John 15

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.  vv.3-4

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The Word has the power to cleanse!  By believing the scriptures we increase our faith and this cleanses us of sin.  Now it can be confusing why this verse is in the middle of this illustration of the Vine and the branches.  This can be confusing if you don't understand fully how fruit grow on trees, but oh this is one of my favorite illustrations.  A plant is cleansed by pruning off defects so that it can grow more fruit.  Now we have to remember that Jesus came first for the people of Israel and throughout the Old Testament Israel is referred to as a vine (Psalm 80:8, Isaiah 5:7).  Yet there is application believers can still learn from this.  Jesus is not talking here about salvation, but about believers losing their position as servants.  Now a branch on it's own cannot bear fruit, it will shrivel up and die.  The only way to bear fruit is to be connected to the source of nutrients.  All the power the disciples had from Jesus to perform miracles and speak His words was because they abided with Jesus, yet Judas Iscariot, for example, was just broken off when he left with the money to turn in Jesus to the Pharisees.  Similar it is with us.  He may not be using us to perform big miracles as His disciples did, but if we don't abide in Him our service to Him is stopped.  Just as plants need water daily, so we need God daily to be nourished.
How have you felt the Word cleanse you before?  What does it look like to abide in Christ?