What did Jesus mean when he said to "abide in me"?
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask what you want and it will be done to you" (John 15: 7).
With such an important scripture verse like this, what immediately comes to my mind and hopefully yours too, is why? Why is this verse, "if you remain in me and my word remain in you" so important? There are two important reasons facing this question.
1. Living power
As a believer, Christ is your source. There is no salvation without Christ and there is no Christian life without Christ. Earlier in this same chapter (John 15: 5) Jesus himself said "without me you can do nothing." So to live an effective life, you need help beyond yourself or your abilities. Get that help when you stay in Christ.
2. Transforming power
The second part of that verse, "My words remain in you," emphasizes the importance of God's word. Simply put, God's word teaches you how to live and Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, helps you to put into practice what the word of God teaches. God uses the word to transform the way you believe, how you think, and ultimately, how you act or live.
Do you want to live a transformed life that represents Jesus well in this world? To do this you must remain in him and let his word remain in you.
What does this verse mean?
To remain means to abide or abide. The implication is not that this is an occasional event, but that it is something that is ongoing. Think of whatever electrical you have in the house. For that item to work properly, it must be connected to the power source. As big and smart as the device is, if it has no power it won't work.
You and I are alike. As frighteningly and beautifully made as you are, you cannot accomplish the things of God unless you are connected to the source of power.
Jesus calls you to abide or continue in him and so that his word may dwell or continue in you: the two things are intertwined. You cannot abide in Christ without his word and you cannot truly abide in his word and remain separate from Christ. One naturally feeds on the other. Likewise, the appliance cannot function without being connected to the mains. Furthermore, the appliance cannot refuse to operate even when connected to the power supply. The two work together and intertwine.
How does the Word remain in us?
Let us pause for a moment on a part of this verse and why it is important. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you. “How does the word of God remain in you? The answer is probably something you already know. As much as people try to get away from the basics, they will always be critical to your walk with God. Here's how to do this:
Read, meditate, memorize, obey.
Joshua 1: 8 says: “Keep this book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so as to be careful to do all that is written there. Then you will be prosperous and successful. "
There is power in reading God's word. There is power in meditating on God's word. There is power in memorizing God's word. Ultimately there is power in obeying God's word. The Good News is that when you remain in Jesus, he gives you the desire to walk in obedience to his word.
What is the context of John 15?
This part of John 15 is part of a longer discourse begun in John 13. Consider John 13: 1:
“It was just before the Easter feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end “.
From this point on, through John 17, Jesus proceeds to give his disciples some final instructions. Knowing that the time was near, it is as if he wanted to remind them of the most important things to remember when he was no longer here.
Think of a person who is terminally ill with only a few days to live and has a conversation with you about what's important and what you need to focus on. Those words are likely to have a greater meaning to you. These are among the latest instructions and encouragement Jesus gave his disciples, so give more weight to why it matters. "If you remain in me and my words remain in you" were not light words then, and they certainly are not light words now.
What does the rest of this verse mean?
So far we have focused on the first part, but there is a second part of this verse and we need to consider why it is important.
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for what you want and it will be done to you"
Wait a minute: Did Jesus just say we can ask for what we want and it will be done? You read it correctly, but it requires some context. This is another example of these truths woven together. If you really think about it, this is an incredible claim, so let's understand how it works.
As we discussed earlier, when you stay in Christ this is the source of your power to live. When the word of God remains in you, this is what God uses to transform your life and your way of thinking. When these two things work properly and effectively in your life, then you can ask for what you want because it will be in line with Christ in you and God's word in you.
Does this verse support a prosperity gospel?
This verse doesn't work and here's why. God does not answer prayers that arise from wrong, selfish, or greedy motives. Consider these verses in James:
“What is causing the quarrels and quarrels between you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you plot and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God. And even when you ask, you don't understand why your motives are all wrong: you only want what will please you ”(James 4: 1-3).
When it comes to God answering your prayers, reasons matter. Let me be clear: God has no problem blessing people, indeed he likes to do so. The problem arises when people are more interested in receiving blessings, without wanting the one who blesses.
Notice the order of things in John 15: 7. Before asking, the first thing you do is stay in Christ where he becomes your source. The next thing you do is let his word stay in you where you align how you believe, how you think and how you live with what he wants. When you have aligned your life in this way, your prayers will change. They will be in line with his wishes because you have aligned with Jesus and his word. When that happens, God will answer your prayers because they will be in line with what He wants to do in your life.
“This is the confidence we have in drawing close to God: that if we ask for something according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him ”(1 John 5: 14-15).
When you are in Christ and Christ's words are in you, you will pray according to God's will. When your prayers align with what God desires to do, you can be sure that you will get what you have asked for. However, you can only get to this place by staying in Him and his words by staying in you.
What does this verse mean for our daily life?
There is a word that this verse means for our daily life. That word is fruit. Consider these earlier verses in John 15:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit alone; it must remain in the vine. Nor can you bear fruit if you do not remain in me. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; without me you can do nothing ”(John 15: 4-5).
It's really quite simple and at the same time it gets lost easily. Ask yourself this question: Do you want to bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God? If the answer is yes, there is only one way to do it, you need to stay connected to the vine. There is no other way. The more connected and tied you are to Jesus, the more you are connected to his word in your life and the more fruit you will bear. Honestly, you won't be able to help him because it will be the natural result of the connection. More remaining, more connection, more fruit. It really is that simple.
Fight to stay in him
Victory lies in staying. The blessing is to stay. Productivity and fruit are in the remainder. However, so is the challenge of staying. While abiding in Christ and his words abiding in you is simple to understand, it is sometimes more difficult to perform. That's why you have to fight for it.
There will be many things to distract you and get away from where you are. You have to resist them and fight to stay. Remember that outside of the vine there is no power, no productivity and no fruit. Today I encourage you to do whatever it takes to stay in touch with Christ and his word. This may require you to disconnect from other things, but I think you will agree that the fruit you bear and the life you live will make that sacrifice worth it all.