1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
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 ye abide in me.
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.
There are several truths here that bear repeating. Jesus Christ is the True Vine. God the Father is the Husbandman. No branch can graft itself into the True Vine. EVERY branch starts as part of the wild plant. There is no branch that “comes into existence” already part of the True Vine for every man is conceived a sinner in need of redemption (Psalm 51:5).
The Husbandman must act first by removing a branch of His choosing from a wild plant and then graft it into the True Vine. The branch from the wild plant had nothing whatsoever to do in its selection, in its removal from the wild plant, nor of the time it was removed from the wild plant (Bible Truth #39). It was not jumping up and down calling out to the Husbandman, “Pick me! Pick me!” And then finally, once grafted into the True Vine it WILL bear fruit (Bible Truth #19) and it will be cleansed (purged) so that it can bear more fruit.
Now apply those truths to man. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father chose a relatively few number of men and placed them in Christ (Bible Truth #2). Those men had nothing to do with their being chosen, they didn’t earn it, they didn’t qualify for it by accepting Christ, believing, or repenting. When man is born he is in need of redemption, he is totally depraved, and without hope (Bible Truth #185, #186). There is no way for him to come to Christ unless God moves. And God DOES move in those He has chosen. He does a work in man to make him a believer (Bible Truth #8, #11).
The point I want to make is that Jesus made it very clear that apart from Him we can do nothing. There is no exception. A man must first have Christ before he can do anything spiritually. Paul said it another way in Romans 8:8, they that are in the flesh can not please God. If a man is apart from Christ he is lost, he hates the Light and will not come into it (Bible Truth #25), he is God’s enemy (Bible Truth #7), and he cannot produce fruit for the kingdom.
Apart from Christ you can do nothing and that certainly includes “accepting” Christ, believing in Him as your Savior, and repenting of your sins.
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