Abiding in Christ is something that Jesus mentioned several times and is repeated in various New Testament books. But what exactly does it mean to abide?
To some, abiding is simply attending regular church service. To others, abiding means regular bible study and devotional. And others still haven’t given abiding any consideration at all.
But abiding is is critical for a healthy spiritual Christian life, and the scriptures don’t leave us guessing as to what it means. So today, we will examine what it means to abide in Christ, and how it applies in our daily life.
God Abiding in You
The word abide is fascinating! If you ask the typical Christian what it means to abide in Christ, they will quickly rattle off a list of things that you need to do; a checklist of how to abide. But reducing abiding to a set of rules, cheapens the entire idea. The basic scriptural definition of “abiding” is to stay, to remain, or to live in someplace like a house.
The first mention of abiding in scripture is in Genesis 6:3, and it is used in a very intriguing way, when God pronounces that His spirit will not abide with humankind forever, because we are flesh. The verse paints a somewhat bleak picture of how mankind’s position of sin has harmed our unity with God.
As usual, the story doesn’t end in despair, and we can see a marvelous example of the way that Jesus has restored our relationship, our unity with God in John 14:16 when He says that He will ask the Father, and the Father will send another comforter (the Holy Spirit) that will abide with us forever.
Notice the stark contrast between how the spirit of God will not abide in the flesh of humanity, yet somehow His spirit will abide with us forever. Obviously something has changed, but what?
The answer of course is Jesus Christ, and through His sacrifice your nature has changed. You may not have realized this or ever been taught this,, but this is the foundational truth of your rebirth in Christ. Most believers are familiar with the term born again, yet fail to consider the implications of that term. 2nd Corinthians 5:16 States that from now on we regard no-one after the flesh. We should not see ourselves or others as being in the flesh when Jesus has made us new creations that are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. (Romans 8:9)
All of this is empowered by the spirit of Christ indwelling and abiding, remaining with you forever. As we have even seen over the past few studies, this is a position of security, safety, power, and love, as outlined in 2nd Timothy 1:7.
Understanding how and to what extend that God’s Spirit dwells in you as a new creation in Christ, is what enables us to comprehend the nature of our abiding in Christ.
You Abiding in Christ
Consider the words of Jesus in John 15:5, the verse on which this ministry is founded:
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Jesus says here that He is the Vine, and we are the Branches. He continues by stating that whoever abides in Him, and He in them, they will bear much fruit. Conversely, He says that apart from Him, a person can do nothing.
So we can see that it is abiding in Christ that makes His power effectual in our lives and enables us to bear fruit. And please take note that we bear fruit, we do not produce fruit ourselves!
Jesus was not exaggerating when He said that apart from Him we can do nothing. We have zero capacity to accomplish anything apart from Him.
The verse makes it clear that the way to bear fruit (and a lot of fruit) is by abiding in Jesus, and Him in you.
So how do we abide in Christ? Since we know that the word means to stay, remain, and live in, we can draw some preliminary conclusions, that abiding in Christ is to stay, remain, and live in Christ. Yet, to truly understand how to abide in Christ, it’s helpful to know how to not abide. Take a look at Jeremiah 17:5:
“Thus says the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, whose heart departs from the LORD.”
Notice the details of this verse; your heart departs from the LORD when you trust in humanity, and when your flesh (effort, will) becomes your arm [of strength]. When you are trusting in your own abilities for your success, righteousness, and holiness instead of Jesus, then your heart departs from Him, and you are cursed!
From these details, we can see how to abide in Christ, by remaining in the truth (remember Jesus is the truth, John 14:6), this is particularly the truth of His finished work.
Jesus Is Your Dwelling Place
Today, the place where we live, stay and rest is Christ, He is our dwelling place. The scripture where this is the most clear, is in Hebrews 4:4-10:
“4 For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6 Seeing therefore it remains that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
7 Again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”
These verses draw an allegory between the promise land of the ancient Israelites, and our promise land today in Christ. In both cases, entering into the land requires belief— specifically belief on Jesus and His sacrifice.
Verses nine and ten, encourage us to not leave our promise land uninhabited today. In verse nine we see that there remains a rest for the people of God. There is a dwelling for us to live in, and remain in. This statement is significant because it directly contrasts with the account of the Israelites.
Verses six through eight tell us that as great as Joshua was during that time, he was not the one to bring ultimate everlasting rest; that distinction belongs to Jesus Christ alone.
Today if you hear the voice of Jesus Christ, if you hear the good news of what He has done, His character, and His goodness, do not harden your heart as they did in the wilderness.
Remember that even though they had the promise of God guaranteeing them victory, they failed to enter because they failed to mix that promise with what they knew of God. (Verse 2)
What do we know of God today? Look at verse ten:
For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
The pivotal truth of the gospel, and the key to abiding in Christ is to cease believe His truth, recognize that Christ has done the work, and therefore cease from your own works.
Understand that this is speaking spiritually. It doesn’t say to cease from all works, but specifically to cease from “your own” work.
For the linguists, that phrase isn’t a tautology, but a critical detail. The verse is saying to stop trying to do things in your own strength and effort! Stop trying to earn the rest and blessings of God by your own hand and power! Cease from your own works, and let the work of God be enough.
This aligns perfectly with what we read earlier, those who make their own flesh their strength, fall under the curse; they depart from the LORD.
Let the truth of Christ be your dwelling, and abide in Him and He in you, always.
Be blessed.