Are You Abiding?

1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "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. 5 "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. 6 "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. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 "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. John 15:1-10

To “abide” in the Lord is to remain in Him. Because in John 15:4, it is an active imperative verb, it means that we are commanded to continue in our spiritual position of being in Christ. Jesus uses this word 11 times in the beginning of John 15. This is something we are to strive to do. It is what Jesus begged His companions, Peter, James and John, to do with Him in the Garden. Generally, we refer to this as faithfulness.

In this passage, Jesus is sharing with us the necessity of abiding in Him. We cannot “bear fruit” without being connected to Him. “Apart from me you can do nothing;” nothing worth doing, anyway. Ultimately, Jesus tells us that we can tell if we are, indeed, connected and abiding in Him by “bearing much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” Love is mentioned especially here by Jesus in verse 9 and 10, as He does elsewhere talking about this greatest of virtues. One cannot help but think of this fruit described by the Apostle Paul as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These attributes are those whose presence, or absence, become a measure of our following this command to abide in Him.

In his first epistle, John elaborates upon the concept that Jesus introduces here in John 15. In 1John, he tells us how to actually accomplish this essential part of our relationship with God though Jesus.

For one to abide in Jesus, he must:

2:6 – “walk as Jesus walked.”
2:10; 3:14; 4:12 – “loves his brother.”
2:14,24,27 – abides in “His Word.”
2:17 – abides in “His will.”
3:6,9 – avoids sin
3:24 – “keeps His commands”
3:24; 4:13 – possesses “the Spirit”
4:15 – “confesses Jesus is the Son of God”
4:16 – “dwells in love”

Because abiding in Christ is a command, it requires self-discipline for it to be obeyed. It is this plugging-in of our lives with Jesus’ that allows us to mature and succeed at our stated goal: eternal life with God.

Jude 20-21 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”