Obedience is the fruit of the new birth. When a person has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, then God expects something of that person who is now His son. He expects us to be surrendered. He expects us to abide in His love. He expects us to constantly abide in His love. As we do, God changes us. Christianity is a lifelong process of growing from glory to glory into the image of Christ. We are never going to be finished, until we get to Heaven. Until then, when we yield, when we surrender, when we abide, the natural result of that is going to be fruit. The natural result of a branch yielded to the Vine is a changed life, a fruitful life.
Abiding in Christ, Chapter 7, Used by Permission.
Our job in this life is not to go off on our own and get busy, busy, busy, work, work, work, trying in vain to produce fruit. Trying to love people on our own will lead to a life of frustration. Our responsibility is not to produce the fruit of the Spirit on our own. Our responsibility is to have a relationship to Jesus Christ and to let God use us. It is a life yielded to Christ. It is a life of rest.
Abiding in Christ, Chapter 7, Used by Permission.
The goal of the Christian life is not to gain the Spirit-filled experience; rather, THE GOAL IS TO REMAIN SPIRIT-FILLED. That should be the normal Christian life. That is why abiding is so crucial. The believer is to move from “spring cleaning” and the Spirit-filled life to a firm commitment to maintain such.
Charismatic Challenge by John Napier, Providence House Publishers, 2003, p. 123. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Scriptures play a major role in this abiding process. As one lives out an ordinary day, meditating upon the Word and the Lord, seeking to bring every thought into captivity to Christ, filtering every experience through the Word, the Spirit has free reign in the heart and communion with the Lord is vibrant. There will be struggles to maintain this unbroken communion; but, when there are failures, communion can be restored through confession and appropriation of the promises of God.
Charismatic Challenge by John Napier, Providence House Publishers, 2003, p. 123. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
To abide in [Christ] expresses the continual act by which the Christian sets aside everything which he might derive from his own wisdom, strength, merit, to draw all from Christ (Frederic Godek).
Commentary of John’s Gospel, 1978, p. 855, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.
If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
