branches,” Jesus says. “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit” (John 15:5a). But one does not have to delve far into scripture to see the negative corollary to these rich images for salvation, for every notion of salvation has a corresponding notion of sin—the very thing salvation heals. Indeed, to finish the sentence from John 15:5 above, “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” Lest we second-guess whether “nothing” in John really