Context Matters: Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Perhaps you’ve heard that no one can do anything apart from Jesus. You may have been told this saying refers to our complete reliance upon God. Or, you may have read this phrase during leadership or evangelism training, urging your frequent communication with Jesus.

Context matters. When we learn to read the Bible in context—not just as a collection of memorable phrases—we’ll find that some familiar verses take on richer and deeper meanings.

The Vine and the Branches

The phrase “apart from me you can do nothing” is just a portion of John 15:5. This is part of a long conversation Jesus has with his disciples on the evening of the Last Supper, after Judas departs (John 13:30). Jesus tells them he is the vine and his father is the vinedresser (John 15:1); God takes away branches that do not bear fruit, and he prunes every fruit-bearing branch (John 15:2).

Because of their parallel nature, we need to read John 15:4 and John 15:5 together.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

In the immediate context, “you can do nothing” is related to “bear[ing] fruit” and “apart from me” stands opposite to “abide in me and I in him.” We cannot know Jesus’s full meaning in John 15:5 without understanding “abiding” and “bearing fruit.”

Abiding

In one way, the metaphor of the vine and branches makes clear the meaning of “abide.” Branches draw nourishment and life from the vine; without that connection, they die.

Abiding in Jesus is not an extra level of discipleship—it is essential! He is life itself; anyone who does not abide in Jesus is thrown away like a branch from the vine and burned (John 15:6).

Abiding in Jesus is also connected to both Jesus’s words and his love. If anyone abides in Jesus, his words abide in them, and their prayers will be answered (John 15:7). Jesus tells the disciples not just to abide in him but to abide in his love (John 15:9). He then explains what this means—if the disciples keep Jesus’s commandments, they will abide in his love (John 15:10). Jesus teaches this not as a burdensome duty but so their joy will be full (John 15:11).

We should also notice the similarity between the words “abide” and “abode,” or dwelling. Unfortunately, some translations obscure this link. Jesus is going to prepare a place for his disciples in his father’s house (dwelling); he wants them to be where he is (John 14:2–3). He speaks of his connection with the father as “the father abiding in me” (John 14:10, NASB). Throughout this discourse, Jesus’s relationship with his disciples shares many features of his relationship with his father.

Any disciple that wants to bear fruit must abide in Jesus and Jesus must abide in them (John 15:5). This mutual abiding, along with the other context summarized above, points to a unity, knowledge, obedience, and love that is life-sustaining and supernatural.

Bearing Fruit

As with abiding, bearing fruit goes hand-in-hand with following Jesus. Jesus says that bearing fruit is the way a person proves to be a disciple (John 15:8). In the metaphor of the vine and branches, bearing fruit is what normal, healthy branches do.

If anyone loves Jesus, they will keep his commandments (John 14:15), and thus we see a connection between bearing fruit and keeping Jesus’s commands. Jesus knows that we need help in this calling, which is why he promises to send “another helper”—the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). The Spirit abides with the disciples and will be in them (John 14:17, NASB).

We see this essential link between love, obedience, and the presence of God in John 14:23.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23, NASB)

So bearing fruit is a Spirit-powered yet normal part of being a disciple of Jesus. And it happens as we abide in, love, and obey Jesus.

Abide in Him

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. When we read this verse in context we see that Jesus is not primarily warning against self-reliance nor dismissing the contributions of non-Christians. Yes, he is drawing a sharp line between those who follow him and those who do not. But this is a call to life.

Those connected to the vine are animated by the life-giving Spirit, and they are fruit-bearing by nature. Apart from the vine, there is no nutrition, no life, no fruit.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.