To Prune (καθαίρω)
Through the concept of a vine and a vinedresser, Christ explains to the disciples the new relationship the saved will have with Him and God the Father after His resurrection. He is the vine, the source of life for the branches. The Father is the vinedresser. In John 15:2, the vinedresser lifts the branches that do not bear fruit and prunes those producing fruit so they can yield more. Lifting (αἴρω) is a word that means to pick up. Prune (καθαίρω) is derived from lifting (αἴρω). By adding a preposition to the front of the word, the meaning changes from lift to lifting away, or pruning. The intent for pruning is given within the passage. He prunes the branches so they may produce more fruit.
Take up (αἴρω) is found in several forms to emphasize the purpose of lifting. In 1 Corinthians 5:2, it is used with the preposition for “out from”. The saints of Corinth were puffed up and boasting about allowing a man who was blatantly sinning among them. Their response should have been to mourn such activities and remove, lift away, that person from among them. We, as sons of God, are not to keep company with any brother who is a fornicator, covetous, idolator, reviler, drunkard, or extortioner. Instead, these people are to be put away from us for they are malignantly evil, 1 Corinthians 5:10.
Pruning (καθαίρω) is therefore done in the life of a Christian who is producing the fruit of the Spirit by governing his life according to the desires from the Holy Spirit so that he can yield more fruit. Neither lifting (αἴρω) nor pruning (καθαίρω) implies the removal of the branch from the vine.
Propitiation (ἱλάσκομαι)
Propitiation (ἱλάσκομαι) is the act of making compensation, thereby providing a satisfaction. In the Old Testament, propitiation is found in the place between the cherubs on the Ark of the Covenant. The place of propitiation (ἱλαστήριον).
God set forth Christ as a propitiation through His blood to demonstrate His righteousness in the deferring of punishment for previously committed sins, Romans 3:25. Therefore, we are justified out from faith through grace, not through works, because Christ’s death for sin satisfies the righteousness of God in forgiving sins, Romans 3:24. Christ’s propitiatory work not only atones for the sins of those who are saved, but the entire world, 1 John 2:2. Therefore, God is just in permitting unrighteous beings into His presence while He demonstrates an aspect of His character to the spirit beings.
The Apostle John writes that God loved the world in this way, He gave His unique one-of-a-kind Son so that all the ones believing in Him would be saved, John 3:16. His Son made a propitiation for our sins and therefore makes it possible for us to be saved, 1 John 4:10. This is how God loved the world, by giving us a Savior Who was able to satisfy the righteousness of God and provide a sacrifice for the sending away of sin.
Under the Old Testament, The Mosaic Law, God had them build an Ark for the Covenant to reside within and as a place of propitiation for the sins of the people, Exodus 25:10. Often translated as mercy seat, the place between the Cherubim on the Ark was a place of atonement or propitiation, a place of covering (כַּפֹּ֫רֶת kapporet), not of mercy, Exodus 25:17. Either kindness (חֶסֶד kesed), Psalm 23:6, compassions (רַחֲמִים rahamim), Genesis 43:14, or favor (חנן kenen), Job 9:15, are translated as mercy in many English translations; however, they do not all carry a meaning of relief from sin. Paul quotes Jeremiah 31:34 in Hebrews 8:12. For I will be a satisfaction (ἵλεως) to their unrighteousness and their sins I will never remember. Pardon (סלח seleh), found in Jeremiah, is translated by using satisfaction (ἵλεως), not mercy (ελεος). Romans 9:15 shows us that mercy in the Old Testament is expressed by favor (חנן kenen). Therefore, propitiation is not the same as mercy. Rather, propitiation relates to atonement, which is the covering of sin.
Christ’s propitiatory work on the cross provided a satisfaction for the righteousness of the Father concerning the sins of Satan, the angels that followed him, along with humans, showing that He was just in deferring punishment on previously committed sins. However, punishment is still coming for those who reject God, for Christ’s work on the cross did not satisfy the wrath of God. Satan, his angels, and all humans who reject God will face punishment for their works, but not for their sins, because Christ made a satisfaction for them. However, propitiation is not equivalent to salvation. Propitiation shows that God is righteous in providing salvation by faith through grace based on Christ’s death for sins, according to the Scriptures, and His resurrection on the third day, according to the Scriptures, thereby, sending away the trespasses and sins of those who believe, Colossians 1:14 (sins); Ephesians 1:7 (trespasses).
