The Benefits of Adoration (Cont)
Don’t be afraid to express deep heartfelt sorrow for what you have done. (5) “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up,” (4:10; 1 Pet 5:6).
Adoring Contemplation Makes You Abide in Christ Jesus the True Vine (John 15)
“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,” (Jn 15:4). “Abide in me.” After a person believes in Christ and is forgiven, he or she receives eternal life and the power to remain in Christ. Given that power, the believer must then accept that responsibility in salvation and remain in Christ. The Greek word “men” means to remain, continue, abide or live. Just as the branch has life only as long as the life of the vine flows into it, so believers have Christ’s life only as long as Christ’s life flows into them through their remaining in Christ.
The conditions by which we remain in Christ are:
- Keeping God’s word continually in our actions (v. 7).
- Maintaining the habit of constant intimate communion with Christ in order to draw strength from Him (v. 7).
- Obeying His commands, remaining in His love (v.10) and loving each other (vv. 12, 17).
- Keeping our lives clean through the word, resisting all sin and yielding to the Spirit’s direction (v.3; 17:17; Rom 8:14; Gal 5:16-25; Eph 5:26; 1 Pet 1:22).
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned,” (Jn 15:6). “He is cast out as a branch.” The parable of the vine and branches makes it unmistakably clear that Christ did not believe “once in the vine, always in the vine.” Rather, in this parable Jesus gave His disciples a solemn, but loving warning that it is, indeed, possible for true believers to ultimately abandon faith, turn their backs on Jesus, fail to remain in Him, and thus to be thrown into the everlasting fire of hell.
I. We have here the foundational principle governing the saving relationship of Christ and the believer, namely, that it is never a static relationship based solely upon a past decision or experience. Rather, it is a progressive relationship as Christ lives in the believer and shares with him or her His divine life (see 17:3; Col 3:4; 1 John 5:11-13).
II. Three important truths are taught in this parable: (a) The responsibility of remaining in Christ is placed upon the disciples (see v. 4). This is our response to God’s prior gift of divine life and power given at conversion.
