Learning to Abide in Christ
Around 1760, the Western world moved into the Industrial Revolution. This era pulled people away from a rural country life into an urban city life. Less soil, more smog. Less plants and animals, more machinery. Less farms and more factories. Without debating the pros and cons of this social transformation, I will suggest that we lost something in the process. Today, our world boasts factories and assembly lines, computers and robotics. But our mechanized, computerized world is failing miserably at relationships.
Our world boasts factories and assembly lines, computers and robotics. But our mechanized, computerized world is failing miserably at relationships.
Since we have this problem, the illustration that Jesus used in John 15:1-11 is very important. The relationship that every true believer has with God is more like a vine with branches than a car on an assembly line. We must not reduce the Christian life to an automated 10-step process. It is a daily and intimate experience of interacting with God in a personal way. Though a person who has genuinely believed on Jesus as God and Savior and received eternal life as a result, he must also learn how to live the Christian life in a meaningful way, the way that God desires. To this end a genuine believer must consciously depend on Jesus to fully enjoy the Christian life.
A genuine believer must consciously depend on Jesus to fully enjoy the Christian life.
To learn what it means to consciously depend on Jesus, you first need to understand the way that God is interacting with you on a regular basis.
God prunes the life of every true believer. (John 15:2)
In this verse, Jesus uses a play on words in Greek. He responds to artificial believers with airo, but he interacts with genuine believers with kathairo. He entirely removes (airo) any person who identifies with Jesus for superficial reasons other than that he is God and Savior. Judas Iscariot and the people mentioned in 1 John 2:19 were like this. But he never removes a person who has genuinely believed on Jesus. He prunes this person instead (kathairo).For example, Jesus says in John 6:37 and 39, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out ... This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” God does not “cast out” genuine believers. He only removes artificial believers, but he trims genuine believers. One pastor explains it this way, “He cuts away the lifeless, and he cultivates the living. He destroys, and he disciplines.”[1]
A person (a “branch”) who is genuinely connected to Jesus (“the vine”) will produce the fruit of God.
Every branch that into which the life of Jesus flows will produce fruit through the Holy Spirit. Every genuine believer will show evidences of the life of God. These will be new values and behavior that resemble God rather than the old sinful nature. Such change is not only possible, but it is guaranteed. At the Feast of Booths, Jesus said that anyone who believes on him would enjoy the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and rivers of water (or the refreshing life of God) would spill over from inside of him (John 7:38).
Every genuine believer will show evidences of the life of God.
But though a person immediately and permanently receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life the moment he believes on Jesus, he does not immediately enjoy the full experience of being a Christian. Though he will show glimmers and evidences of godly change, he must go through a gradual, daily process of change to be all that God desires.
This person will experience the pruning of God so that he or she will produce more fruit.
Jesus describes this process as “pruning.” To accomplish this, God does not use snipping shears from a local garden supply store. Instead, he uses something far more profound and effective – the experience of suffering. Hebrews 12:6, 11 explains how he does this:Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives …. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.Difficult relationships, painful experiences, perplexing situations, and rejection do not happen in your life because of blind fate or random chance. These happen as a direct result of God snipping away at your wrong perspectives and selfish behavior. This is like a loving parent teaching hard lessons to a child. He does this in a strategic way because he has a specific purpose in mind.He not only intends to bring you safe to heaven, but he intends to shine his goodness through your life in the fullest possible way in this life now. You are the only Christ that some people will ever see in this world, and God will prune you so that you may reveal Jesus and enjoy him to the fullest degree.
Every true believer must stay put for the pruning. (John 15:4-5, 7, 9)
As God works at “pruning” you, the real challenge becomes to “stay put” in the process. That is why Jesus said, “abide in me.” This means that every believer needs to learn how to “remain in place” or “stay put” in our relationship with Jesus. This is not a question of staying saved. Instead, it is a question of cooperating in the spiritual growth process.If you have seen a little boy get a haircut, you know what this means. It is hard for him to sit still, though a haircut is a minor trial. And if it is hard for a little boy to sit still for a barber, then it is far more difficult for the same boy to lie still while a dentist is pulling his tooth.This is what Jesus is teaching as he walked through Jerusalem with his eleven disciples that night, just hours before his crucifixion. He had already told them that, unlike Judas Iscariot, they were genuine believers (John 15:3). They were genuine branches, washed and cleaned and prepared for pruning by God the gardener. With this assurance, Jesus is telling them to stay under the knife of pruning.Jesus was preparing these men for life as believers on the other side of the cross. They would suffer many trials and endure many hardships for following him. Though they would never lose their relationship with him, they would need to learn how to stay put under the snipping shears of God. To experience the fullest joy and fruitfulness possible, they would need to learn to not run away from the pain of suffering. But how?
