John 15:1

John 15:1 says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman."  Jesus said He is the true vine.  He compared Himself to a lowly vine.  He was a vine that is planted and not something growing up wild, because He was tended by the Father.  The vine Jesus was speaking of had a purpose, as did Jesus.  He was to do what the Father prepared Him to do.  Verse two adds, Jesus said, Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bear more fruit.  The followers of Christ are the branches.  Not all who profess to follow Christ are really firmly grafted into Him, and they will bear no fruit and will be taken away.  I believe this means more than just reaching the lost.  We must have every aspect of our lives reliant on Jesus's nurturing.  We cannot do anything outside of Him that is for the glory of God.  Those that do bear fruit will be purged.  God will remove from our lives those things that hinder us from producing fruit.  We are not called to bear fruit once and the go our own way, but to bear fruit and be purged to bear fruit continually.  Verse three, continues, Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  The only way to be spiritually clean is through belief in the word of God that Jesus is the only way to be spiritually clean.  If we are made clean by Him, then the Father will continue to purge our lives of sin.  We still have the ability to ignore His purging, but if we are to effectively bear fruit, we must submit to God's will and allow sin to continually be purged from our lives.