Self-Dependence Is Self-Deception

“Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

There is a comforting challenge contained within today’s passage of Scripture. Jesus was talking about Himself as the “True Vine” and referred to us as His branches. When He said, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” it was the same as saying “Connected to me you can do anything.”

We live in a world that is self-deceived by self-dependence. The notion of the self-dependent or self-reliant person is a myth; anyone who believes it lives in a world of make-believe. No one ever has and no one ever will live a self-dependent life. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, did not live a self-dependent life when He came into this world. No, He lived in complete dependence upon God the Father through the power of God the Holy Spirit. Our Lord freely confessed, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19).

To pursue a life of self-dependence is to pursue a life our Savior refused to live. Think about it this way: Every breath you take and every beat of your heart is dependent on the will of God. Only as God purposes life for us do we have life, and that life is totally dependent upon the will of God sustaining it, “for in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Every person is God-dependent, whether they acknowledge that truth or not.

When the world speaks of “will power,” it is speaking in self-deceiving terms, because “will” has absolutely no “power” apart from God. Listen, being our own god is not only hard, it is impossible. When we attempt to do it, our vain hope that our self-dependence will mask our weaknesses actually accomplishes just the opposite. We end up appearing frail, foolish, and fearful to those around us.

So here is the question we all must ask ourselves: Are we trying to live a life of self-dependence, as branches disconnected from the True Vine? If you are sensing that there is in any area of your life where this is the case, simply turn your heart back to God and remember these words from the Sovereign Lord: “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

Remember, self-dependence is self-deception. Stay close to Jesus through His Word, your prayers, and consistent connection to His people, and you will be living the only kind of life that truly matters: a Savior-dependence that brings glory to God and good to others.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!