Ques. Who is meant by the branch that is taken away (John 15:2)? Is it like one in 1 Cor. 11:36 or is it a Judas, or a castaway? (1 Cor. 9:27.) Is the man in verse 6 the same as the branch in verse 2 that is taken away? Is it final destruction there?
Ans. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the True Vine. His disciples were the branches. Israel had proved to be a degenerate vine. This was their relationship with Him, and abiding in Him proved their reality.
In such as Judas and the disciples that walked no more with Him, we see the branches taken away by the husbandman, and it means that they were lost forever (John 6:66).
Those that were real could not go away (John 6:68, 69), so they were purged to bring forth more fruit.
Now that the Lord Jesus has gone on high, there is no vine. Believers are children of God the Father, and members of the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. (Rom. 8:16, 17; 1 Cor. 12:12; 13.) We learn similar lessons, and especially on fruit-bearing, by this parable, and the Epistles open up our portion more fully.
We see in 1 Cor. 9:27 how even preachers are lost forever if they have no salvation through the death of Christ. And in such verses as Col. 1:15; Heb. 3:6, 14, the reality of Christians is proved by their "continuing in the faith," "holding fast the hope," etc. We also see in 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16, that the Lord sometimes takes away His own people in chastisement, and sometimes puts them on a bed of sickness. And happy it is for us all to recognize His chastening in the many things that are allowed to come to us, and ask Him to help us to profit by them (Heb. 12:5-11; Rev. 3:19), and learn the lesson, that without Him we can do nothing.
Ques. Is it contrary to any principle of Scripture for Christians to do good and to communicate toward one another, or toward the world at large, at any time of the year?
Ans. We are told in Heb. 13:16 and Gal. 6:10 that we are to do these things, and God is well pleased with our sacrifices, if we can do it in the name of the Lord and for His glory (Col. 3:17).
But I apprehend that your question has in view this custom of giving gifts on certain religious holidays-church days they are called. For light on this we might read Gal. 4:10, 11:
“Ye observe days, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.”
The Galatians had teachers trying to put them under law, from which the death of Christ delivers us. In Scripture we get no days to keep, except that we own the first day of the week as for the Lord, "The Lord's day" (Rev. 1:10). We have no ordinances to fulfill, except that we have been baptized, and now we remember the Lord in His death. May we, like the apostle, say,
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world," and that is both the social and the religious world: (Gal. 6:14; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Col. 2:20-23; Heb. 13:13).