John 15:4
"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." (NKJV)
The other night I was at a Bible study with some friends and we were studying what it meant to "abide in Christ." We see this word a lot in the New Testament and specifically in the Gospel and letters of John the Apostle. So what does the word mean?
In the original language it means "not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually."
In keeping in the same theme as my last post regarding Jesus as our Lord, if we claim He is our Lord then we will abide (or continue or dwell) in Him. We will not be living a deliberate lifestyle of sin. We will not say we are His followers and yet live a life that is not accurate with that profession.
1 John 2:6
"He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." (NKJV)
1 John 3:6
"No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." (ESV)
Can we say that about ourselves? If we claim Him as our Lord and Savior and tell people that we are "Christians" and "believe" in Jesus, do our lives reflect that statement? That is what abiding means. It means to not just hear His Word but to put it into practice and having it be a reflection of your life.
We will not continue a life of deliberate sin if we are abiding in Christ.
1 John 3:9
"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." (ESV)
If we are abiding (dwelling) in Christ, we will not abide (dwell) in sin.
Mike
