What does it mean to abide in Jesus?
A person’s last words before dying are deeply significant, a treasure to those left behind, and an insight into that person’s soul. Last words aren’t wasted. They carry immense weight.
How much more sacred, then, are the words that Jesus spoke to His followers the night before His crucifixion?
Jesus urged them, “Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it abides on the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4).
To abide means to remain, to live or dwell in, to be in a continuous state of fellowship and communication.
Jesus commanded them, in pure love, to abide in Him. His parting words explained how they would live apart from him, yet still commune with and be led by him.
Abiding in Jesus is the lifeline for all believers, connecting us to the power source of Christ’s Spirit within us. Jesus knows our faith cannot endure without the unceasing sustenance only he can give, which is why he commands us to abide in him.
Jesus gave us the model for living the truly abundant life, and it starts with abiding in him primarily through his Word and prayer.
We were made to commune with God
From the very beginning, God's heart was set on intimate fellowship with his sons and daughters. He created Adam and Eve in his image and walked with them in the Garden of Eden.
But after Adam and Eve broke the command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that fellowship was fractured. God’s tender Father's heart broke over the separation and humiliation their disobedience brought on them.
Their sin (and ours) had severed their connection to God.
When God asked them, “Where are you?” his question wasn’t geographical but relational (Genesis 3:9). Instead of abiding in him, now God’s children were hiding from him. God was grieved because this was not the way he’d designed their relationship to be.
Their sin had separated them from their Creator and Heavenly Father, like a child estranged from a parent. Where they once walked freely with God in a flourishing garden, clothed in his glory, they were now naked and bound by shame (Genesis 3:10).
God made a way to be with us
In his mercy, “God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). God covered them with a sacrifice he provided, foreshadowing what he did for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
God provides for us, covers us, cleanses us, shelters us, redeems us, refreshes us, empowers us, and restores us as He abides in us and we in him. As believers, we are the new tabernacle and temple for His Holy Spirit to indwell.
This is why Jesus urged, “Abide in Me, and I in you.”
It is a double mercy that God doesn’t just save us; He sanctifies us. He heals and restores us as we enjoy uninterrupted communion with him.
How do I abide in Jesus?
Abiding in Christ is not passive but active. Practically speaking, it means setting aside time daily for Scripture reading and prayer, regularly confessing and repenting from your sin, and seeking to serve God as he invites you into his work. It is more than this, of course, but not less.
We cannot follow Jesus if we don’t know and follow His living, active Word as revealed in Scripture. Jesus is the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14).
We cannot produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit without abiding in Christ and his words.
“If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).
It's not enough to read the Bible once, cherry-pick verses that validate what we already think, or make the latest Instagram post our daily devotional. We must explore, study, treasure, and savor God’s Word so that we can know God’s heart.
The Bible is not a book to be casually used or conquered but cherished.
I like to think about my time in the Bible as entering into a conversation with the Living God. The Bible, after all, is God-breathed and the greatest revelation of himself to us. If we want to know what God thinks about something, his likes and dislikes, we only need to read his Word. We then get to respond in prayer to what God said in his Word, through praise, lament, questions, and even honest struggles with it.
How will abiding in Christ help me?
Abiding in Jesus and his Word is how we continue to grow and flourish as believers. We study the words of God not only for information or the acquisition of doctrine, but for heart transformation and practical application that affects how we live our daily lives.
When we abide in Jesus, we allow the Holy Spirit and Word of God to dwell richly within us, renewing our minds, reforming our desires, and redirecting our wills.
Scripture renews our minds; it gives us a new way of thinking that is Christ-centered (Romans 12:2). It gives us a vocabulary to replace lies with the truth. It helps us discern the voice of our Good Shepherd from that of Satan, our accuser. It empowers us to rebuke the enemy and believe God is who he says he is, can do what he says he can do, and that we are who he says we are in Christ.
Simply put, Scripture emboldens our faith and our ability to live as children of God, as it was meant to be from the beginning.
The Bible reforms our desires. As we delight in the Lord and his ways and surpassing worth, our hearts become more aligned with his, and our desires will change (Psalm 37:4). The things of this world will grow dim, and what we once sought for satisfaction and significance we will now seek and find in Christ (Philippians 3:8).
Scripture, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will redirect our wills. We will be able to join with Christ in saying, “not my will, but your will be done,” because we know God’s will is the best and safest place to be (Matthew 6:10).
When we store up God’s Word in our hearts, it will change the direction of our lives, so that we yearn for holiness and selflessness instead of sin and selfishness (Psalm 119:11). We won't do this perfectly, but we can do it expectantly as we abide in Jesus, trusting the promise that His Word will not return empty but will accomplish what it sets out to do in our very hearts and minds (Isaiah 55:11).
Abiding is active, not passive
This transformation won’t happen by accident. Christianity is not lived on cruise control. A vibrant relationship with the Lord means abiding in Jesus, His Word, and His love—even on days we don't feel like it or struggle to understand him.
Abiding in Jesus is returning to God again and again and again throughout the day.
It is taking both our grievances and our gratitude to Him. Abiding is not about following the rules. It’s about enjoying a relationship with the living God. It’s about living your life in awe and humility of the True Vine, the faithful Savior, apart from whom we can do nothing.
We have been chosen to abide in the King of kings and to become like Jesus. As we behold the glory of the Lord through Scripture, we will be transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The result of abiding in Jesus is
becoming more like Jesus.
As we abide in Jesus, we will produce fruit of the Holy Spirit, such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). These are changes to our hearts we could not manufacture ourselves. Jesus’ command to us isn’t about behavior modification; it isn’t to be loving or joyful, patient or kind. It’s to abide in him, so that he can work in and through us and produce the fruit of his Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the most generous and intimate gift God has given us until the day Jesus returns. He helps us, as an ally in war, to become more like Jesus.
Jesus calls us to abide in him, not achieve for him
We have been chosen to become like Jesus. But we must follow His command to abide in Him. We must prioritize time with the Lord over time with the world. As we abide in Christ, we can rest in His finished work on the cross and His promise to complete the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6).
As we abide in him, he abides in us and keeps us until he brings us home.
Like a branch on a vine heavy with good fruit, we will bow in worship of Jesus the longer we abide in him. Abiding in Christ is an eternal prize that gives the most freedom, joy, love, wisdom, and peace.
But we cannot fulfill the greatest commandments, “to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind” and “to love our neighbors as ourselves” without obeying the most basic and necessary command to abide in our Lord (Matthew 22:37-39).
We truly can do nothing apart from Him!
Abiding in Christ produces the most intimate and life-changing relationship you can ever have. What a joy it is to have this kind of access to our Creator and Redeemer, with his lifeblood pulsing through us to nurture, grow, and sustain us so that we can flourish in him.
Abide in Jesus, dear friend. Be loved, nourished, and protected. Be renewed, reformed, and redirected as you stay connected to him. Be transformed from one degree of glory to another and bear the sweet fruit of heaven.
Be more like Jesus today as you abide in him!
