WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABIDE IN JESUS? by Adriel Sanchez for Core Christianity
One of the Apostle John’s favorite words was “abide.” He used it 40 times in his Gospel, and 24 times in his first letter! Sometimes “abide” is simply used to refer to the place where Jesus would hang out for a few days (John 1:39; 2:12; 4:40; 7:9). Other times, the word was used more figuratively to describe Jesus dwelling in his disciples by the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-26), or his disciples dwelling in him through his word (John 15:7; 2 John 1:9). Jesus said, “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” (John 15:4). Jesus lives in his people and his people live in him.
It’s telling that Jesus would use such a domestic word to describe our relationship with him. We’re called to make our home in Christ, and he makes his home in us (John 14:23). This reveals something of the intimacy that exists between the believer and Jesus. The metaphor he gives us in John 15—“I am the vine and you are the branches”—highlights the organic nature of our union with Christ. We’re connected to Jesus by faith, and his life pulsating through us produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit (John 15:5; cf. Gal 5:22-23).
John’s writings give us a clear description of what the life of abiding in Jesus looks like: It’s fruitful (John 15:5); prayerful (15:7); obedient to God’s commandments (15:10); joyful (15:11); and loving (15:12, 17). These are the fruits produced by Christ who lives in us as we abide in him. But Christ himself is the root, the source. Failure to recognize this distinction is disastrous. Each of us could pray more, be a little (or a lot) more loving, and exhibit more joy. If the call to abide in Jesus is a call to work harder at these things, we’ll find ourselves trying to do more in order to convince ourselves that we’re really in Jesus. But to abide—to be at home—is supposed to be restful, isn’t it? And isn’t that precisely what Jesus promised us when he said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”? (Matt. 11:28)
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