约三15　　叫一切信入祂的都得永远的生命。

　　林前一30　　但你们得在基督耶稣里，是出于神，这基督成了从神给我们的智慧：公义、圣别和救赎。

　　基督的信徒作为葡萄树上的许多枝子，乃是神的基督的肢体，在神圣的分赐里形成三一神的生机体。主耶稣在约翰十五章五节宣告说，“我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。”这样的陈述含示基督同祂的信徒是一棵树。基督和信徒，就是葡萄树同枝子，在神圣的分赐里形成三一神的生机体。所以，十五章的葡萄树，是宇宙的葡萄树，包含基督和祂作枝子的信徒。在这葡萄树，这生机体里，三一神活祂自己，彰显祂自己，并分赐祂自己到极点。…我们实际上成了无限之神的枝子，生机地与祂是一。这就是说，我们已生机地联于三一神。现今我们是神的一部分，正如我们身体的众肢体是我们的各部分。我们若在光中，就会看见我们是基督的众肢体，是祂的一部分。（新约总论第九册，二○六至二○七页。）

　　John 3:15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

　　1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

　　As the many branches of the vine, the believers of Christ are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. In John 15:5 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Such a statement implies that Christ and His believers are one tree. Christ and the believers, the vine with the branches, form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. The vine in John 15, therefore, is a universal vine comprising Christ and His believers as the branches. In this vine, this organism, the Triune God lives, expresses Himself, and dispenses Himself to the uttermost. We are actually branches of the infinite God, organically one with Him. This means that we have been organically joined to the Triune God. Now we are part of God, even as the members of our bodies are parts of us. If we are in the light, we shall see that we are members of Christ, that we are part of Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 2930)

　　凭着我们天然的生命，我们不是葡萄树的枝子。反之，凭着我们堕落的性情，我们是亚当的枝子，甚至是魔鬼的枝子。枝子怎样是树的分枝，我们出生时，也照样是亚当的分枝。我们既是亚当的枝子，也就是撒但的枝子。奇妙的是，当我们相信主耶稣的时候，祂就分枝到我们里面。这分枝使我们成为这奇妙基督的枝子。所以，基督的分枝使我们成为基督这葡萄树的枝子。现今我们这些枝子，被基督这生命所充满；因为作葡萄树上的枝子，意思就是基督成了我们的生命。不要说，我们不觉得被基督充满。主说，“我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。”〔约十五5。〕我们就必须大声说，阿们。只要不住地说，“阿利路亚，我是枝子，”我们这葡萄树的枝子就会被基督充满。

　　除了葡萄树，没有植物能充分说明信徒与基督之间活的关系。葡萄树与一般的树不同，它实际上没有干。你若砍去葡萄树的枝子，实际上就一无所剩，只留下根。…葡萄树对枝子乃是一切。在葡萄树里的一切，也在枝子里。这指明基督这葡萄树，对我们这些枝子是很大的享受。我们从葡萄树，并借葡萄树，接受过枝子生活所需要的一切。

　　作为葡萄树的枝子，我们需要住在葡萄树（神的基督）里。…唯有当枝子住在葡萄树上，葡萄树对枝子才是一切。因这缘故，主说到祂自己是葡萄树，我们是枝子：“你们要住在我里面，我也住在你们里面。”〔4。〕我们的生活和享受就是住在葡萄树上。我们作枝子的定命就是留在葡萄树上。

　　离了葡萄树，我们这些枝子就不能作什么。葡萄树上的枝子不能凭自己而活，因为离了葡萄树，枝子就会枯萎死去。枝子与葡萄树之间的关系，描绘出我们与主耶稣之间的关系。离了祂，我们就一无所是，一无所有，也一无所能。凡我们所是、所有、并所作的，必须是在主里，且凭着在我们里面的主。因此，我们住在主里面，主也住在我们里面，是很紧要的。我们不该在自己里面作任何事；我们该凭着住在葡萄树里面来作一切。基督这葡萄树是包罗万有的分，作我们每日的享受。因着我们对主是枝子，主对我们是葡萄树，我们就必须住在祂里面，并让祂住在我们里面。然后在我们的经历中，基督对我们就是一切，作我们的享受。（新约总论第九册，二○七至二○九页。）

　　参读：约翰福音生命读经，第三十二至三十四篇。

　　By our natural life we are not branches of the vine. On the contrary, by our fallen nature we are branches of Adam and even branches of the devil. Just as a branch is the branching out of a tree, so when we were born, we were just the branching out of Adam. As branches of Adam, we were also branches of Satan. The wonderful thing is that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, He branched out into us. This branching out has made us branches of this wonderful Christ. Therefore, Christ’s branching out has made us branches of Christ as the vine. Now as branches we are filled with Christ as life, for to be a branch in the vine means that Christ has become our life. We should not say that we do not feel that we are filled with Christ. When the Lord says, “I am the vine; you are the branches” [John 15:5], we have to say a strong amen. Just keep saying, “Hallelujah, I am a branch!” We as branches of the vine will be filled with Christ.

　　No plant other than the vine can illustrate adequately the living relationship between the believers and Christ. A vine differs from a tree in that it has virtually no trunk. If you cut off the branches of a vine, there is practically nothing left, only the root….The vine is everything to the branches. Whatever is in the vine is also in the branches. This indicates that as the vine Christ is a great enjoyment for us, the branches. From the vine and through the vine, we receive everything we need to live as branches.

　　As branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine, the Christ of God….Only when the branches abide in the vine can the vine be everything to them. This is the reason the Lord said concerning Himself as the vine and us as the branches, “Abide in Me and I in you” [v. 4]. Our life and enjoyment are to abide in the vine. Our destiny as branches is to remain in the vine.

　　Apart from the vine, we, the branches, can do nothing. A branch of a vine cannot live by itself, for it will wither and die apart from the vine. The relationship between the branches and the vine portrays the relationship between us and the Lord Jesus. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing apart from Him. What we are, what we have, and what we do must be in the Lord and by the Lord in us. Therefore, it is crucial for us to abide in the Lord and for the Lord to abide in us. We should not do anything in ourselves; we should do everything by abiding in the vine. Christ as the vine is an all-inclusive portion for our daily enjoyment. Because we are branches to the Lord and the Lord is the vine to us, we must abide in Him and let Him abide in us. Then in our experience Christ will be everything to us for our enjoyment. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2930-2932)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of John, msgs. 32-34.