Finding a job requires a different skill set than keeping a job. Falling in love is a different experience than having a successful marriage. It takes different skills to win early in a chess career than as a chess master.
It stands to reason, based on experience, that there are different demands for becoming a believer than there are to succeed as a Christian. This thinking sets a young Christian already down the path to failure. Having received justification by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone (Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:8–9), they will waste the most precious years of their early lives with Christ in the fume and fret of futile fleshly effort.
Abide in Me
There is much to repair this error in the simple word abide. This word is the central theme of our Lord’s precious discourse in the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
—John 15:4 (NKJV)
Jesus Christ is the source and power of salvation. Salvation is gained when a person enters by faith into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul is the great apostle of believers’ union with Christ. He explains the position which believers possess in Christ (Romans 6:1–11; Ephesians 1:3–14; Colossians 3:1–4). Belief in Jesus Christ results in identification with Him. It is a relationship that provides the believer with salvation.
The Language of Relationship
Abide is the language of two things that exist in relationship.
A believer is saved by entering into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Abide could be translated as remain, as in the NIV. This translation highlights the central point of this introduction: Our need for salvation is met by a relationship with Christ. Our need to mature and bear fruit is likewise met in that selfsame relationship. Christian maturity and productivity rely upon this simple principle: to live and dwell in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Vital Connection
The image our Lord presents is one of vital connection. A branch is connected to the vine so closely that the precise place of demarcation would be nearly impossible to determine. There is untold depth to this divine illustration, as will be discussed, but the simplicity must be embraced before any progress can be made. The only growth and produce in the Christian life are based upon and proceed forth from the believer’s dependence upon this relationship with Christ (John 15:4–5).
Apart from Christ, No Progress Is Possible
There is much more to be said about abiding in Christ. But begin here: Apart from Christ, no progress is possible. Whatever will be done of merit or value will be done by Christ. To paraphrase C. T. Studd:
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past.
Only what is done by Christ will last.”
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