What does “abide” mean? What did Jesus mean when He said “Abide in Me, and I in you.”? (John 15.4) Abide IN me! IN me? Jesus is not somewhere “out there” in the sky, who may or may not show up when I need Him. He’s HERE – IN me. So that’s what this Treasure is in earthen vessels. He is the Treasure IN me.  I’m just a vessel – a container.

” In John 15, the abiding of the Christian in Christ refers to his maintaining unbroken fellowship with Him. He makes his spiritual home in Christ. There is nothing between himself and his Savior, no sin unjudged and not put away. He depends upon Him for spiritual life and vigor as the branch is dependent upon the vine. The abiding of Christ in the Christian is His permanent residence in Him and His supplying that Christian with the necessary spiritual energy to produce fruit in his life through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.” – Wuest, K. S. (1997, c1984). Wuest’s word studies from the Greek New Testament

Continual Abiding: “There is a simplicity of the Life. But it does mean sin-sensitiveness; that’s a tremendous verse isn’t it? “If my eye is single it is full of light; if it’s anything else but a single sight of Jesus, it is evil.” Let me call it what it is. A verse that lines up in my mind with that and is much the same is in Romans 14:23, the last phrase of the last verse. It says it in another connection but we can pick it out I think quite fairly and make it a general statement: “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Well faith is seeing Jesus, of course. We have the faith of Jesus for we see Jesus. Of course we do. Faith is believing Jesus, seeing Him in our hearts, and knowing Him. That’s believing Jesus. So faith is seeing Jesus. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” is the same idea. The moment I am not seeing Jesus in a situation, the moment I am not seeing Christ in my neighbor, the moment I am not seeing Christ in a crisis, or Christ in a difficulty, [or in my husband, wife, or child], I am sinning because it’s not of faith. I’m not seeing Jesus; I’m seeing something else. That’s evil. Not to see Jesus is evil. That’s big! I’ve got to see Jesus in every one of my neighbors. I’ve got to see Jesus potentially even in the lost, those for whom, though there was only one on earth, He would have died.

“I’ve got to see Jesus in every circumstance, not a single circumstance but that it’s Jesus coming to me. That, I take it, is what Paul meant when he made that terrific statement around which I circle in my mind again and again and wonder at: “To me, to live is Christ.” That doesn’t leave much else, does it? “To me, to live is Christ.” That’s a single eye. Every circumstance, every person is just Christ to him. That’s this Life. Anything less than that is sin, because it veils Him.”

See March 26, 2007, post “Abiding In Christ”.

Norman P. Grubb
Karuizawa Japan Conference of 1954
Topic: “Daily Walk in the Spirit”