“Without God man cannot. Without man God will not”

In John 15:5 Jesus makes this statement “Without me, you can do nothing”. Most of us would be inclined to argue with Him about that. I could think, for example, about building a tower out of lego blocks, while telling Him to keep out! You could argue of course that He is the one who gives me the breath to breath while I am doing that, and that if He withdrew that breath I would fail. And that of course is true. Is that what He means? I don't think so.

The passage from John 15 is all about abiding in Him. The full text of verse 5 is this “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”. I think that what He is telling us that anything we might do or plan outside of partnership with Him will have no eternal fruit, it will not matter in light of eternity, it will be empty, vain and fruitless.

I was speaking with a dear friend of mine on New Year's eve. My friend is in an incredibly difficult ministry. I know that I would not be able to do what he does (I am not in fact called to it the same way he is). There were some things that happened in his ministry over the Christmas season which would bring most of us down. As we talked, I felt the Lord popping a verse into my mind as an encouragement to him and to me. I have found that when we do things His way, the things we do to help or encouragement others is always a two way street, in that in ministering we are in turn ministered to.

The verse was this “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). There are a couple of things to note here. It is labour in the Lord that is not in vain. Outside of Him it is all vanity, 'blowing in the wind', 'snowballs in hell'. It is building our house on sand. The second thing is to observe that “we know”. How do we know? Well He has promised. He who abides in me bears much fruit. It may not be immediate (how long after you plant an apple seed will you get apples?), it may not be obvious to us, but it is a principle “our labour in the Lord is not in vain", it is not. Knowing this, is part of what we need to carry on, to not give up, to hang in there when the going gets tough.

So then in Him, abiding in Him, in partnership – in living ongoing relationship – in seeking and obeying and in following Him we are fruitful. But without Him we can do nothing of value. Without God man cannot.

But there is another thought in the title of the post "Without man God will not". Such a statement is not without controversy in the body of Christ. It provokes the “Sovereignty of God and the free will of man” debate. My simple thoughts on this start with the question “Which god is more sovereign, more powerful, a god who can choose to limit himself, or a god who does not have this ability?” I believe that God has chosen to limit himself in many (but not in all) ways. So part of what I am saying it that the statement “without man God will not” is too simplistic. God can and does and will act in sovereign ways. On the other hand, I believe that many times He chooses not to act when we refuse (or otherwise choose not) to cooperate with Him. This means that our labour in the Lord is not only not in vain, it is significant. We have this ability to bear fruit, but if we do not cooperate the fruit will not be forthcoming. This does two things. As I already said it makes what we do significant, but secondly it lays on us the responsibility to labour in the Lord.

We cannot all have ministries (in the here and now) that impact the nations. But we are not all called to impact the nations. Perhaps you are called to pray faithfully for your children, to serve faithful in this or that role in the church and/or in the community. What is certain, is that you are the only Bible some people will read. Our roles may not be significant in the eyes of the World (or even of other Christians), but our true significance is not to be found there. Our true significance is to be found in the eyes of the Lord, in being faithful to the calling to which He has called us.

In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), it was the one who had the least number who failed, and he failed because he did not use what he had. To succeed all he needed to do was to put the one talent in the bank at interest. What area of faithfulness is the Lord calling you to? What area is He calling me to? Whatever it is, we need to be steadfast and immovable always abounding in this work, knowing that this labour it not in vain. It is not. Hallelujah!