Category Archives: Abide

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Bible is the inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for Christians because it is the very Word of God breathed out for us. The Bible is not simply a collection of books written by human authors, but is a single story that originated from a Divine author. All 66 books of the Bible are perfectly interwoven to tell the story of Jesus Christ from beginning to end, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). God’s Word is perfect truth (John 17:17) and provides all that is needed for those who put their faith in Him. The infallibility and inerrancy of God’s Word is predicated by the sovereignty of God; the aspect of fallible humans used by God to physically write and compile the Bible must not degrade our view of it to a mere product of humans. The Word of God has existed from the beginning of time, as Jesus Christ existed in the beginning (John 1:1) and the Bible tells the story of Christ perfectly from beginning to end. A sovereign God operates beyond the human concept of time such that the complete contents of the Bible existed long before pen touched paper; Christ is ultimately the author and finisher of His free gift of grace to save humanity (Hebrews 12:2). The Holy Spirit moved through Moses, the prophets, the Gospel writers, and the apostolic authors of scripture to tell of the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the salvation of humanity (John 15:26, 2 Peter 1:21, John 5:39-47).

Christ in Every Verse of the Bible

Every single text of Scripture points to Jesus; He is the focus of every word of the Bible. Understanding this truth is vital to understanding the Bible as a whole. When we read the Bible and can clearly see Jesus in every text, the connections between the Old Testament and New Testament leap off the page such that we understand the importance of the Old Covenant. The fulfillment of every aspect of the Old Covenant was something no human being could ever do, but Jesus did for us as our substitute. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life to meet every requirement of the Law, yet willingly took on all of our punishment and guilt; in contrast, those who have faith in Jesus receive the favor, righteousness, and eternal life that we did nothing to earn. The Old Covenant was not simply thrown out when Jesus arrived as the Messiah, but was fulfilled by Jesus on our behalf so that we may be freed by God’s gift of grace in the New Covenant. Jesus becomes our one and only mediator in the New Covenant (1 Timothy 2:5) as the final prophet, the final priest, the final king, the final Adam, the final temple, the final sacrifice, and the final Israel; the Old Covenant was just a physical, earthly shadow of a perfect New Covenant that is a spiritual covenant of faith in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9-10).

Abiding in the Word

The Word is the living truth by which God speaks to us; the Word is alive and powerful as we read under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Bible is the ultimate and final source of truth (John 17:17). This is not to say we cannot read theological works from a variety of authors or operate under some church traditions, but they must always align with Scripture. We must never allow any earthy authority to rise to the level of Scripture, for Christ alone is the Head of His church. God’s Word alone is the truth that lives on forever where human authority fails (Isaiah 40:8, 1 Peter 23-25).

We must abide in the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to what God is speaking to us. Reading the Bible deepens our relationship with Christ and furthers our sanctification such that we may live in obedience. Abiding in the Word gives us the wisdom and knowledge in any external situation we may face to give us perfect peace, love, joy, and hope. Additionally, we can pour out Christ’s love more effectively to others if we are familiar with His Word. Abide in the Word daily allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you to grow in your walk with Christ and live out the plan God has for your life to the fullest extent.

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:13-26)

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are filled with the Holy Spirit to guide us. As we abide in the Spirit and allow Him to guide us, we grow in our walk with Christ. Through our sanctification, we become more like Christ through guidance from the Holy Spirit. As we see in this passage from Galatians, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. How do we attain this fruit and embody these characteristics?

In my previous blog post, we examined how abiding in Christ produces fruit by Christ’s love flowing out through us. Likewise, abiding in the Holy Spirit allows us to take on this fruit of Christlike character. As we grow in sanctification, our character should increasingly resemble the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since sanctification is the process by which we become more like Christ, the fruit we produce will be both Christlike character and Christlike actions. We attain both of these through our relationship with God.

As we examine our lives, can we say that we are producing more fruit than a few years ago? Can we say that we embody love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Christ offers this fruit only through a relationship with Him. If we attempt to earn favor with God through bearing fruit of our own effort, we end up with rotten fruit and struggle to attain the fruit of the Holy Spirit. A sign of rotten fruit is a feeling of obligation to perform the good work or follow a religious rule; fruit produced by Christ’s love flowing out from us will be performed in a way consistent with the characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We will not feel obligated to perform or consider the action as some kind of burden we must endure to prove our devotion to God, but Christ’s love will move within us to make us want to bear fruit for His kingdom. Remember fruit is produced by abiding as a branch on the vine of Christ; when we seek to produce fruit through our own effort we are a branch growing from the vine of self. Abiding in Christ and walking with the Holy Spirit will produce the fruit of Christlike character and actions.

“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 anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15:4-9)

Abide in Christ. Jesus elaborates on the meaning of this sentence with the illustration of a branch and vine. As branches, we cannot possibly bear fruit by ourselves. We are worthless without being attached to the vine. Abiding in Christ is remaining stable in a relationship with Him. When we put our faith in Him and receive His gift of grace, we are attached as if a branch growing from a vine. The fruit we bear does not come from our own effort in any way, but in His love flowing out through us. Apart from Christ, our good works are absolutely meaningless. We obey God’s commands and bear fruit because we abide in Christ.

What are you abiding in? Are you abiding in Christ to further your sanctification and bear fruit? The order is critically important; growing closer to Christ enables us to bear more fruit, yet attempting to bear fruit through our own effort in hopes we grow closer to Christ leaves us with nothing. When we seek to achieve salvation on our own in any way, we are not abiding in Christ; we are abiding in ourselves. Likewise, when we are distant in our relationship with Christ due to abiding in earthly things, the quality and quantity of the fruit we bear is affected. If you have put your faith in Christ and are not bearing fruit, then it is time to allow yourself to be drawn closer to Him through prayer and abiding in His Word through reading scripture. Abiding in Christ is putting all of our faith in Him alone and not trying to earn our salvation by anything we could ever do; through an enduring relationship with Christ, His love flows out through us and we bear much fruit for His kingdom.