Abiding in Christ – Is it hard?
Jesus makes so many promises, but many of them start with “if you abide in me”. My life completely turned around when I started to actually grasp what that meant. It’s not as easy as you might think. But then again, it is the easiest thing in the world.
We get a lot of mixed messages these days about what a Christian life is like. What is required? What is legalistic? Does God walk with us? Will we feel him? Is it all just mystical ‘woo-woo’, as a friend of mine called it? Really its just about being good, right? But what is ‘good’ exactly?
We even start to ask “what is the minimum requirement to be ‘saved’ ? Because, honestly, anything more than that might cramp my choices, keep me from ‘real’ life. Besides, I’m not sure I can actually do anything more than the bare minimum! So don’t I just “believe Jesus died for me”? That’s enough right?
But in fact, most of those questions just evaporated once I really started to get my head around ‘abide in me’.
Abide – is that even English?
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and jcast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jn 15:5–7).
“Abide” is not a word we use much in English. We can just barely imagine grandma saying “I just can’t abide such nonsense”. What does that even mean?
Later translations update to a more current vocabulary. So the NIV phrases it like this:
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 15:5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
So that helps some. The word translates to “remain”. It is an important word in both the New and Old Testaments. Throughout, it means pretty much what we expect it to mean: “stick around”, “stay put”, “don’t wander away”.
We Need to Stick Around
To be honest, that is not as easy at it sounds. Especially in this time and place, distractions are crazy. We are lured away by everything from get rich quick schemes to pretty toys and video games. So wandering is easy.
Therefore, sticking close to Jesus, sticking close to the vine is going to take some doing. We might want to decide first if we really want it. What does Jesus offer if I abide? What changes if I learn to truly remain in Him?
Let’s just start with the parable of the vine.
What happens if I get attached to the Vine?
The first thing we know is that if we do not bear fruit, we get cut off. (v. 2) Well that’s pretty harsh! What happened to love and forgiveness and patience and all that? Just hold on, we’re getting there.
The second thing Jesus tells us is that even if we stick around, we will be pruned? Sounds painful? Yup. But the goal for the vine keeper is to produce grapes. Without the pruning, no grapes, no wine.
The next promise, is that if we stay in Him (the Vine) then He will stay in us. Note that this is not Jesus WITH us, but Jesus IN us. This is the friend that never has another place to be. This is the friend that knows who we are and still sticks around. Wow, I could go on about Jesus IN us forever. Maybe in another post.
Here are few more promises offered to those who abide:
- Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. (v.7)
- My joy may be in you (v.11)
- Your joy may be complete (v.11)
- Greater love has no man (v.13)
- You are my friends (v.14)
- Everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you (v.15)
- Fruit that will last (v.16)
So here’s the question. Does this sound like your experience of life? Ask whatever you wish? Certainly He didn’t mean that? Your joy is complete? Well, not really.
These promises have a condition
So I don’t meant to get picky here, but the only condition on all of these promises is that we “abide”, or as the NIV says, we “remain” in Him. So we have a choice. Either Jesus is not telling us the straight story, or we are missing something about what “remain” means. You may have noticed that I skipped a couple of verses here. Let’s take another look at v. 9-10.
The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 15:9–10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
It looks an awful lot like Jesus is telling us to obey Him if we want to remain in Him! This is pushing all kinds of buttons in my “can’t do anything to earn God’s love” theology. What happened to “once saved, always saved”? Are you saying it isn’t “just believe?” Now you want me to do works?
Well to start with, I didn’t say it, Jesus did. So just slow down and listen.
The parable starts with a vine, and branches, and bearing fruit. In that story, the branch does not do much. It “remains”. In fact Jesus even says, “no branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine”. And “apart from me you can do nothing”.
So He is not saying we need to work hard to impress Him so He will grant us our wishes. What He is saying, is that the Christian life is about us staying connected to Him. As we tap into the Vine for our strength, our life, our knowledge and wisdom, He will flow into us and stay with us and we will stay with Him.
As that begins to happen, we will love Him more, seek Him more, and be even more fruitful. But we need to connect with Him, we need to stay attached.
Minimums or Maximums?
So my goal here is not to tell you what the minimum requirement is to keep from getting “pruned”. This article is not about minimums, but maximums. I am not looking for the wimpy Christian life that is barely hanging on to a reduced, spiritually starved existence.
I want the life that knows that every prayer will be answered. I want the life of complete joy. Most importantly, I want the life where Jesus lives IN me and my fruit is eternal. That is the life I was designed for. That is the life I crave. Which life do you want? It’s up to you.
Andrew Murray, a 19th century pastor in South Africa said this about the word “abide”:
It is to be feared that there are many earnest followers of Jesus from whom the meaning of this word, with the blessed experience it promises, is very much hidden. While trusting in their Saviour for pardon and for help, and seeking to some extent to obey Him, they have hardly realized to what closeness of union, to what intimacy of fellowship, to what wondrous oneness of life and interest, He invited them when He said, “Abide in me.” This is not only an unspeakable loss to themselves, but the Church and the world suffer in what they lose.
Murray, Andrew. Abide in Christ.
In the next few articles, we can explore that life in more detail:
- If Jesus is the Vine, and we are branches, and the goal is fruit, how do I get more attached?
- How do I stay attached?
- Can I be a little bit attached?
- Can I block the flow?
- Why does the gardener prune?
- What is fruit and how do I produce it?
Until then, do a little research on your own and see what you come up with. I would love to have a conversation with you about getting attached more completely, to the vine.
