John 15: 4-12: (Jesus speaking) "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."
What does it mean to abide in Christ? First, I think we need to look at the word abide. This portion of scripture was originally published in Greek. Abide comes from the Greek word meno. In the context of this portion of scripture, meno means: to stay, remain, dwell, inhabit, or (perhaps most appropriate) to make one's dwelling place. So when Jesus says, "Abide in Me, and I in you" He is inviting us to make our dwelling place in Him, and is stating that He will make His dwelling place in us!
So how is it that we are able to dwell in Christ? This is perhaps the same question that the original disciples had when Jesus first spoke these words to them. In fact, this whole issue would have been quite confusing to them because Christ had not yet completed the work of Salvation by dying and rising from the dead. Not only that, but the disciples did not yet have the Holy Spirit to open their understanding. The answer, however, eventually did become clear to them.
It was not but hours after He spoke these words that Jesus was taken from the disciples, was falsely accused, was beaten to the point of being unrecognizable as a man, and was killed by being nailed to a Roman crossed shaped pole. Jesus' body was then sealed in a tomb. This, however, was not the end. Jesus rose from the dead and later ascended to Heaven.
What then does any of this mean to us as far as abiding in Christ? The answer: It is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to abide or dwell in Him.
Before we go any further, let us go over in more detail what the death and resurrection of Jesus really mean: Humans are born sinners. In Romans 5: 12, we learn that we have inherited our sinful nature from our first grandfather, Adam. Because we are his descendants, his sin has been passed down the generations to us. Because God is absolutely perfect and holy, He cannot look upon sin or accept any part of it. This makes it impossible for us to redeem ourselves into a right relationship with God as Romans 3:23 says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." The punishment for sin is death. Romans 6: 23a says: "For the wages of sin is death..." The death spoken of here is not merely physical death, but rather, spiritual death. Spiritual death means to be totally separated and completely shut off from God. Jesus Christ, however, took our place in spiritual death when he willingly laid down His life and was killed. God's wrath and the punishment for our sin was inflicted on Christ. Standing in our place, Jesus paid our sin debt in full, as stated in 1 Peter 2: 24: "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Jesus is perfect and completely sinless. Because he had no sin of His own to pay for, death could not hold Him; Jesus Christ rose from the dead thus conquering sin.
So, to abide in Christ means to surrender ourselves to Him, trusting that He has saved us through His death and resurrection. The moment that God grants us the faith to embrace Christ as our Savior, we can know that we are saved. We can know that we will forever dwell IN God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Not only do we abide in God, but in the form of the Holy Spirit, God dwells in us. Remember the words of Christ our God in John 15: 4a? "Abide in Me, and I in you."
John 15: 4b-5: "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
What does it mean to bear fruit? Let us take for instance an apple tree: A healthy branch on that tree will bear apples. If, however, that branch is not attached to the tree, it will not produce any apples. In fact, that branch will die. So it is with us. If we refuse to abide in Christ, our lives will produce nothing worthwhile in the end. Sure, a person can attain some measure of happiness for a season. Or perhaps even great happiness for a time. But none of this has eternal value. In Christ Jesus, though, there is eternal and lasting value. It's hard to explain, but there is an indescribable, incomprehensible sense of joy and meaning within those who are in Christ. Why am I not able to fully describe this? Because this this joy and peace comes exclusively from the Holy Spirit Who comes to dwell inside those who surrender to Christ.
Perhaps until now, you haven't made your dwelling place in Christ Jesus. Please don't get me wrong. I am not saying that your life up to this moment has been a waste. I'm not saying that everything you've been through has been meaningless. On the contrary: Everything you have done, everything you have been through, everything in your life, God has used it all to bring you to this point. So right here and right now ask yourself, "Is God calling me into Himself?"
John 15: 7: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
When we come to abide in Christ, we have available to us an inexhaustible resource that is vital to our growth and maturity in Him. We have the Bible, that is, the word of God in written form. Not only does the Bible contain the very words of Jesus Christ, but this entire Bible points toward His coming and presents Him to us. The word of God is applicable to any and every situation we could possible find ourselves in; and not just because it is such a huge and complex book (which it is), but rather, because the word of God is alive! Hebrews 4: 12 says this: "For the word of the Lord is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." When we read the words off the pages of this book, the Holy Spirit of God is able to take these words and apply them to whatever our need is. He plants these words in our heart and brings them to life in such a way that they are able to transform our entire being. So it's no wonder that Christ says that if His words abides in us we will receive whatever we ask for. It is again important to remember the meaning in the word abide. If God's word abides in us, we can say that His word lives in us, dwells in us, inhabits us, remains and endures in us. When God brings us to the point where we truly live and breath His word, everything that we ask for will be in accordance with His desires and will therefore be granted to us. When the words of Christ fully make their home in us, it is only natural that we wouldn't ask for things that would fulfill our selfish wants, but rather we will ask for those things that glorify God. It is at this point in our abiding relationship with Christ that we are fulfilling the next verse:
John 15: 8: "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."
When our desires match God's desires, it is then that we are bearing fruit. It is then that our lives produce results that glorify and honor God to the fullest. It is then that we truly prove to be disciples of Christ.
John 15: 9: "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
The very love that flows from the Father to Christ, flows from the Christ to us. We are commanded to dwell, or remain in this love; and why would we not want to? This is the love that brought forth our salvation and rescues us from sin and death. So how do we abide in His love? In John 15: 10 Jesus answers: "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." What then, you may ask, is Christ's commandment to us? In John 15: 12, Jesus answers: "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." We are commanded to love one another with the same love that Christ loves us with. Only by dwelling in Christ are we able to share this love with others. The next verse shows us what this love may look like: John 15: 13: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
Here is your invitation: Make your dwelling in Christ, and He will dwell in you.
