John 15:2

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

He will cut off [See verse 6] every branch [i.e., follower of Christ] who is in [fellowship with] me that does not bear fruit. And He will prune every branch that does bear fruit, so it will bear more fruit.

Cross References

Matthew 3:10

And even now the axe is ready to chop down the trees [i.e., you Jewish people]. Every tree [i.e., person] that does not produce wholesome fruit [i.e., godly, repentant lives] will be cut down and thrown into the fire [i.e., the final punishment of the wicked].

Matthew 15:13

But He answered and said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.

Revelation 3:19

“I rebuke and discipline those I love, so be earnest and repent.

John 15:8

My Father is honored by your bearing much fruit and [thus] showing that you are my disciples.

Matthew 13:12

For to the person who [already] has something, [more] will be given, so he will have a larger amount [i.e., of understanding], but from the person who has [almost] nothing, even [the little] he has will be taken away from him.

Matthew 3:12

His winnowing shovel [Note: This was a process whereby grain was tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the husks away, leaving only good grain on the ground] is in His hand and He will completely clear off His threshing floor [by removing all of the husks]. And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but will burn up the husks with a fire that will never go out.”

Matthew 21:19

Upon seeing a fig tree along side of the road, He approached it [i.e., expecting to find fruit on it], but found nothing but leaves. He said to the tree, “There will not be fruit on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered up.

Hebrews 12:15

Look carefully [at how you are living] so that no one falls away from God’s unearned favor, and that no “poisonous plant sprouts up” to cause trouble and corrupt many people [Note: This is an analogy from Deut. 29:16-18 being used as a warning against the evil influence of wicked people],

John 15:16

I command you to do these things so that you will [demonstrate your] love for one another. [Note: Or this may mean that His command was to love one another, as in verse 12].

Luke 8:13

And those people [represented by the seed falling] on rocky ground are those who, upon hearing the word [of God], accept it gladly, but since they have no root [system], they believe it for [only] awhile, and [then] in times of trial fall away [from God].

1 John 2:19

These antichrists left our group [i.e., withdrew their fellowship from us], but they were not [really a part] of us, for if they had been, they would have continued [to participate] with us. But, by their leaving us, it proved that none of them were [really] a part of our group [after all].

Titus 2:14

He gave Himself up for us, to buy us back from [enslavement to] all [kinds of] wickedness and to purify for Himself a group of people who belong to Him and who are eager to do good deeds.

1 Corinthians 13:1

If I have the ability to speak in the languages of human beings and angels [Note: Perhaps the idea is supernaturally and eloquently], but do not have love [for people], I have become [no more than] a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Romans 8:28

And we know that God works out everything for the good of those who love Him and are called [to serve Him] in harmony with His purpose [for them].

John 17:12

I protected them while I was with them by [the power of] your name which you gave me. [See verse 11]. I guarded them so that not one of them was lost except the “son of destruction” [i.e., Judas]. [This was] so that the Scripture would be fulfilled [Psa. 41:9 (?)].

Matthew 13:33

Then He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is similar to yeast, which a woman worked into a batch of dough [i.e., the amount was over half a bushel], until [the dough] was completely leavened [by it].”

Matthew 7:19

Every tree that does not produce wholesome fruit should be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 25:29

For to every person who has [something], more will be given, so he will have plenty. But from the person who has [virtually] nothing, even that [little bit] he has will be taken away [from him].

Mark 4:20

Then there were those who were sown on fertile soil. These represent people who heard ‘the word,’ accepted it and yielded a crop of thirty, sixty and even a hundred times [as much as was planted].”

John 15:1

[Jesus continued], “I am the real vine, and my Father is the owner of the vineyard.

John 15:3

You people are already ‘clean’ [i.e., have been pruned of undesirable traits] because of [obedience to] the teaching I have given you.

John 15:6

If a person does not remain united to me, he will be thrown out as a [fruitless] branch and dried up. People gather up such branches and throw them into the fire to be burned [as fuel (?)].

Romans 11:17

But some of the branches [of a cultivated olive tree] were broken off [i.e., God’s rejection of the Jews] and you [Gentiles], representing a wild olive tree [branch], were grafted into it. So then, you [Gentiles] were able to benefit from the roots and sap of the olive tree, along with the Jews.

Romans 11:22

So, look at God’s kindness and severity. He was severe with those [Jews] who have fallen, but He is kind to you [Gentiles], if you continue to accept His kindness [i.e., by living for Him faithfully]. Otherwise, you too will be cut off [like the Jews were].