ABIDING IN GOD

One of Jesus’ most vivid and powerful illustrations for the believer’s relationship with him
is the vine and branches. Just as branches can only bear fruit if they abide in the vine, so
the only way believers can glorify the Father through fruitful lives is by abiding in Jesus.
The teaching is found in John 15, where Jesus prepares his disciples for his imminent
death and departure, by instructing them about their calling and mission as his disciples,
and emphasizing their absolute dependence on him. As Jesus says in verse 5,
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that
bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Unpacking the metaphor
This picture is a rich metaphor that needs unpacking. The vine is Jesus, while we
(believers, disciples) are the branches. The Father, Jesus says, is the vinedresser (v. 1) –
that is the gardener who tends the branches. He prunes the fruitful branches so they will
bear more fruit (v. 2), and takes away the unfruitful branches, throwing them into the fire
(v. 2, 6). The unfruitful branches appear to be nominal disciples: people who outwardly
follow Jesus for a time, but fail to bear fruit. Think, for example, of Judas Iscariot.
The fruitwe are called to bear probably includes both the fruit of transformed character
(similar to “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23) and fruitfulness in evangelism as we
bear witness to Jesus and his work.
What does it mean to abide?
That much seems to be clear. But what does it mean for us to abide in Jesus as branches
in the vine? I believe three things are implied: connection, dependence, and continuance.
Don’t think of these as three successive steps, but as three interwoven aspects of
abiding.
1. Connection
Abiding in Jesus first of all means having a life-giving connection to him. A branch is
connected to the vine, and a vine to the branch. This is what theologians frequently
describe as “union with Christ.” Notice that this connection, this union, is mutual. We abide
in him and he abides in us (v. 4). If there is no connection, there is no life, no fruit.

2. Dependence
But abiding also implies dependence. This aspect of abiding, unlike connection, is not
reciprocal. The branch is dependent on the vine, but the vine is not dependent on the
branch. The branch derives its life and power from the vine. Without the vine, the branch
is useless, lifeless, powerless. Sap flows from the vine to the branch, supplying it with
water, minerals, and nutrients that make it grow. And believers receive the “sap” of
Christ’s grace through our life-giving connection to him. We are completely dependent
upon Jesus for everything that counts as spiritual fruit (v. 4). Apart from him, we can do
nothing (v. 5).
3. Continuance
Abiding also involves continuance. In fact, “abide” (Greek, meno) means to remain, or
stay, or continue. For example, in John 1:38-39, two of the disciples who first encountered
Jesus asked him “Where are you staying?” They wanted to know where Jesus made his
residence. The word “staying” is the same word translated “abide” in John 15. To abide is
to reside. To abide is to continue, to stay, to remain.
This shows us that another aspect of abiding in Jesus is remaining in Jesus. This simply
means that we go on trusting, that we keep on depending, that we never stop believing.
To abide in Jesus is to persevere in Jesus and his teaching. This is what Jesus is talking
about in John 8:31-32, when he says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
In summary, to abide in the vine means to be united to Jesus (connection), to rely on
Jesus (dependence), and to remain in Jesus (continuance).
Who is this for?
That leads to another question: who is this for?
In one sense, Jesus description of abiding seems to be an all or nothing deal. If someone
abides in him, his love, and his word, this proves that they are his disciples. To not abide
in him (and his love and word) is to show that one is not a disciple at all. So, to be a
believer is to abide.
But on the other hand, “abide” is a command (v. 4). Jesus tells us to abide in him and to
abide in his love (v. 9). It’s something we have to do. So, is abiding in Jesus something
that is true of all believers?
There are certain streams of Christian teaching that have made this unnecessarily
complicated. They have suggested that abiding in Christ is something additional,
something special, that we gain through a crisis experience that ushers into a higher,
deeper, or victorious life, sometimes even called the “abiding” life. And it is then suggested
that Christians can be broken down into two groups: the “haves” and “have not’s.” The
ordinary Christians who believe in Jesus but don’t abide and the extraordinary Christians
who believe and also abide.
But I think it’s simpler and closer to the text to say that abiding, like faith itself, is a reality
true of all Christians but also an experience that we grow into by degrees. It’s not that
some Christians abide and some don’t. If you believe in Jesus, you are in him. You are
united to him. You are connected to the life-giving branch. But no matter where you are on
your spiritual journey, you can experience the reality of this connection to Jesus more and
more.
You can become more fruitful. There are degrees of fruitfulness. The passage not only
speaks of bearing fruit, but of bearing “more fruit” (v. 2) and “much fruit” (v. 8).
You can enjoy Jesus more. That’s why Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (v. 11). He not only wants us to
have joy, he wants us to have full joy.
And you can be more like Jesus. You can experience the sweetness, power, and joy of
your connection to him in greater degrees, as you grow in ongoing daily dependence on
him. In theological terms, all believers have union with Christ, but all believers can also
known communion with him in greater (or lesser) degrees.
How do you abide?
That leads to a final question: how do you abide? If abiding in Jesus involves ongoing
daily dependence on him, what does that look like? Jesus himself tells us. We abide in
Jesus by letting his words abide in us (v. 7) and by abiding in his love (v. 9-10).
To put it simply, abiding in Jesus doesn’t require advancing beyond the gospel to
something else. It doesn’t demand a crisis decision or a mystical experience. It just means
keeping the words of Jesus in our hearts and minds, so that they are renewing and
reviving us, shaping and sanctifying us, filling and forming us. And it means keeping
ourselves in his infinite, enduring, sin-bearing, heart-conquering, life-giving love.
 

https://www.christianity.com/bible/bible‐study/what‐does‐it‐mean‐to‐abide‐in‐christ.html 

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