Dr. Steve Behlke
September 13, 2011
One of the things that can be said of a disciple of Jesus Christ is that a disciple is a born again believer who abides in Jesus Christ.
To abide is not a synonym for "believe in Jesus Christ and you will have eternal life" (i.e., it is not synonymous with justification) but it is synonymous with "fellowship."
To abide in Christ refers to the intimate fellowship that believers can personally experience with Jesus; it has to do with our communion with Him, trusting Him, loving Him, submitting to Him, wanting to be with Him. In other words, God is all about the relationship.
J. C. Ryle says, “To abide in Christ means to keep up a habit of constant close communion with Him—to be always leaning on Him, resting on Him, pouring out our hearts to Him, and [relating to] Him as our Fountain of life and strength, as our chief Companion and best Friend.”
Abiding in Christ is huge for the Christian.
Jesus was in an upstairs room, the night he was betrayed, he told his disciples,
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you [note the dynamic of mutual fellowship]. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Jesus gives Christians one command here: abide in me! Not "bear fruit." Not "work for me." But keep your heart and life open to me through trust, to receive my love, to notice and respond and delight in me, so that you don't want to rebel; so that you want to hang with me, know me, be loved by me.
If a believer abides in Him, he or she will bear fruit. Context: we will obey Jesus, love one another, bring glory to God, and experience abundant joy.
Trust Jesus --> Abide in Jesus --> Bear fruit (love, obedience, freedom from sin, real joy)
Consider a couple other passages,
John 8:31 Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him [so again, to born again believers], "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Part of what it means to abide in Christ is to abide in His Word. How—by placing ourselves under His authority, under His influence, under what Jesus says in His word.
Again, abiding leads to fruit. As we abide in Christ and in His Words, we will be set free from sin,
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
Freedom from the destructive power of sin is another fruit of abiding in Christ and in His Word, of receiving His words to us as life, and trusting them--Him in them--and remaining in them through trust and submission. This is promised to us.
John speaks similarly when he promises when we abide in Christ we experience freedom from sin: "No one who abides in Him sins" (1 John 3:6).
Do you see how important it is for Christians to abide in Christ?
The fuller pattern is: Trust Jesus > Abide in Jesus (abide in His Word) > Bear fruit (freedom from sin)
Then Jesus shares a little more about what it means to abide in Him. This is huge,
John 15:9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
Another part of what it means to abide in Christ is to abide in His free, infinite, transforming love. Ponder God the Father's love, Abba's love for Jesus.
Got it? Now submit your heart to His next words: Jesus says He loves you in the same way and with the same love. Got it? Even a little bit? Then Jesus says, “Stay there! Abide in my love!”
“Be diligent! Trust in my love for you. Don't doubt it. Intentionally keep my love for you fresh and alive in your hearts. Resist people’s religious demands to merit my love and any lie that limits God’s acceptance to your performance; any lie which casts doubt on the faithfulness of God’s love for you when you’re unfaithful to me.”
Trust Jesus > Abide in Jesus (abide in His love) > Receive His love > Bear fruit (Obey Jesus; Love one another! John 15:12)
It all flows as fruit of abiding: obedience, love for others, freedom from sin. We can't produce these. God doesn't expect us to. Doesn't want us to. He wants to produce them; He wants us to be receptive in our relationship with Him, so that we bear the fruit He produces in hearts and lives that love Him and submit to Him in trust.
If we catch ourselves loving someone we used to despise, we are abiding in Christ. When we realize we have forgiven someone we could never forgive, we are abiding in Christ. When Jesus' love for us is evident in our love for others, we are abiding in Christ. Amen.
Here's a final passage to meditate on. It's from Jude 20-21
Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God.
Again, we are told who we are: beloved. Trust is the primary means: your most holy faith. The power, the one who does the work is the Holy Spirit; we do the praying, the asking, then we act in faith with His might working through us: keep yourself in Christ's unconditional, unearnable, nonforfeitable love for us.
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