I wanted to provide additional information on Abiding In Christ for any who have heard me speak or teach on the subject. (Because I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, many verses and quotes are specific to my faith. I hope those of other denominations won’t mind those additions.) I’m praying this page will bless your life as you continue to learn how to implement these beautiful truths and become one with your loving Savior.
The Vine & The Branches
John 15:1-5 ABIDE IN ME AND I IN YOU…for without me ye can do NOTHING.
John MacArthur: “Listen, how much can a detached branch do toward producing fruit? Can’t do anything. Even great big strong branches can’t do anything. The strongest is as helpless as the weakest. The most beautiful is as helpless as the ugliest. And the best branch is as worthless as the worst branch if it’s disconnected from the vine. …It’s not a question of whether you’re strong or weak. It’s not a question of whether you’re good or bad, brave or cowardly, clever or foolish, experienced or inexperienced. Whatever your gifts, whatever your accomplishments, whatever your virtues, whatever your experiences may have been, they are worthless in helping you produce detached from Christ. I mean, what it amounts to is a whole lot of branches lying around trying to tie on artificial fruit. Can’t do it.” (John F. MacArthur, Abiding in the Vine, Part 1, September 1971, gty.org).
What Does It Mean to Abide in Christ?
ABIDE: to remain, continue, stay | to have one’s abode, dwell, reside | to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc.
In John 6, the Lord offers us an even deeper analogy….
John 6:51-56 “Whoso eateth my flesh, & drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him”
D. Todd Christofferson: “To eat His flesh and drink His blood is a striking way of expressing how completely we must bring the Savior into our life—into our very being—that we may be one” (“The Living Bread Which Came Down From Heaven,” Ensign, November 2017).
David A. Bednar: “It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us” (“The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality,” Ensign, April 2012).
NOTICE THAT IT’S NOT JUST THE HOLY GHOST WHO LIVES IN US. IT’S CHRIST HIMSELF LIVING IN US THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT.
Colossians 1:25-27: the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory
Alma 34:36: “The Lord . . . dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell” (see also Mosiah 2:37 & Alma 7:21)
Ephesians 3:14-19: “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (this passage is really cool in The Message translation of the Bible)
Other verses that speak of Christ in us: John 17:20-26, 3 Nephi 19:23 & 29, D&C 50:43, Moses 6:34. Also, in John’s epistles, he uses some version of “in him” or “in you” over 35 times (for instance, see 1 John 2:5-6, 3:24, 4:13-16, 4:4, and 5:20).
But It’s Not Just About Abiding in Him, It’s About Abiding in HIS LOVE!
It’s the love Paul talks about in Ephesians 3:14-19.
How Lehi’s dream in the Book of Mormon captures the experience of Christ’s love:
1 Nephi 11:22 it’s “most desirable above all things… and the most joyous to the soul”
1 Nephi 8:10 it’s “desirable to make one happy”
1 Nephi 8:12 it “filled my soul with exceedingly great joy”
Nephi later says: “He filled me with his love, even to the consuming of my flesh” (2 Nephi 4:21)
The world tries to tell us that HUMAN LOVE is the most desirable and most joyous to the soul. But Lehi’s Dream reveals that CHRIST’S LOVE is the most transcendent thing we could ever experience.
Jeffrey R. Holland: “The greater definition of “the pure love of Christ” . . . is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. . . . It is his love for us that is not “puffed up . . . , not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” It is Christ’s love for us that “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” It is as demonstrated in Christ that “charity never faileth.” It is that charity—his pure love for us—without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable” (Christ and the New Covenant (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Co., 1997), 336-337).
Human love may fail us, but Christ’s love never will. This is the love we’re being offered when we abide in Him.
Hannah Whitall Smith: “Continually at every heart He is knocking, and asking to be taken in as the supreme object of love. “Wilt thou have me,” He says to the believer, “to be thy Beloved? Wilt thou follow me into suffering and loneliness, and endure hardness for my sake, and ask for no reward but my smile of approval, and my word of praise? Wilt thou throw thyself with utter abandonment into my will? Wilt thou give up to me the absolute control of thyself and all that thou art? Wilt thou be content with pleasing me and me only? May I have my way with thee in all things? Wilt thou come into so close a union with me as to make a separation from the world necessary? Wilt thou accept me for thy only Lord, and leave all others, to cleave only unto Me?” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004), 151.)
So How Do We Enter Into This Relationship of Oneness & Love With the Lord?
Just like any relationship of love, we do this by:
COMING TO KNOW HIM
F. Enzio Busche: “[The] real treasure . . . [is to] develop a close relationship with Christ, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Messiah, Jehovah, the Only Begotten of Elohim, and let him and his Spirit take possession of our lives. . . . I am speaking about the treasure of having found Christ, of being able to know him—not merely to know all about him, but really to know him” (“The Only Real Treasure,” New Era, December 1979).
Matthew 7:21-23 It’s not just through serving or following Him or working for Him….we must KNOW Him.
TALKING TO HIM PERSONALLY & LISTENING for HIS VOICE IN RETURN (more notes on this below)
Brigham Young: “The greatest and most important of all requirements of our Father in heaven and of his Son Jesus Christ, is . . . to believe in Jesus Christ, confess him, seek to him, cling to him, make friends with him. Take a course to open and to keep open communication with your Elder Brother or file-leader—our Savior” (Journal of Discourses, 8:339).
D&C 6:14-15, 21-22 “thou hast inquired of me” and “you cried unto me in your heart” (v. 21 makes it clear it’s Christ talking, not the Father).
MAKING TIME FOR HIM
This doesn’t necessarily mean reading the scriptures all day long. Even if life is super busy, we can abide in our heart and mind and thoughts no matter what else we’re doing.
Think about what OTHER things we make time for (social media, movies, fiction…we MAKE time for things we love.) Making time for Him shows how much we love and value Him as (as Hannah Whitall Smith just said) “the supreme object of our love.”
WATCHING FOR HIS LOVE IN OUR DAILY LIVES
For years, I’ve kept a list of the small (and huge) moments where I’ve felt the Lord’s love for me personally. It’s included everything from a simple rainstorm to huge and miraculous answers to prayer. I try to watch for Him in every moment, and keep a record of it to remind me. It’s like His love notes to me on a daily basis.
TURNING OUR ENTIRE LIVES OVER TO HIM
When we abide, we let Him be our health expert. Our parenting expert. Our marriage expert. Our work expert. We let Him manage our To-Do list. Our finances. Our struggles and trials and our goals, dreams, and passions. When we abide in Christ, there’s no part of our life that isn’t completely turned over to Him.
Just like in a human relationship, abiding is something that will happen NATURALLY as we draw closer and closer to Jesus Christ.
When we love someone, do we have to put it on our To-Do list to remember them? To think about them? To seek them out or text them or call them during the day? (If we do, there’s a problem in that relationship, right?) If it’s truly based on love, all that should happen naturally. Even automatically. So the same thing should be true of our relationship with Christ.
I love how Ezra Taft Benson describes it:
“[Those] captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. . . . Their will is swallowed up in his will. . . . They do always those things that please the Lord. . . . Not only would they die for the Lord, but, more important, they want to live for Him. . . .They have Christ on their minds, as they look unto Him in every thought. They have Christ in their hearts as their affections are placed on Him forever. . . . In short, they lose themselves in the Lord and find eternal life” (“Born of God,” Ensign, July 1989).
Christ’s promise to us in return:
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:9-10).
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