Abiding in Christ

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing...If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:4-5,7, ESV).

What does it mean to abide in Christ? A study note from the ESV Study Bible says that abiding in Christ means "to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus characterized by trust, prayer, obedience, and joy." Notice that this study said that is a continuing daily relationship with Jesus. A lot of Christians think they get close to Jesus by attending church on Sunday and live however they want to the rest of the week. To truly abide in Christ we must maintain of fellowship with Jesus on a daily basis.

There are four things that characterized by our relationship with Jesus. The first is trust. We must trust in Jesus as our salvation on a daily basis. We battle sin everyday, we must confess our sins and repent of them daily. As we confess them to Jesus, we trust in him to cleanse us from our sin and trust in his righteousness to know that we are in right fellowship with God. Second is prayer. Pray to Jesus all of your concerns no matter how small they might seem. Don't just pray only once a day, but continue the conversation wherever you are even if you are looking for the car keys.

Third is obedience. C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, "I cannot grow in my love for God until I obeyed God." The same is true for us. In order to grow in our love for Jesus, we must obey him. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15, ESV). Fourth is joy. This is a sign of a believer that keeps in fellowship with Jesus on a daily basis. Whatever we face in this life no matter how extreme or minor, we can experience joy even when we feel sad. This joy comes from knowing that Christ has secured our salvation based on our faith in him.

Abiding in Christ is a daily discipline that no true regenerated believer should take lightly. We are at war with sin, the flesh, and the devil everyday to let our daily fellowship with Jesus slip by because we are not in church nor in the right state of being.