A Gathered of People (δημος)
Demos (δημος) means a gathered people. It is distinct in use from a crowd (ὄχλος) or an assembly (ἐκκλησία). Demos is organized, where a crowd is chaotic.
When the Jews learned of Paul’s success in preaching the Gospel of the risen Christ, they sought out malignantly evil men to cause an uproar in the city. When they came to where they assumed Paul was residing, after not finding him, they grabbed the owner of the house and brought him out to the gathered people, Acts 17:5. Demos (δημος) is not the same concept as an assembly (ἐκκλησία), which describes a group of people brought together for a common reason, such as with the Ephesians gathering because Demetrius and his fellow tradesmen stirred up the city against Paul and the saints in Ephesus because faith in Christ was threatening their profits from selling idols, Acts 19:39.
Peter uses a form of “demos (δημος)”, which means to be a pilgrim – alongside the gathered people. 1 Peter is written to the elect pilgrims of the dispersion of Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1 Peter 1:1. Through his letter, Peter encourages us to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul while we are out among the Gentiles, for we are sojourners and pilgrims in the world, 1 Peter 2:11.
Using the concept of a gathered people, Paul describes what happens to Christians when they pass away before the Lord returns.
Indeed, we are confident and well pleased rather to be absent (out from the gathered people) out from the body and at home (in the gathered people) facing the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:8.
Although not all saints of the Church will face death, for when Christ returns, those who are alive will be caught up to meet Him in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, we are not to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, 1 Thessalonians 4:13. They are absent (ἐκδημῆσαι) from the body and therefore from the gathered people on earth; however, they are present (ἐκδημοῦντες) with the Lord and will be resurrected along with those who are alive at His call, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. These saints are now in the gathered people who are in the presence of the Lord waiting for the day of our full redemption, just as we wait in anticipation of the meeting while in the gathered people on earth.
Lift up (αἴρω)
αἴρω (airo) means to lift up or bear. It is used for picking up a bed, baskets, fish, money, people, and many other objects. Therefore, by lifting up, you are bearing the weight. When not referring to an object, it is used of justice being stolen, the loss of life, and the lifting of sin.
When Christ informed a lame man that because his sins were forgiven, he could stand up and walk, the Jewish scribes said He was committing blasphemy. However, Jesus explained to them that He said, “The man’s sins are sent away.” so they would understand that He has the authority to forgive sins. Then He turned to the man and instructed him to lift up his bed and go home, to which the man did, Matthew 9:2-7.
Christ was manifested to lift our sins, 1 John 3:5. Through His work on the cross, while we were dead in our trespasses and sins, the Father made us alive in Christ, sending away (forgiving) our trespasses after wiping out the handwritten dogma against us, lifting it out of the way by nailing it to the cross, Colossians 2:14. Therefore, in Christ, the law has been completed and all who are in the Christ are counted to be righteous and not under the law, Romans 6:14. Just as a child is no longer under tutors and governors when he has completed his training, Galatians 4:1-2, so is a Christian when it comes to law. We are no longer to be inarticulate babblers that need the law to guide us. Instead, as sons, we must train our senses to know good and evil, Hebrews 5:14.
In response to Pilate seeking to release Jesus, for Pilate found nothing worthy of death in Christ, the leaders of Israel accused him of being against Caesar if he permitted Jesus to be set free because He is said to be the king of the Jews, John 19:11. Pilate reacts to them by presenting Jesus in a mocking way to the Jews as their king. This is when the crowd started to cry out for Pilate to lift up Jesus; to crucify Him, John 19:15. The Jews did the same thing to Paul after beating him for being in the temple, calling out to the centurion to lift up Paul, implying they wanted him crucified, Acts 22:22.
In John chapter fifteen verse two, Jesus explains the new relationship those in the Church will have with Him and the Father. He is the vine, the source of life. The Father is the vine dresser. When one of the branches is not producing, the Father lifts it. Bear up (αἴρω) does not mean to take away in the same sense as forgive (ἀφίημι), which means “to send away.” Nor is it expressing the sending away of a person such as with ἀπολύω (apoluo). The disciples asked Jesus to send away (ἀπολύω) a woman crying out after them because she sought healing. However, she was not a Jew; therefore, Jesus did not respond to her. This caused the disciples to urge Christ to send her away, Matthew 15:23. When the Father lifts a branch that is not bearing fruit, He is not removing it from the vine. Instead, just as a vinedresser will lift a branch out of the dirt and clean it up so that it can produce fruit, the Father reacts in the same manner. Things within this person’s life that are holding him down so that he cannot produce fruit are removed by the Father, lifting him up.