Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
—John 15:4
The word “abide” in John 15:4 was translated from the Greek word “meno” and means “to stay in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy” (Strong’s Concordance). The dictionary defines “abide” as meaning “to remain; to continue; to stay; to dwell.” Each of these words speaks of stability and consistency. We cannot abide in Jesus if we only spend time with Him occasionally. Abiding in Jesus involves constant communion with Him. The just live by faith. They don’t just visit there sporadically.
Seeking God occasionally isn’t a substitute for abiding in Him. This is a major reason why more Christians don’t experience the abundant life Jesus came to bring them (John 10:10). Most only abide in Jesus when life gets difficult. Later, when the pressure eases, they return to their own ways, and the next crisis is just a matter of time.
John 15:4 offers an insightful truth, but if you are not abiding in Jesus, it is something that can be easily forgotten. Because the fruit grows on the branch, it is easy for us to give credit to the branch for bearing the fruit, when actually it is the vine that drew life from the soil and routed it through the branch. Similarly, since we are the branch through which the life of God flows, we can fall into the trap of thinking that the responsibility for producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is ours. We are no longer trusting or abiding in the vine when we think this way. If we persist in this mindset, we will become fruitless.
It is a great relief to the believer who understands that he is only the vessel through which the Lord operates. This places the responsibility for bearing fruit on Jesus. Our responsibility is to respond to Jesus’s unmatchable and perfect ability. In the same way that you have never seen a branch struggling to bring forth fruit, your “labor” is to enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 4:11). You labor not to labor. This “labor” is complete trust and dependency on Jesus as our source. If we abide in Him, the fruit will come naturally. The life we live will be Christ living in and through us, bringing us a profound sense of rest and peace.
Putting our faith in what Jesus did for us saved us. To maintain our salvation, our faith must continue, remain, and abide in Christ and not in ourselves. Our holiness, righteousness, and justification are gifts that we received the moment we were born again in Christ. We must put our faith in Jesus and not our old man, with his inability to produce the fruit that can only be born in Christ.
In the same way that the life of a root is found in the soil or a branch in the vine, the believer's true life is only found in his deep and intimate union with Christ. This union is not just a concept but a living reality that we can continually experience, bringing us closer to our Savior and strengthening our faith.
There is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to be drawn from the fertile soil of your faith in Jesus. It is His responsibility to bring life. It is your responsibility to abide in Him. “Stay in a given state of expectancy.” Behold, He makes all things new. Not you.
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