But without that bond of faith and love on our part there can be no personal union with him at all. One may, to all appearances, be a good Church person, a regular communicant: but unless there is that inner personal relationship uniting oneself to him in trust and in love, then one is with Christ but not part of him – like a withered branch through which the sap has ceased to flow, and which, though outwardly attached to the vine, is inwardly separated from it and so bears no fruit. As Jesus said, “…apart (i.e. separated) from me you can do nothing” (NRSV, John 15:5).

But when we are drawn to Jesus because we cannot do without him, then his life flows into us and a strong and Christ-like character appears. For such a character is not something which one can create on one’s own. Just as a cluster of grapes, although it grows on the branch, is still the fruit of the vine, so a Christian character is really the character of Christ which is formed by him in the soul that is a living part of himself: “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit…” (NRSV, John 15:5).