing, righteousness, and ultimately from salvation. The withering branch is lifeless wood, fit only for fuel. The burning suggests not merely loss but destruction, the annihilation of what cannot be redeemed. This hard saying shows that abiding is not automatic; it requires sustained connection, persistent faith, continual return to the source.

Church Fathers on John 15:6

Having said that they were clean through the word which He had spoken to them, He now taught them that they must do their part.

Chrysostom · 4th century

not they in Him, as He in them; for both are for the profit not of Him, but them. The branches do not confer any advantage upon the vine, but receive their support from it: the vine supplies nourishment to the branches, takes none from them: so that the abiding in Christ, and the having Christ abiding in them, are both for the profit of the disciples, not of Christ; according to what follows, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can…

Augustine · 4th century · Abide in Me, and I in you

All the fruit of good works proceeds from this root. He who has delivered us by His grace, also carries us onward by his help, so that we bring forth more fruit. Wherefore He repeats, and explains what He has said: I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in Me, by believing, obeying, persevering, and I in Him, by enlightening, assisting, giving perseverance, the same, and none other, brings forth much fruit.

Alcuin · 8th century
Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 15:6 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy