posted by Heather @ http://www.foolishblog.com “Abide in me and I in you… Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
What does it mean to abide in Christ? I think I have often made the mistake Piper points out in this chapter of equating abiding with making sure I am bearing fruit and keeping God’s commands, which can get pretty frustrating. But these things are not abiding, they are simply the result of abiding. According to Piper, “abiding is a continual trust in the truth of Jesus’ words and in the certainty of his love.” This means we are to believe “everything that comes into our lives under Jesus’ sovereign authority is part of his love for us” whether it is pleasant or painful and that we keep on trusting what he has revealed to us about himself, his Father, and his work. If we do this we are set free from sin and are able to bear fruit and keep his commands. The focus then shifts from me and what I am able to do to who Jesus is and what he has done! He is the one who commands that I abide in him and he alone gives me the ability to abide. “Therefore, his demand that we abide in him is that we keep trusting the one who keeps us trusting.” What an amazingly freeing truth!
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