Stay put by depending consciously on Jesus. (John 15:4-7)
When a believer experiences suffering, he needs to know that Jesus not only provides eternal life in the future, but he also provides genuine spiritual life now. You see, a godly Christian life is not a code of godly behavior. It is God actually sharing his good nature through you. Peter says we have become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4).
A godly Christian life is not a code of godly behavior. It is God actually sharing his good nature through you.
John 15:4 teaches that you cannot produce the fruit of God through your own willpower alone. Though you need to be determined to behave right, John 15:5 teaches that you can do nothing of spiritual significance apart from deliberate, conscious dependence on Jesus. John 15:6 reminds us that any person who is disconnected from Jesus has no relationship with God and will be separated from God forever. Such a person can only do good works as outward, religious behavior. But John 15:7 teaches that if you are a genuine believer, you have the opportunity and responsibility to live out the life of Jesus through your words and actions.To live this way, you must stay put through any hardships, because God is pruning you to be a more fruitful and Christlike believer. But you cannot do this through self-effort and willpower alone. You need to consciously, deliberately depend on Jesus.
Stay put by allowing the words of Jesus to remain in you. (John 15:7)
To deliberately depend on Jesus is not an abstract, esoteric phenomenon. It is directly related to the words that Jesus taught his disciples, and you must learn to allow those same words to “abide,” “remain” or “stay put” in you. The more you know of the words of Jesus, the more truth from God you are able to think about and depend upon as you make choices throughout the day. You will think more and more like Jesus, and this will enable you to “stay put,” “abide,” and “draw near” to Jesus through the sufferings of life.
To deliberately depend on Jesus is not an abstract, esoteric phenomenon.
The more you hear, study, memorize and think about the words of Jesus, the more they will “remain” in you. The more they “remain” in you, the more the Holy Spirit can remind you of them and the more you can consciously depend on Jesus by responding to the truth of his words in any situation. In this way, “abiding” in Jesus is not some kind of mystical “sixth sense” or supernatural feeling that comes over you. Instead, it is as simple as knowing what Jesus said and depending on him by depending on it.In a New Testament letter that Paul wrote, he taught the same thing as Jesus. He said, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col 3:16). From this verse, we see that living the Christian life effectively involves allowing the word of Christ to dwell in you. This resembles the vine and branch analogy that Jesus taught us. God uses his Word to transform your thinking, like sap flows from the vine to the branches. But you and I must allow it to influence us to the maximum degree by letting it have a rich or abundant influence in our lives, influencing more and more of our perspective, our decisions, and our actions in life. To what degree do the words of Christ actually and tangibly affect and determine your feelings, thoughts, words, and actions every day?
God uses his Word to transform your thinking ... but you and I must allow it to influence us to the maximum degree by letting it have a rich or abundant influence in our lives, influencing more and more of our perspective, our decisions, and our actions in life.
This personal response to the words of Christ in your mind and heart is not automatic, but it is necessary and involves three important elements:
Talk to God in prayer based upon the will of God as revealed in Scripture. (John 15:7)
To “abide in Christ,” you need to talk to God on a regular basis, just as a branch draws life from the vine on a regular basis, not in momentary bursts. You also need to talk to God in a way that shows that you know what Jesus taught you. The more you know and understand the words of Jesus, the more you will be able to know the will of God in the daily decisions of life, even the ones that are difficult and painful.
The more you know and understand the words of Jesus, the more you will be able to know the will of God in the daily decisions of life, even the ones that are difficult and painful.
Christians often ask God for fantastic and exciting things, thinking they are praying with faith. But this is no more than wishful prayer, coming from an immature and self-centered heart that has given very little attention to the words that Jesus said. This is not abiding.To abide, you need to hear, study, memorize and think about the words of Jesus a lot. The more you internalize and give thought to his words, the more you will think as he thinks and desire what he desires. The result will be more mature, responsible and Christlike prayers. You will pray less for your trials to go away and more for the power to stay close to Christ in your suffering. Prayer from a heart that is molded by the words of Jesus is the language of dependence on God. When you pray like this, you will “stay put” when God is pruning.
