"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."
Let me ask you a question. If someone came up to you and said, "Are you religious?"—what would you say? Some of you would say, "Well, I go to such and such church." Maybe, "I'm in a Bible study." Here's what Jesus says a Christ follower would say:
Scripture Focus: John 15:4-5; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 6:19
"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 have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?"
Eleven times in eleven verses, Jesus uses one word. Abide.
That is not an accident.
What does it mean to abide In Jesus? Let's not overthink this. It just means to stay. To remain. To cling. It means that you live near to His presence. It means you live a life of total reliance and total dependence on God. You surrender any claim that you might have of living the Christian life in your own strength. You are cognizant of your inability to live for God without God. It is to cast your soul upon Jesus. And it means to write on the tablet of your heart this life motto: I need Him. I need Christ.
In Scotland, they ask the question, "Where do you bid?" It means, where do you live? Where do you remain? And the Christian would say, "I remain in Christ."
Now here's something interesting: If you're a Christ follower, God already lives within you.
John 14:23—Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him." Not just the Holy Spirit. The trinitarian God. Jesus says, "I and the Father will come and make our abode with him."
First Corinthians 6:19—"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" That word temple is the Greek word naos—the same word used for the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary. You are the naos. You are the holy of holies of the trinitarian God.
Galatians 2:20—Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." He says, "This is just an external shell. The life I now live—it's Christ in me."
Can I ask you something? If someone asked you what it means to be a Christian, would your answer reflect this reality? Not "I go to church." Not "I serve in children's ministry." But this: "I have a real, vibrant communion with the trinitarian God. He lives in me. He abides in me."
That's Christianity's essence. Everything in the Christian life flows from understanding that we are in Christ and Christ is in us.
1. If someone asked you what it means to be a Christian, would your answer reflect the reality that God Himself dwells within you?
2. Are you living like someone who has the trinitarian God residing within them—or are you going through the motions?
3. What would it look like to practically write on the tablet of your heart today: "I need Him"?
Stay dialed in