Obey Jesus by making choices that follow his commands in Scripture. (John 15:10)
The more you know and understand the words of Jesus, the more you will know not only what to ask from God, but what to do for God. The more you hear, study, memorize and think about the words of Jesus, the more you will say what he would say and do what he would do in any given situation. Your prayers and your behavior will become less selfish and more like Jesus. Words and actions that come from a heart that is being changed and washed by the words of Jesus are what a lifestyle of dependence on God is all about. When you speak and behave like Jesus, you will “stay put” when God is pruning.
Receive your love from God through Jesus. (John 15:9-10)
Though prayer and obedience to the words of Jesus are the way that you “abide in Christ,” there is something more which you must also understand. You must also abide in his love. This means that you should not go about loving God and other people with your own love. You should lean on Christ to love God and to love others with his love instead.You are only a branch, but Jesus is the vine who connects you to the life of God. As a branch, you cannot find within yourself the love you need for praying and obeying God properly. You must depend on Jesus to give this love to you. Rather than pray, “Jesus, help me to love as you love.” Pray instead, “Jesus, show your love through me.” When God is pruning your selfishness away through suffering, don’t merely pray, “Help me to stay put.” Pray, “Live your life through me, Lord Jesus. Without you, I can do nothing.”
When God is pruning your selfishness away through suffering, don’t merely pray, “Help me to stay put.” Pray, “Live your life through me, Lord Jesus. Without you, I can do nothing.”
You don’t merely need Jesus to help you stay put through the difficulties of life. You need Jesus to live through you instead. If you are a genuine believer, then you are doing this already to some degree because the refreshing, reminding, enabling work of the Holy Spirit is occurring in your life. Every genuine believer does produce fruit to some degree because the sap of God is flowing into through your life and producing the fruit of God.
You don’t merely need Jesus to help you stay put through the difficulties of life. You need Jesus to live through you instead.
Since this is so, then why does Jesus teach us these things? He does this because there is so much more of Jesus to show to the world and to enjoy in this life now, not just in eternity. That is why you need to learn to “abide in Christ” in a more regular and deliberate way. When you learn to abide in Christ, then you will find yourself producing more fruit (v. 8) and experiencing more joy in your daily, Christian life (v. 11).The Christian life is a permanent relationship with God, but it is also a real and functioning relationship. You are connected to God through Jesus, and you have access to the abundant, overflowing life of God for all you say and do. On God’s side of the relationship, he is pruning you, clipping away at your self-centered ways. On your side of the relationship, you are responsible to know the words of Jesus as completely and intimately as possible. As you allow the words of Christ to transform your mind and heart, you will learn to pray and obey God like Jesus. And you will learn to depend upon Jesus in a real and personal way to give you the love that you need so that you are living out the very life of God and not a superficial imitation.
You are responsible to know the words of Jesus as completely and intimately as possible
To be sure, “abiding in Christ” is not a way to escape from suffering. Instead, it is God’s way to endure suffering, knowing that suffering is the way that God prunes the branches that are connected to Jesus and have received eternal life.Are you a genuine believer? Have you believed on Jesus Christ as God and Savior? Or are you following him for other selfish or superficial reasons? If you have not believed on Jesus as God and Savior, then you should do so today.If you are a genuine believer, then how are you responding to the way that God is pruning your life? What are the challenges and the experiences of suffering that he has allowed into your life to remove areas of selfish tendencies and self-reliance? What trials is God using to make you more like Jesus, showing you your need to become intimately acquainted with the words of Jesus?Once you have identified these things, then you need to consider whether you are “staying put” as Jesus taught you to do. Are you filling your heart and mind with the words of Jesus? Are you praying based upon what he said? Are you living as he commanded? And in addition to this, are you depending on him – not just to help you, but to live his life through you? This is the way to greater fruitfulness and greater joy than you have ever experienced before. The most fruitful and joyful days of your Christian life are still ahead as you learn to “stay put” under the pruning hand of God.
[1] Cited from https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/glorifying-god-by-bearing-fruit-in-union-with-christ on March 19, 2018 at 3:13 p.m.
